Cross of Jesus, Cross of sorrow,
Where the blood of Christ was shed,
Perfect Man on thee did suffer,
Perfect God on thee has bled!
Here the King of all the ages,
Throned in light ere worlds could be,
Robed in mortal flesh is dying,
Crucified by sin for me.
O mysterious condescending!
O abandonment sublime!
Very God Himself is bearing
All the sufferings of time!
Evermore for human failure
By His passion we can plead;
God has born all mortal anguish,
Surely He will know our need.
This—all human thought surpassing—
This is earth’s most awful hour,
God has taken mortal weakness!
God has laid aside His Power!
Once the Lord of brilliant seraphs,
Winged with love to do His will,
Now the scorn of all His creatures,
And the aim of every ill.
Up in Heaven, sublimest glory
Circled round Him from the first;
But the earth finds none to serve Him,
None to quench His raging thirst.
Who shall fathom that descending,
From the rainbow circled throne,
Down to earth's most base profaning,
Dying desolate alone.
From the “Holy, Holy, Holy,
We adore Thee, O most High,”
Down to earth’s blaspheming voices
And the shout of “Crucify.”
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life
gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.
O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty
Yourself out upon us. -- (Chaplet of Divine Mercy)
Did Jesus die a premature death? Why did He die such a shameful and painful death?
With an understanding of why Jesus died on the Cross, we come face-to-face with
the unconditional and total love of God for humanity. The Cross is
the glory of Christ, and His exaltation; it is the chalice which He
lovingly embraced, the consummation of His sufferings on our behalf. Listen to His words,
"When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself" ..
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Lent is a special time of the year which can lead to a deepening of our faith,
if we make use of it. During the entire Lenten season, we are called to
Prayer, Repentance, Fasting, Abstinence and Almsgiving. The Church offers
spiritual direction to help us in our observance of Lent. If we are diligent, with
God's help, we are sure to reap abundant graces in this season..
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Prayer helps us to embody what this season is about.
The Stations of the Cross continue to be a popular devotion during Lent.
It was developed during the Crusades when the knights and pilgrims began to
follow Christ's Way to Calvary along a route known today as the Via Dolorosa.
This devotion was later spread throughout Europe by the Franciscan friars.
Today we continue this tradition in our local churches. Can we deny our Lord,
the sweetest of prayers?
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Lent is a time of spiritual spring-cleaning.
Thus it is the perfect time for making changes in who we are. We can use
this season of waiting and change to assess our personal lives and pause for a
brief time to remember the significant moments in our lives when the brilliant
Light of God helped us to get through a tough day, or just made an ordinary
day seem so beautiful..
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