The Station of the Cross with St. John Mary Vianney, Curé of Ars

 OPENING PRAYER

Now, we want to pray the Stations of the Cross meditating on the words of St. John Mary Vianney, Curé D’Ars. He says, “Private prayer resembles straw scattered here and there over a field. If it is set on fire, the flame is not a powerful one. If you gather those scattered straws into a bundle, the flame is bright and rises in a lofty column towards the sky. Such is public prayer.” (Abbé F. Trochu: The Curé D’Ars, 1977, p.310)
The indulgence we want to gain for ourselves, the salvation of our souls and we want to ask for graces for all we hold in our hearts.

 1. JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus is condemned. We also were judged and even condemned by others for something. It is unpleasant and hard. How hard it is forgiving! Yet, we want to learn to accept injustice patiently so we can grow inwardly.
St. John Mary Vianney encourages us, “To suffer with love is no longer to suffer.” (M. de Saint Pierre: The Remarkable Curé of Ars, 1963, p. 85)
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

2. JESUS CARRIES HIS CROSS

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
On Corpus Christi day, John Mary Vianney carried the heavy monstrance for two hours. Once, someone told him, “You must be very tired.” He answered, “Oh, why should I be tired? He whom I carried likewise carried me.” (Abbé F. Trochu: The Curé D’Ars, 1977, p.231)
The Priest of Ars carried with great love the monstrance, as well as his own crosses. It was for him naturally because he relied on God and His help and never counted on himself. Yet, we meet different opinions. Advertisements offer us yet a better and supposedly more advanced products, experiences, benefits, etc. and thus we do not live reality. We're running away from trouble. When something goes wrong, we do not try to solve it, but we are looking for something else, newer, more modern, or we give up. We do not look for God’s help, but we count on ourselves, and rely on our cellphones and money.
Jesus, teach us to rely on You. Teach us to put You first, before us, in our lives.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

3. JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
One day a parish priest came to Curé D’Ars lamenting the indifference of his people and the fruitlessness of his labors. The saint replied, “You have preached and you have prayed, but have you fasted? Have you taken the discipline? Have you slept on the bare floor? So long as you have done none of these things you have no right to complain.” (Abbé F. Trochu: The Curé D’Ars, 1977, p.313)
Those are very strong words. Many times we consider God as machine. We “put into machine” one Our Father and out jumps a good marriage. We “put into machine” alms and out jumps a good job. If it doesn’t work we smash or even kick the machine and then we turn away from God, offended. Yet, the St. Priest of Ars teaches us that if we want to obtain graces we must add sacrifices and fasting along with the prayer.
We know our many downfalls in different areas of our lives. Jesus, help us to get up from the ground to make our way into the future with weapons of love, prayer and fasting even if it is difficult for us.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

4. JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER MARY

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
Shortly after the first Communion, John Mary Vianney went one day into the vineyard with his older brother Francis. At the end of the day, John Mary felt utterly worn out. The following day, he took the statue of the Blessed Virgin with him. Before beginning his task, he devoutly kissed the feet of the image, and then threw it in front of him as far as he could. When he came up to it, he reverently picked it up and did as before. On his return, in the evening, he said to his mother, “Always trust the Blessed Virgin. I earnestly called upon her today, and she has helped me much, for I was able to keep up with my brother without being tired out.” Thus, the prayer strengthened him through all of his work. (Abbé F. Trochu: The Curé D’Ars, 1977, p.29)
St. John Mary Vianney drew the strength from the Blessed Virgin. Alike, Jesus was strengthened when He met His Mother. People of every age, more or less, rebel against authority and do not respect them. Now is the moment, when we realize that the fault isn’t just theirs.
Jesus, teach us to respect authority. Place in our hearts a sincere relationship to your and our Heavenly Mother, Mary.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

5. SIMON HELPS JESUS

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
In one of his homilies, St. John Mary Vianney said, “If you will live in sinful addictions for a long time, you wouldn’t be able to emerge from this state with your own power. It requires a special help from God. But you don't deserve it at all, because you despise the graces of our gracious Creator. We cannot avoid the original sin, but we can protect ourselves from venial sins. If we do so, we can only leave them with God's grace. Without God's help, one is lost in the darkness that sin causes in the soul. Only God's grace can fill our hearts with resistance to sin.”
According to these words, it is clear that without God’s grace, we cannot win over sin. God wants to be Simon in our lives. He wants to help us bear our everyday crosses. It is up to us, if we allow Him to help us in our everyday life, when mass media shows us many sins as a matter of course, even necessity.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

6. VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
An old peasant went into the church every day before going to work, and again on his return. Fr. John Mary Vianney asked him, “What do you say to our Lord, during your visits”? He answered, “I say nothing to Him. I look at Him and He looks at me.” (Thoughts of the Curé D’Ars, 1984, p.30)
This unlearned peasant understood the essentials. He went to church to see God without knowing that it was already a deeper prayer of sorts, a prayer without words, which interferes with our inner self. It is like when we are in the sun in the summer. We don't have to say anything to the sun and it still tans us. If we only understood the power, which shines from the Tabernacle and hits our hearts! Then, we endeavor to come close to the Tabernacle as possible so God will shine and leave a mark of love in our hearts as He did on Veronica’s scarf.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

7. JESUS FALLS THE SECOND TIME

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
On another occasion, St. John Mary Vianney preached, “If you don’t want to be doomed you should not be satisfied with a yearly confession. If you live with sins, there is danger of dying with sins and of your condemnation. Remember, if you confess your sins poorly and seldom, you will not get better, you won't be more careful and you will be returned to your previous sins.”
These are very strong words. Advances in medicine prolong life that it feels as though we will not die. This causes little or no thought of eternity and we become angry when someone haunts us by these things. After all, we want to enjoy life. Lent is the time when we should think about our lives. We often hear about the sudden death of young people. So it really needs to be prepared. Yet, it depends only on us how our soul will look when leaving this world; whether it will be dirty because of sins or pure, thanks to the true confessions.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

8. JESUS COMFORTS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
As Jesus warned weeping women, so St. John Mary Vianney often encouraged his believers, “Why do you resist against penance? Why don’t you repent the sins you have committed? – Because you think neither about severe injustice you caused to God, nor the great misfortune you will experience for eternity. We must weep and repent for our sins either in this live or the next. Choose what is beneficial for you. It is always better to repent and to do penance here and now, rather than to be punished in the next life.“
Jesus, we don't like admonitions. We usually see to it, that we know and do all the very best. We ask you to help us to silently accept the things we do not understand.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

9. JESUS FALLS THE THIRD TIME

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus fell three times already. He fell because of our repeated sins. If there would be more real love and less self love in our hearts, we should surely commit less sins.
The older John Mary Vianney was, the more he repeated in his homilies, “Give God your love. He is so good—love Him all you can! (Thoughts of the Curé D’Ars, 1984, p. 36)
Jesus, pour in our hearts sincere love toward You so we can truly love You and our neighbors.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

10. JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
Let us meditate the words of St. John Mary Vianney. “A nice rose must be surrounded by thorns. The most attractive virtue – chastity – blooms amid mortification. We have to modify our sight, turn it away from things that lead us to bad thoughts. We should also mortify our hearing, to avoid useless talk, gossip, insult, hear ugly words, etc. Do not be curious about things others do or say. Boredom will lead person to useless dreams, which baffle him from serious thoughts. Let us think of Christ suffering and death and our end of life, instead of empty dreaming.” There is nothing else to add.
Jesus, grant us the pure hearts and help us to keep them pure.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

11. JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus was crucified 2000 years ago by the soldiers hands. But Jesus is also crucified today by our sins, especially with the mortal sins. The patron of priests, St. John Mary Vianney says, “If I ask any child what sin is committed by a Christian – catholic, when he neglects an Easter confession, the child will say: ‘He commits a mortal sin.’ To the next question, how many mortal sins must be committed to be condemned, he will answer: ‘It is enough to commit only one mortal sin and die in it without repentance.’ What do you say? Did you make your Easter confession? You answer, ‘No.’ So, if death surprises you in this state of soul, you will be damned.”
Jesus, help us to make our confessions often, not of compulsion or part of habit, but freely, from a true desire to have order in our souls. We take exemplary care of our bodies, we care very much about hairstyle, clothes, body posture, muscles, etc. Grant us the desire to care of our souls as well.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

12. JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus dies. Death is something we do not quite understand. Neither do we understand well that someone brings sacrifice for others.
But at this point we are touched by the fact that Jesus dies and brings the sacrifice of His life for us, for me. Jesus, thank You. Let us learn to sacrifice to God, all we have, and also our weaknesses. The Priest from Ars advice us, “Offer your temptations for the conversion of sinners. When the Devil sees you doing this, he is beside himself with rage and takes off, because then the temptation is turned against himself.” (Thoughts of the Curé D’Ars, p.55)
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

13. JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
Mother Mary holds her dead Son in her arms. Looking at His body, she does not lose hope that He will rise from the death. Let us learn the faith and hope from Mary. Let us ask for her intercession for our everyday life. Let us ask her to pray with us and for us, even in this moment so we will be less absent-minded, about which St. John Mary Vianney eloquently said, “Flies do not settle on boiling water; they only fall into cold or tepid water.” (Abbé F. Trochu: The Curé D’Ars, 1977, p.325)
When love for God is truly boiling in our hearts, then we do not have to be afraid of some distracting “flies”.
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

14. JESUS IS BURIED

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.
The dead body of Jesus is buried. This is the last station of the Stations of the Cross. How many people live as if this is really end – that is, God is dead and we do not need to take note of it.
But we forget the greatest event of history: He is risen! He is truly risen! He is a living God, even here, in this moment.
The Priest of Ars often turned to the Tabernacle during his homilies and with fervor he emphasized, “He is there.” (Perzil D.: Blessed and Poor, 1961, p.47)
Jesus crucified, have mercy on us, and those poor souls in purgatory.

CLOSING PRAYER

We have just finished the Stations of the Cross, and at the end we want to add only two pleas:
Jesus, be with us always and have mercy on us!
St. John Mary Vianney, pray for us.

For the intentions of our Holy Father: …