"Easter Sunday"

The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week
was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a
great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord,
descending from heaven, came and rolled
back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning,
and his clothing white as snow.
For fear of him the guards shook and
became like dead men.
 But the angel said to the women,
"Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking
for Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here;
for he has been raised, as he said.
Come, see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples,
'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed
he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.'
Behold, I have told you."
So they left the tomb quickly, fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce this to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
And they came to him, took hold of his feet,
and worshiped him.
Then Jesus said to them,
"Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers
to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Matthew 28:1-10

**Blessings on this Holy Easter Sunday**

"The Way of the Cross" X1V

The Fourteenth Station of the Cross

JESUS IS LAID IN THE SEPULCHER

Taking the body of Jesus, Joseph wrapped
it in clean linen cloths and laid it in his
new tomb that he had hewn in the rock.
Then he rolled a great stone across
the entrance and departed.
Matthew 27:59-60
****

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

 
Good Friday

"The Way of the Cross" X111

The Thirteenth Station of the Cross

JESUS IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS

After this, Joseph of Arimathea,
secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilot if he could remove the body of Jesus.
And Pilot permitted it.
So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus, the one who had first come
to Jesus by night, also came bringing
a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing
about one hundred pounds.
John 19:38-39
****

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Good Friday

"The Way of the Cross" X11

The Twelfth Station of the Cross



JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

It was now about noon and darkness
came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon
 because of an eclipse of the sun.
Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.
Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit";
and when he had said this he breathed his last.
The centurion who witnessed what had happened
glorified God and said,
"This man was innocent beyond doubt."
Luke 23:44-47
****

And bowing his head,
Jesus dies the way he lived...
with total trust in the Father's love.

   
Holy Thursday

"The Way of the Cross" X1

The Eleventh Station of the Cross
   
JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS

When they came to the place called the Skull,
they crucified him and the criminals there,
one on his right, the other on his left.
Then Jesus said,
"Father, forgive them, 
they know not what they do."
Luke 23:33-34
****

Jesus stretched out his arms and
offered to his eternal Father
the sacrifice of his life
for our salvation.
They nailed his hands and feet,
and then, raising the cross,
left him to die in anguish.

"The Way of the Cross" X

The Tenth Station of the Cross

JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS

...they took his clothes and divided them into
four shares, a share for each soldier.
They also took his tunic,
but the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from the top down.
So they said to one another, "Let's not tear it,
but cast lots for it to see whose it will be,"
in order that the passage of
scripture might be fulfilled:
"They divided my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots."
John 19:23-24
****

As though the whipping, mocking and
crowning of thorns are not enough,
Jesus' clothes are torn from him;
yet he stands before his persecutors with a
dignity and grandeur
that no one can take away.


   

"The Way of the Cross" 1X

The Ninth Station of the Cross

JESUS FALLS FOR THE THIRD TIME

All who see me mock me;
they curl their lips and jeer;
they shake their heads at me...

Indeed, many dogs surround me,
 a pack of evildoers closes in on me.
Psalm 22:7, 16
****

He was extremely weak and the cruelty of
his executioners was excessive;
they tried to hasten his steps
though he hardly had strength to move.

"The Way of the Cross" V111

The Eighth Station of the Cross

JESUS MEETS THE WEEPING WOMEN

A large crowd of people followed Jesus,
including many women who
 mourned and lamented him.
Jesus turned to them and said,
"Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me;
weep instead for yourselves and for your children,
for indeed, the days are coming when people will say,
'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that
never bore and the breasts that never nursed.' At that time
people will say to the mountains, 'Fall upon us!'
 and to the hills, 'Cover us!' for if these things
were done when the wood is green
what will happen when it is dry?"

Luke 23:27-31
****

Convert us O, Lord,
and give us new life.
Our hope is in You.

   
P.S. Blessing to you this Palm Sunday.

"The Way of the Cross" V11

The Seventh Station of the Cross



JESUS FALLS FOR THE SECOND TIME

For Christ did not please himself;
but, as it is written,
"The insults of those who insult you
fall upon me."
Romans 15:3
****

He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins;
upon him was the punishment that makes us whole.
The Lord took upon himself
the guilt of us all.
By his cross we are healed.

   

"The Way of the Cross" V1

  The Sixth Station of the Cross
 
VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS

"Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger, and welcome you,
or naked, and clothe you? Or when
did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?"
And answering the king will say to them,
"Amen, I say to you,
as long as you did it for one of these, 
the least of my brethren,
you did it for me."
Matthew 25:37-40
****

Now Jesus is worn out by his suffering.
He is scorned and rejected.
His appearance is that of one tortured beyond human endurance.
 And yet he is fairer than all the sons of men,
and by his wounds we are healed.

"The Way of the Cross" V

The Fifth Station of the Cross

SIMON OF CYRENE HELPS JESUS CARRY HIS CROSS

As they led him away they took hold
of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian,
who was coming in from the country;
and after laying the cross on him,
they made him carry it behind Jesus.
Luke 23:26
****

O God of grace and might,
 accept our prayers and sacrifices,
and be moved to
have mercy on us.
Strengthen us in our weakness
so that our rebellious will may
yield to your divine will in all things.
This we ask of you, through
Christ our Lord.
Amen.

"The Way of the Cross" 1V

The Fourth Station of the Cross

JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER

Now there were standing by the cross of Jesus
his mother and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas,
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore. saw his
mother and the disciple standing by, whom he loved,
he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." 
Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother."
And from that hour the disciple took her into his house.
John 19:25-27
****

To what shall I compare you? Or to what shall
I liken you, virgin daughter of Jerusalem?
For great as the sea is your distress.
O Mother of mercy,
grant that we may always realize in ourselves
the death of Jesus
 and share with him in his saving passion.

   

"The Way of the Cross" 111

The Third Station of the Cross

JESUS FALLS FOR THE FIRST TIME

They began to salute him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
and kept striking his head with a reed and
spitting upon him...
Mark 15:18-19
****

Consider the first fall of Jesus. Loss of blood
from the scourging and crowning with thorns
had so weakened him that he could hardly
walk; and yet he had to carry that great load upon
his shoulders. As the soldiers struck him cruelly, he fell
several times under the heavy cross.

   

**Our Lord's Passion is often referred to as "The Way of the Cross"
and is a devotional mediation on the final steps of Jesus Christ. Though several of the stations (such as the three falls of Jesus) are not found in the Gospel, the origin of "The Way" may be traced to the Holy Land and has been used as a means of prayerful devotion to our Lord for centuries. "The Sorrowful Way" was begun as a desire to retrace the steps to Calvary while remembering Christ's purest sacrifice for our sins.

"The Way of the Cross" 11

The Second Station of the Cross

JESUS IS LADEN WITH THE CROSS

And Pilate said to the Jews, "Behold, your king!"
But they cried out, "Away with him! Away with him!
Crucify him!"
Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?"
The chief priest answered,
"We have no king but Caesar."
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
And so they took Jesus and led him away,
bearing the cross for himself.
John 19:14-17

"The Way of the Cross" 1

The First Station of the Cross
   

JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH

Again the high priest began to ask him, and said to him,
"Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"
And Jesus said to him, 
"I am.
 And you shall see the Son of Man 
sitting at the right hand of the Power
 and coming with the clouds of heaven."
But the high priest tore his garments and said,
"What further need have we of witnesses?
You have heard the blasphemy.
What do you think?"
And they all condemned him as liable to death.
Mark 14:61-64

P.S. Recently I decided to take pictures of all the Stations of the Cross at church. This proved to be quite an undertaking as I am really just a point and shoot photographer...no real skills at all!

I found out quickly that it was going to be impossible to capture the depth of our Lord's Passion through my camera lens. 

But I continued on my mission...realizing that

 what started as a simple idea had became a wonderful challenge! Over the course of several weeks I took hundreds of pictures from many angles and heights... back and forth to church taking picture after picture! No, I never caught the depth of Christ's sacrifice through my lens, but for this Easter season, 

I would like to share my work with you...

one Station at a time over the next fourteen days.

**Also, each of the Stations pictured were refurbished by 

Mr. Carver Gordon, a devout member of 

Annunciation of Our Lord Catholic Church.

"Happy Saint Patrick's Day"

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me.

Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in the mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,

The strong Name of the Trinity;

By invocation of the same.

The Three in One, and One in Three,

Of whom all nature hath creation,

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word;

Praise the Lord of my salvation,

Salvation is of Christ the Lord.   

Amen

**This is a portion  of Saint Patrick's "Breastplate" Prayer.

**Happy Saint Patrick's Day to everyone...especially to my dear friend Maureen from the big city of Waterville, Maine and of course, to Patrick, who has always had a bit of "leprechaun" in his heart. :)

"Paul writes to the Romans"

   "For I am convinced that neither death,

nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,

nor things present,

nor things to come,

nor powers, nor height, nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation,

will be able to separate us from the

love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38

Wow! I just love this verse! Paul speaks with great boldness and

 authority in his statement concerning God's love for us. 

Nothing is greater than God's love for us!

***You won't be surprised to know that If I could edit

one thing it would be to add an exclamation point at the 

end of his amazing proclamation!!  :)

Also, this picture was taken by Clayton Todd Whatley.

"Be Thou My Vision"

   Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

Thou my best thought, by day or by night

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my Light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord

Thou my great Father, I, Thy true son

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise

Thou mine inheritance, now and always

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won

May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall

Still be my vision, O Ruler of all...

Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

This is by far one of my favorite Christian songs...I can just feel it in my bones!  Recently, I heard a beautiful version of it performed by Jamie Thietten.  Check it out on my Facebook page sometime, you won't regret it! :)

**Lord of all Hopefulness, which was my previous post, is sung to the tune of Be Thou My Vision.