Meditation on The Way of the Cross ( taken from words written by Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta)

Second Station: Jesus takes up His Cross "My Jesus, insatiable love, I see that You give Yourself no peace, I feel your fidgets of love, your pains. Your Heart beats strongly; in every heartbeat I feel bursts, tortures, violence of love; and unable to contain the fire that devours You, You pant, moan, sigh, and in each moan I hear You say: 'Cross… O Cross, beloved and longed for, You alone will save my children, and I concentrate in You all my Love!' Unable to contain the love with which You love (us), You kiss the Cross…and say: ‘Adored Cross, finally I embrace you. You were the longing of my Heart, the martyrdom of my love. But you, O Cross, have delayed until now, while my steps were always toward you. Holy Cross, you were the goal of my desires, the purpose of my existence down here. In you, I concentrate my whole being, in you I place all my children, and you will be their life, their light, defense, custody and strength. You will assist them in everything, and will bring them gloriously to Me in Heaven. Oh Cross, Pulpit of Wisdom, you alone will teach true sanctity; you alone will form the heroes, the athletes, the martyrs, the Saints. Beautiful Cross, you are my Throne, and since I have to leave the earth you will remain in my place. To you I give all souls as dowry-keep them, save them; I entrust them to you!’ In saying this, eager, You let it be placed upon your Most Holy Shoulders…the weight of our sins adds to that of the Cross—enormous and immense, as the expanse of the Heavens. And You, my wearied Good, you feel crushed under the weight of so many sins. Your souls is horrified at their sight, and feels the pain of each sin. Your  sanctity remains shaken before so much ugliness, and as the Cross weighs upon your shoulders, you stagger, you pant, and a mortal sweat creeps through your Most Holy Humanity…I don’t have the heart to leave you alone-and I want to share the weight of the cross with You.”

Third Station: Jesus falls the first time "My most patient Jesus, I see you take the first steps under the enormous weight of the Cross….You look at me, and I see that You repair for those who do not carry their crosses with resignation, but rather they swear, get irritated, commit suicide, and commit murders. And for all You impetrate love and resignation to their Crosses. But your pain is such that You feel crushed under the Cross. You have taken only the first steps, and You already fall under it. As You fall, you knock against the stones; the thorns are driven more into your head, while all your wounds are embittered, and pour out new blood. And since You do not have the strength to get up, your enemies, irritated, try to make You stand with kicks and shoves. My fallen Love, let me help You to stand, let me kiss You, dry your blood, and repair together with You for those who sin out of ignorance, fragility, and weakness I pray You to give help to these souls.”

Fourth Station: Jesus meets His mother “Your Heart beats more strongly and new pains pierce it intensely. You shake your head in order to clear your eyes from the blood that fills them, and You gaze anxiously… Ah, my Jesus, I understood everything—Your Mother, who is searching for You like a moaning dove, wants to tell You one last word, and receive your last gaze; and You feel her pains, her heart lacerated in yours, moved and wounded by her love and by yours. You see her pushing her way through the crowd, wanting at any cost to see You, to hug You, to give You the last good-bye. But You are more transfixed in seeing her mortal paleness, and all of your pains reproduced in her by force of Love. If she lives, it is only by a miracle of your Omnipotence. You move your steps toward hers, but you can hardly exchange a glace! Oh, pang of your two Hearts! The soldiers notice it, and with blows and shoving prevent Mother and Son from exchanging the last good-bye. The torment of both is such that your Mother remains petrified by the pain and is about to die…Then, your sorrowful Mother does with her soul that which she cannot do with her body, because she is prevented: She enters into You, makes the Will of the Eternal One her own, and associating Herself in all your pains, performs the office of your Mother, kisses you, repairs You, soothes You, and pours the balm of her sorrowful love into all your wounds!”

The Fifth Station: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross “…your enemies, for fear that You may die under it, force the Cyrenean to help You carry the Cross. Unwilling and complaining, he helps You—not out of love, but by force. Then all the complaints of those who suffer, the lack of resignation, the rebellions, the anger and despising in suffering, echo in your Heart. But You remain even more pierced in seeing that souls consecrated to you, whom you call to be your help and companions in your suffering, escape You…they wriggle free from your arms to look for pleasures, and so they leave You alone, suffering!”

The Sixth Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus “My Jesus, overcome with weariness, and all bent over, You can hardly walk; but I see You stop and try to look. My Heart, what is it? What are You looking for? Ah, it is Veronica, who fearless and courageous, with a cloth dries your Face all covered with blood, and You leave your Face impressed on it, in sign of gratitude…the enemies, disapproving of this act of Veronica, flog You, push You, and shove You on the way!"

The Seventh Station: Jesus Falls the Second Time "Faithful John and the pious women sustain your Mother, while You fall again under the Cross…You moan, fallen under the Cross. The soldiers fear that You may die under the weight of so many martyrdoms, and from the shedding of so much Blood. In spite of this, by lashes and kicks, with difficulty, they manage to put You on your feet again. And You repair for the repeated falls into sin, for mortal sins committed by every class of people, and You pray for obstinate sinners, shedding tears of blood for their conversion. My Love, overcome with pain, while I follow You in these reparations, I see You stagger under the enormous weight of the Cross. You are shivering all over. At the continuous shoving You receive, the thorns penetrate more and more into your Most Holy Head. The Cross, with its heavy weight, digs into your shoulder, to the extent of forming a wound so deep that the bones are exposed. At every step, it seems that You are dying, and unable to move any farther. But your love, which can do everything, gives You strength, and as You feel the Cross penetrate into your shoulder, You repair for the hidden sins; those which, not being repaired, increase the bitterness of your spasms. My Jesus, let me place my shoulder under the cross to relieve You and repair with You for all hidden sins.”

The Eighth Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem “the enemies shove You on the way…A few more steps and You stop again. Even under the weight of so much suffering, your love does not stop, and on seeing the pious women weeping because of your pains, You forget Yourself and console them, saying: ‘Daughters, do not weep over my pains, but over your sins and over your children.’ What a sublime teaching, how sweet is your word! O Jesus, with You I repair for the lack of charity, and I ask you for the grace of making me forget myself, to remember nothing but You alone. “

The Ninth Station: Jesus falls the third time “ On hearing You speak, your enemies become furious, they pull You by the ropes, and push You with such rage as to make You fall. As You fall, You knock against the stones: the weight of the Cross crushes You, and You feel like dying! Let me sustain You, and protect your Most Holy Face with my hands. I see You touch the ground and gasp in your Blood. But your enemies want to make You stand; they pull You by the Ropes, they lift You by your hair, they kick You—but all in vain. You are dying, My Jesus! What pain- my heart breaks with grief! Almost dragging You, they take you up to Mount Calvary. As they drag You, I hear You repair for all the offenses of the souls consecrated to You, which weigh upon You so much that, as much as You try to stand, You cannot! And so, dragged and trampled upon, You reach Calvary, leaving behind You the red trace of your precious Blood.”

The Tenth Station: Jesus is stripped of His garments “But new sufferings await You here. They strip You again, tearing off both garment and crown of thorns. Ah, you groan in feeling the thorns being torn from inside your Head. And as they pull your garment, they tear also the lacerated flesh attached to it. The wounds rip open, your Blood flows to the ground in torrents; the pain is such that, almost dead, you fall. But nobody is moved to compassion for You, my Good! On the contrary, with bestial fury they put the crown of thorns on You again. They beat it on well, and the torture they cause You because of the lacerations and the tearing of your hair clotted in the coagulated blood, is such that only the Angels could tell what You suffer, while horrified, they turn their celestial gaze away, and weep! My stripped Jesus, allow me to hold You to my heart to warm You, as I see that You are shivering and an icy mortal sweat invades your Most Holy Humanity. How I would want to give You my life—my blood to take the place of yours, which You have lost to give me life! Barely looking at me with His languishing and dying eyes, Jesus seems to tell me: ‘My child, how much souls cost Me! This is the place where I wait for everyone in order to save them, where I want to repair for the sins of those who arrive at degrading themselves lower than the beasts, and are so obstinate in offending Me as to reach the point of not being able to live without committing sins. Their minds remain blinded, and they sin wildly. This is why they crown Me with thorns for the third time. And by being stripped, I repair for those who wear luxurious and indecent clothing, for the sins against modesty, and for those who are so bound to riches, honors and pleasures, as to make of them a god for their hearts. Ah, yes, each one of these offenses is a death that I feel; and if I do not die, it is because the Will of my Eternal Father has not yet decreed the moment of my death!’”

The Eleventh Station: Jesus is nailed to the Cross “You look at the cross that your enemies are preparing for You. And I hear You say: ‘Please, O Cross, receive Me soon into your arms, I am impatient of waiting! Holy Cross, upon you I shall come to give completion to all. Hurry, O Cross, fulfill the burning desire that consumes Me, to give life to souls. Delay no more; I anxiously yearn to lay Myself upon you in order to open the Heavens to all my children. Oh Cross, it is true that you are my martyrdom, but in a little while you will also be my victory and my most complete triumph; and through you I will give abundant inheritances, victories, triumphs and crowns to my children’ As Jesus is saying this, His enemies command Him to lay Himself upon it; and promptly He obeys, to repair for our disobedience. And now, my sweet Good, You lay Yourself on the Cross, looking with so much love and with so much sweetness at your executioners- who already hold nails and hammers in their hands ready to pierce You- as to make a sweet invitation to hasten the crucifixion…with inhuman fury, they grab your right hand, hold the nail on your palm, and with blows of the hammer, make it come out the opposite side of the Cross. The pain You suffer is so great that You shiver, O my Jesus, the light of your beautiful eyes eclipses, and your most holy Face turns pale and looks like death…having finished the nailing of your right hand, with unheard-of-cruelty grab your left hand, and in order to make it reach the mark of the hole, with violence, pull it so much that the joints of your arms and shoulders are dislocated, and by the force of the pain your legs too, are contracted and convulsed. Then, with untiring fury, they nail it to the Cross as they did with the right one…My Love, Jesus, your enemies are not yet content. With diabolical fury, they grab your most holy feet, contracted by the great pain suffered in the tearing of your arms, and they pull them so much that your knees, your ribs and all the bones of your chest are dislocated. My heart cannot sustain this, my dear Good; I see your beautiful eyes eclipsed and veiled with Blood, for the intensity of the pain. Your livid lips contort, your cheeks hollow, your teeth chatter, while your chest pounds rapidly. O my Jesus! The executioners have now nailed your hands and feet to the Cross, and turning it over in order to bend the nails, they force your adorable Face to touch the ground, soaked with your own Blood; and You, with your divine lips, kiss it. My good Jesus, I see that your enemies lift the heavy wood of the Cross and let it drop into the hole they had prepared; and You my sweet love, remain suspended between Heaven and Earth. …I hear your voice, more moving than ever, as though in act of breathing its last, wanting to win over the creature by force of love and pain, and to triumph over the Paternal Heart: ‘My Father, look at Me, from head to foot; there is not one part of Me which is left whole. I do not know where else to let them open more wounds and to procure more sufferings. If You do not placate Yourself at this sight of love and suffering, who will ever be able to appease You? O, creatures, if you do not surrender to so much Love, what hope remains for you to convert? These wounds and Blood of Mine will be voices that constantly call from Heaven to earth, graces of repentance, forgiveness and compassion for you!’ O Jesus, I unite myself to You and I cling to your Cross; I take all the drops of your Blood and I pour them into my heart. When I see your Justice irritated against sinners, I will show You this Blood in order to appease You. When I want the conversion of souls obstinate in sin, I will show You this Blood, and by virtue of It You will not reject my prayer, because I hold its pledge in my hands. And now, my Crucified Good, in the name of all generations, past, present, and future, together with your Mother and with all the Angels, I prostrate myself before You and say: We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world."

Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross “My Crucified Good, I see You on the Cross, as on the throne of your Triumph…Horrified at such a great crime, nature prostrates itself before You, and waits in silence…the sun, crying, withdraws its light, unable to sustain your sight, too sorrowful. Hell is terrified and waits in silence. Everything is silence. Your pierced Mother, your faithful ones, are all mute; and petrified at the sight…they are silently waiting for a word from You! …forced by your love that torments You more than the pains themselves, with a strong and moving voice, You speak as the God You are: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ At this word, hell trembles and recognizes You as God, nature and everyone remain astonished; they recognize your Divinity, your inextinguishable love, and silently wait to see where it reaches….your Blood and your wounds, cry out to every heart after sin: ‘ Come into my arms, for I forgive you, and the seal of forgiveness is the price of my Blood.’ Your constrained love is stronger than death itself; and wanting to pour it out, looking at the thief on your right, You steal him from Hell. With your grace, You touch his heart, and that thief is completely changed; he recognizes You; he professes You God, and all contrite, says: ‘Lord, remember me when you are in your Kingdom.’ And you do not hesitate to answer: 'Today you will be with Me in Paradise.' In the meantime, seeing that You have nothing else to give him, because You have given him everything, You turn your languid gaze to your Mother. She too is more than dying because of your pains; and the love that tortures Her is so great as to render her crucified like You. Mother and Son—you understand each other, and You sigh with satisfaction and feel comforted in seeing that You can give your Mother to the creature; and considering the whole Mankind in John, with a voice so sweet as to move all hearts, You say; 'Woman, behold your son.' And to John, 'Behold your Mother.' Your voice descends into her maternal Heart…it keeps saying “My Mother, I entrust all of my children to you; feel for them all the love that You feel for Me. May all your maternal cares and tenderness be for my children. You will save them all for Me. Your Mother accepts. …I see that a convulsive trembling invades your Most Holy Humanity…You cry out loudly: ‘My God, my God, why have You abandoned Me?’ At this cry, everyone trembles; the darkness becomes thicker; your Mother, petrified, turns pale and faints! You are about to die…And You cry out loudly, to all hearts: ‘Do not abandon Me…’ O my dying Crucified, clinging to the Cross, I feel the fire that burns all of your Most Holy Person. Your Heart beats so strongly, that pushing out your ribs, it torments You in such a harrowing and horrible way, that all your Most Holy Humanity undergoes a transformation which renders You unrecognizable. The love that enflames your Heart withers You and burns You completely; and You, unable to contain it, feel the intense torment, not only of corporal thirst, but of the shedding of all your Blood—and even more, of the ardent thirst for the salvation of souls. You would want to drink us like water, in order to place us all in safety within Yourself…gathering your weakened strengths, You cry out: ‘I thirst.’ …your enemies, instead of water, give You gall and vinegar; and You do not refuse them! I understand—it is the fall of many sins, it is the vinegar of our untamed passions…which instead of refreshing You, burn You even more. My dying Good, the endless sea of your pains, the fire that consumes You, and more than anything, the Supreme Will of the Father which wants You to die, no longer allow us to hope that You may continue to live…how shall I live without you?!... I look at You, O my Good, and I see the last tears descend from your eyes…while You, with difficulty, let another word be heard: ‘All is consummated.’ O, Jesus, I see that You open your dying eyes again, and You look around from the Cross, as though wanting to give the last good-bye to all… You look at your dying Mother…so many are the pains she feels; and You say; ‘Goodbye Mother, I am leaving, but I will keep You in my Heart. You take care of my children and yours.’ Nothing escapes your gaze; You take leave of everyone and forgive everyone. Then, You gather all your strengths, and with a loud and thundering voice, You cry out: ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ And bowing your head, You breath your last.

Thirteenth Station: Jesus is taken down from the Cross …all nature has sent out a cry of sorrow at your last breath, and has cried over your sorrowful death, recognizing You as its Creator. The Angels, thousands upon thousands, hover around the Cross, and cry over your death. They adore You as our true God, and accompany You to Limbo, where You go to beatify many souls who have been ardently longing for You for centuries upon centuries. …pushed by a supreme force, to be assured of your death, a soldier rips your Heart open with a lance, opening a profound wound And You, my Love, shed the last drops of Blood and water contained in your enflamed Heart…how many things does this wound, opened by love, tell me!...your Heart speaks to me, and I hear… ’My child, after I gave everything, I wanted this lance to open a shelter for all souls inside this Heart of Mine. Opened, It will cry out to all, continuously: Come into Me if you want to be saved. In this Heart you will find sanctity and you will make yourselves saints; you will find relief in afflictions, strength in weakness, peace in doubts, company in abandonment. O souls who love Me, if you really want to love Me, come dwell in this Heart forever. Here you will find true love in order to love Me, and ardent flames for you to be burned and consumed completely in love. Everything is centered in this Heart: here are the Sacraments, here my Church, here the life of my Church and the life of all souls. In It I also feel the profanations made against my Church, the plots of enemies, the arrows they send, and my oppressed children—there is no offense which my Heart does not feel. Therefore, my child, may your life be in this Heart—defend Me, repair Me, bring Me everyone, into It.’ …I see that your disciples hasten to depose You from the Cross. Joseph and Nicodemus, who have remained hidden until now, with courage and without fearing anything, now want to give you an honorable burial. So, they take hammers and pincers, to perform the sacred and sad un-nailing from the Cross, while your pierced Mother stretches out Her maternal arms to receive You on her lap."

The Fourteenth Station: Jesus is laid in the Tomb “My Sorrowful Mother, I see that you dispose yourself to the final sacrifice of having to give burial to your lifeless Son Jesus. Perfectly resigned to the Will of God, you accompany Him, and place Him in the sepulcher with your own hands…I see you kiss the lifeless  Eyes of Jesus, and I feel pierced in seeing that Jesus no longer looks at you…you feel like dying!.. And your pain is so great that it suffocates You…Poor Mother, how much compassion I feel for You! ….The stone closes the sepulcher. Tortured, you kiss it, and crying You give Him the last goodbye and depart…After only a few steps, You are already before the Cross on which Jesus suffered so much, and died. You run to embrace it, and in seeing it colored with Blood, the pains that Jesus suffered on it are renewed in your Heart, one by one. …You are the true crucified Mother, so much so, that not even your feet remain without nails…You feel them not only being pierced, but torn by many iniquitous steps, and by the souls who go to hell. And You run after them, that they may not fall into infernal flames. …And now, desolate Mother, I thank you in the name of all for everything you have suffered; and I ask you for the sake of your bitter desolation, to come to my assistance at the moment of my death. …And now, I pray you to return the company I have given you to all those who are agonizing. Be the Mother of all; these are extreme moments, and great aids are needed. Therefore, do not deny your maternal office to anyone." Amen (All words taken from The Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, (link to pdf)Luisa Piccaretta, the Little Daughter of the Divine Will. Jesus, allowing her to experience His Passion, promised "A soul for each word that you pray" to whomever prayed and meditated on these words. Luisa (1865-1947) was a mystic and victim soul who lived only on the Eucharist and the Divine Will for 64 years.The cause for her Beatification was opened by Rome in 1994.) Link to purchase The Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Luisa Piccaretta here. For more information:  The Crown of Sanctity: The Revelations of Jesus to Luisa Piccaretta by Daniel O'Connor, link to purchase here