"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.