Nona Stazione: Gesù cade la terza volta
The Third Fall
The faithful contemplate the extreme exhaustion of Jesus during his third fall and pray for the strength to overcome human respect and sinful desires.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.✦ Consider Jesus Christ's third fall. Jesus's weakness was extreme, and so was the cruelty of his executioners, who wanted him to hurry his steps when he barely had the strength to walk. My Jesus, so worn and abused, by the merit of the weakness you chose to suffer on the way to Calvary, give me enough strength to overcome every fear of human opinion and all my wicked desires, which in the past have led me to despise your friendship.1
A Prayer of Love and Perseverance
The devotee expresses deep contrition, a desire for union with Christ, and total surrender to the divine will.
I love you, my Jesus, more than myself; I repent with all my heart for having offended you. Forgive me, and do not let me be separated from you. Grant that I may always love you, and then do with me as you please.
Read the original Latin
Ti adoriamo, o Cristo, e ti benediciamo, perché con la tua santa Croce hai redento il mondo.
Considera la terza caduta di Gesù Cristo. Era troppa la debolezza di Gesù e troppa era la crudeltà dei carnefici, i quali volevano che affrettasse i passi, quando appena aveva la forza di camminare. – Strapazzato mio Gesù, per il merito della debolezza che volesti patire nel viaggio al Calvario, dammi forza bastante a vincere tutti i rispetti umani e tutti i miei malvagi appetiti, che in passato mi hanno indotto a disprezzare la tua amicizia.
Io ti amo, Gesù mio, più di me stesso, mi pento con tutto il cuore di averti offeso. Perdonami e non permettere che mi separi da te. Fa’ che sempre ti ami e poi disponi di me come ti piace.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Gal.6.14;Col.1.20 — But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Col.1.20 — and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross — through him, whether things on earth or things in the heavens.
Notes
- 1 ↩Italian rispetti umani is the classic spiritual term often rendered 'human respect' (concern for others' opinions rather than God). Rendered here as 'fear of human opinion' for clarity in modern English.
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