gOOD fRIDAY sTATIONS OF THE cROSS
BY

sT. aLBAN'S cATHOLIC cHURCH

✠ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the
sins of all those who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we,
worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the
God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without
end. Amen.

ACT OF CONTRITION
Officiant: Let us humbly confess our sins unto almighty God.
(All kneel.)

All: O, my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee. I detest all my sins because of thy just punishment, but most of all because they offend thee, my God, who are all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.

(Remain kneeling as the Officiant stands to pray.)

Officiant: O MOST merciful Savior, grant that while we follow thy blessed footsteps along this Way of Sorrows, our hearts may be so touched with true contrition that thou mayest turn our weeping into gladness by giving us remission of all our sins. Amen.

Officiant: O MOST sorrowful Mother Mary, who first followed in the way of the Cross, may the Most Adorable Trinity, through thy most powerful intercession, receive and accept, in reparation for our sins, and the sins of the whole world, the affections of sorrow and love,
with which we intend, with God’s help to perform this holy exercise. Amen.

THE FIRST STATION
Jesus is condemned to Death
Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Matthew 27:22-23,26

Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them
said, “Let him be crucified!” Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all
the more, “Let him be crucified!” So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he
handed him over to be crucified.

MEDITATION

The true identity of the Messiah has been a scandal to every generation; even up to our own
day. The word scandal takes its root from the Greek word ‘skandalon’ which means: “any
person, thing, or impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall into error
or sin.” The scandal of Jesus causes every human being to ask Pilate’s question:
“Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

Jesus claims to be God, if he is not, he is either a madman or a lunatic. If he is neither God nor
a lunatic, then he is a liar and we have all been deceived. If he is neither a madman nor a liar,
then he must be God. Where does this scandal lead you? Will you take up your cross and
follow him, or will you dismiss this madman, condemn him, and cast him far from your mind
as a justly sentenced lunatic. Will your choice ring out with the cacophony of the crowd:

“Let him be crucified!”
All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
At the Cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.

THE SECOND STATION
Jesus receives His Cross

Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Matthew 27:27-31

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they
gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and
after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right
hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him,
and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe
and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

MEDITATION

All hail the King! Jesus, the true King, shows us something deeper about power and authority.
It does not make sense on the surface, yet Jesus asks us to look a little deeper into the
meaning of our lives, the power we wield, and the authority we execute. Are our lives
consumed with the question: How is this going to benefit me? How can I ensure my own
pleasure? How can I make sure that everyone knows I am in charge? Christ reveals to us the
depths of the sacred heart of God “that does not even count equality with God as something to
be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And
being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even
death on a cross.” (cf. Philippians 2:7-8) This display of God’s love shows us that Jesus’ cross is
his throne of glory, and by inviting us to share in his cross, we are invited to share in his deeper
vision for human life.

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword has passed.


THE THIRD STATION

Jesus falls the first time beneath the Cross
Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Isaiah 53:4-6

Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten
by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the
Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

MEDITATION

“His agony in the Garden itself was sufficient to exhaust Him; but it was only the first of a
multitude of sufferings.” (St. John Henry Newman) This exhaustion of the God-man is
certainly one of physical fatigue, but if the cross of Jesus shows us anything, it shows that
weight he bears is not merely a physical force. The weight of the cross that Christ bears for
us, is for our transgressions and for the iniquities of the world. The indifferentism of the
world thoughtlessly passes by those who suffer. From those who suffer without a voice, like
the unborn children murdered by abortion, to those homeless, refugees, and immigrants
who suffer without protection, to those addicted and mentally-handicapped who suffer
without support, to those elderly who quietly suffer and are dismissed without concern by
physician assisted suicide. Christ’s exhaustion is for the weight of the world and he is the
one who willfully falls into the depths of the world transgressions to make us whole.

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
O how sad and sore distressed
Was that Mother highly blest
Of the sole-begotten One!


THE FOURTH STATION
Jesus meets His Mother

Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Luke 2:34-35,51

Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and
rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce
through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed”. And his
mother kept all these things in her heart.

MEDITATION

The scandal of Jesus has reached even into the depths of his family. His Blessed Mother now
stands before her son pierced through to her very soul. As the gift of God came to Mary from
the moment of her conception, and was announced to her by the Archangel, even now, God
comes before her once again to reveal: “Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5) “O
wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave you
gave away your Son! O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of
Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!” (Easter Vigil Exsultet)
The thoughts of Mary’s heart are weighed down with the grief of her son’s passion, but the
confidence of her soul is gayly raised with trust; that thoughts out of many hearts may reveal
to the nations that this is the path our salvation.

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Christ above in torment hangs,
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying glorious Son.


THE FIFTH STATION

Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the Cross
Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Matthew 27:32; 16:24

As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; this man they compelled
to carry his cross. Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me.

MEDITATION

The ripple effect of the life of Jesus dramatically spirals outward and now it intersects with
the otherwise common affairs of Simon of Cyrene’s life. Going about his business, Simon is
interrupted by the all too typical parade of Roman justice. The providence of God has now
washed upon the shores of Simon’s life and these tides have delivered to him a very peculiar
invitation. Jesus, in the Sermon of the Mount, said: “Should anyone press you into service for
one mile, go for two miles.” (Matthew 5:41) Sometimes God interrupts the otherwise
mundane flow of our lives with occasions that can either prick our conscience into action or
leave us carrying on the same old pattern of life. This ray of God’s inspiration is the grace
that strengthened Simon to accompany Christ, it is the divine impulse that motivated the
‘Good Samaritan’ to help his fellow man (cf. Luke 10:25-37), and it is the call of God that he
gives to everyone of us: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Is there one who would not weep,
Whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold?


THE SIXTH STATION
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Isaiah 53:2-3

He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from
whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Psalms 27:9-10

My heart hath talked of thee, Seek ye my face: * Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
O hide not thou thy face from me, * nor cast thy servant away in displeasure.

MEDITATION

St. Paul tells us that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
(Colossians 1:15) And so, what do we see in the face of Christ? In the face of Christ, we see
all the complexity of the life of God that in no way compromises the integrity of Jesus’
humanity, but rather God’s grace allows Jesus’ humanity to become radiant with the glow of
God’s all-holiness. So then, as Veronica moves forward to wipe the face of Jesus, God once
again impresses his image on her. Not just on her veil but on her soul. Even though this is a
simple act of charity, God willingly shares his divine image to illuminate our acts of charity
with his impression. The face of God shows us that even the simplest acts, when done out of
love, can profoundly reveal his presence among us.

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled
She beheld her tender Child,
All with bloody scourges rent.


THE SEVENTH STATION
Jesus falls a second time

Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Lamentations 3:1-2,9,16

I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light. He has blocked my way with hewn stones, he has made my
paths crooked. He has made my teeth grind on gravel and made me cower in ashes.

MEDITATION

The first fall of Jesus occurred under the weight of the sin of the world, but now his second
fall can be seen as the affliction placed upon him by the waywardness of his own followers.
Christ has seen corruption in the hearts of his baptized.
For had it been an adversary who taunted me, then I could have borne it; or
had it been an enemy who vaunted himself against me, then I could have
hidden from him. But it was you, a man after my own heart, my companion,
my own familiar friend. We took sweet counsel together and walked with the
throng in the house of God.” (Psalm 55:13-15)
How bitter is Christ’s suffering for those for whom he gives his very life blood? The pain of
his second fall is that those who confess Christ wield his name as a license for oppression,
domination, and abuse. And yet even as Jesus falls, he once again stands to redeem his own.

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother's pain untold?


THE EIGHTH STATION
Jesus comforts the Women of Jerusalem
Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Luke 23:28-31

Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves
and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the
barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!’ Then they will
begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us’. For if they do this when
the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
MEDITATION

Once again, the scandal of Jesus leads to a definitive judgement. However, in this case, Jesus
is the one who speaks the true judgement on the ‘Daughters of Jerusalem’. Although he is
judged and mocked as a fraudulent king, we see Jesus here acting as the true King with
convicting judgement. Pope Benedict XVI once said:
Lord, to the weeping women you spoke of repentance and the Day of
Judgement, when all of us will stand before your face: before you, the Judge of
the world. You call us to leave behind the trivialization of evil, which salves our
consciences and allows us to carry on as before. You show us the seriousness
of our responsibility, the danger of our being found guilty and without excuse
on the Day of Judgement. Grant that we may not simply walk at your side, with
nothing to offer other than compassionate words. Convert us and give us new
life. Grant that in the end we will not be dry wood, but living branches in you,
the true vine, bearing fruit for eternal life (cf. Jn 15:1-10).
All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Let me share with thee His pain,
Who for all my sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.


THE NINTH STATION
Jesus falls for the third time

Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Lamentations 3:27-32

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when he has
laid it on him; let him put his mouth in the dust - there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek
to the smiter, and be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off for ever, but, though he
cause grief, he will have compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

MEDITATION

In the first fall, we have considered that Jesus stumbles under the weight of the sins of the
world. In the second fall, I have proposed that it is the affliction of his own followers that
makes him succumb. In this third fall, we must be candid to admit that it was my own mortal
sin that has caused my loving Savior to collapse. As St. John Henry Newman said:
What, then, made Him give way? I say, I repeat, it is an intimation and a
memory to thee, O my soul, of thy falling back into mortal sin. I repented of
the sins of my youth, and went on well for a time; but at length a new
temptation came, when I was off my guard, and I suddenly fell away. Then all
my good habits seemed to go at once; they were like a garment which is
stripped off, so quickly and utterly did grace depart from me. And at that
moment I looked at my Lord, and lo! He had fallen down, and I covered my face
with my hands and remained in a state of great confusion.
All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
Make my heart with thine accord:


THE TENTH STATION

Jesus is stripped, and drenched with gall
Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Matthew 27:33-36

And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of the skull), they
offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And
when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots; then
they sat down and kept watch over him there.
MEDITATION

“The LORD God called to Adam, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard
the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid
myself.’” (Genesis 3:9-10) From the moment of Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden
of Eden, the act of being stripped naked has entailed a level of vulnerability and
weakness that is not easily reclaimed. As the soldiers brutally strip Jesus of his garments,
they do this to add yet another insult to their dehumanizing assault. But when Jesus became
man in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he already entered the most intimate level of
vulnerability. The mere fact that God has become man, in the first place, means that
God was willing to give himself so completely to us, so that, we might be raised to the
highest glory in him. “O loving wisdom of our God! When all was sin and shame, a second
Adam to the fight and to the rescue came. O wisest love! that flesh and blood, which did in
Adam fail, should strive a fresh against the foe, should strive and should prevail.” (St. John
Henry Newman – The Dream of Gerontius)

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Make me feel as thou hast felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ my Lord.


THE ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus is nailed to the Cross

Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Matthew 27:37-42

And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus the King of the
Jews”. Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right hand and one on the left. And
those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the
temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the
Cross”. So also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him, saying, “He saved others;
he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the Cross and we
will believe in him”.

MEDITATION

The self-gift of Jesus is “Like a bridegroom [that] went forth from his chamber, he came to
the marriage-bed of the Cross, and there in mounting it, he consummated his marriage. And
when he perceived the sighs of the creature, he lovingly gave himself up to the torment in
place of his bride and joined himself to her forever.” (St. Augustine, Sermo Suppositus 120)
Like a mother hen, Christ describes himself, “How often would I have desired to gather your
children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
(Luke 13:34) This imagery refers to the gesture of a hen when fire is sweeping through a
barn. In order to protect her chicks, she will use her own body as a shield. And in the early
Church the image of a pelican was thought to be particularly attentive to her young, to the
point of providing her own blood by wounding her breast when no other food was available.
These images from theology and nature only feebly attempt to capture the full picture of
Christ’s self-sacrifice.

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Holy Mother! pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Savior crucified:


THE TWELFTH STATION
Jesus dies upon the Cross

Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Matthew 27:45-50,54

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the
ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “This man is calling Elijah”. And
one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to
him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him”. And Jesus
cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit”. When the centurion and those who were
with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with
awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

[All kneel in silent prayer for a few moments.]

MEDITATION
Faithful cross above all other: one and only noble tree!
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron, sweetest weight is hung on thee.

(Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus – “Faithful Cross, above All Others”)
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended, that we to judge thee have in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted!

(Johann Heermann – “Ah, Holy Jesus”)

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Let me mingle tears with thee,
Mourning Him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live:


THE THIRTEENTH STATION

Jesus is taken from the Cross, and lain in Mary’s bosom
Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Matthew 27:54-55

When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the
earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of
God!” There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from
Galilee, ministering to him.

MEDITATION

“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death, and he is put to death, and you
hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him
the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God; you shall not defile your land which the
LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 21:22-23) Christ is now taken
down from the tree of the cross and many believe that this blaspheming madman has
received his due punishment, “but the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no
torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their
departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their destruction; but
they are at peace.” (Wisdom 3:1-3) The new Garden of Eden is now created, the second Adam
with the second Eve, Mary, the spiritual mother of all the living, are present. Once again as
the second Adam is placed into a deep sleep, from his side is born the eternal spouse of Christ
the bridegroom; his Church. “This at last, God can declare, is bone of my bones and flesh of
my flesh.” (cf. Genesis 2:23)

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
For the sins of His own nation,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.


THE FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus is laid in the Tomb

Officiant: We adore thee, O Christ, and we bless thee.

[Genuflect]

All: Because by thy holy Cross thou hast redeemed the world.

Matthew 27:59-61

Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb,
which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and
departed. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre.

MEDITATION

“At the very moment of his burial, Jesus’ words are fulfilled: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless
a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much
fruit.” (John 12:24) ... Jesus, you have become the lifeless grain of wheat which produces
abundant fruit for every generation the promise of the grain of wheat which gives rise to the
true manna, the Bread of Life, in which you offer us your very self.” (Pope Benedict XVI)
The scandal of Jesus is now brought to its most definitively dividing moment. Has the
madman and the lunatic received his due punishment; to be forgotten to the sands of time?
Or has the tomb of God now become the clarion call of the definitive victory over sin and
death? Has this tomb become the adrenaline that motivates the sacrifice of the martyrs? Has
this tomb become the voice that emboldens the message of the confessors? Has this tomb
become the library of wisdom that stirs the minds of the doctors? Has this tomb become the
radiant light that animates the purity of the virgins? Jesus, you are the only one who could
descend into the depths of forsakenness and return with the boundless harvest of welcoming
souls to the eternal banquet of God. "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy
sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

All: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be

Officiant: Have mercy on us, O Lord All: Have mercy on us.

STABAT MATER

(Sung or spoken by all we move between stations.)
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defense,
Be Thy Cross my victory;


CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.
O God, Who by the Precious Blood of Thy only-begotten Son didst sanctify the Standard of
the Cross, grant, we beseech Thee, that we who rejoice in the glory of the same Holy Cross
may at all times and places rejoice in Thy protection, Through the same Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
(All kneel and silently offer an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be for the intention of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.)

Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory be