Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.
St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, who died in 1897, the "Little Flower," understood the pain of Our Lord on His tortured Way. She saw her "littleness," and sought to serve Jesus in her "little way." Here is a meditation of hers that I chose to lead into the Third Station of the Cross. She tells us to leave the easy road and travel the way of Christ. We have an illustrious lineage as children of God.
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O Jesus Christ, Son of the Eternal Father, our Lord, true King of all things! What didst Thou leave in the word for Thy descendants to inherit from Thee? What didst Thou ever have, my Lord, save trials, pains and insults? Indeed Thou didst have only a beam of wood to rest upon while drinking the bitter draught of death. Those of us then, my God, who desire to be true children and not to renounce their inheritance, must never flee from suffering. Thy crest is five wounds! So that too must be our device if we would inherit his Kingdom! Not by ease, nor by comfort, nor by honor, nor by wealth, can we gain that which He purchased for us, by so much Blood. O you who come of illustrious lineage, for the love of God, open your eyes. Behold those true knights of Jesus Christ, the princes of His Church, St. Peter and St. Paul: never did they travel by the road you are taking. Can you be imagining that a new road is to be built for you? Do not think that for a moment.
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The Third Station: Jesus Falls the First Time
We Adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee,
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Consider this first fall of Jesus under His cross. his flesh was torn by the scourges, His head crowned with thorns, and He had lost a great quantity of blood. He was so weakened that He could scarcely walk, and yet He had to carry this great load upon His shoulders. The soldiers struck Him rudely, and thus he fell several times in His journey.
My beloved Jesus, it is not the weight of the cross, but of my sins, which has made Thee suffer so much pain. Ah, by the merits of this first fall, deliver me from the misfortune of falling into moral sin. I love Thee, O my Jesus, with my whole heart; I repent of having offended Thee. Never permit me to offend Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always, and then do with me what Thou wilt.
Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory be.....
Lord Jesus, crucified,
Have mercy on us!
O how sad and sore distressed
Was that Mother highly blessed
Of the sole-begotten One!
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