Tredicesima Stazione: Gesù è deposto dalla croce
The Deposition and the Mother's Embrace
The faithful contemplate the descent of Jesus from the cross into the arms of his sorrowful Mother and offer themselves to both.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world. Consider how, once the Lord had already breathed his last, two of his disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, took him down from the cross and laid him in the arms of his afflicted Mother, who received him with tenderness and pressed him to her breast.✦ O Sorrowful Mother, for the love of this Son, accept me as your servant and pray to him for me. And you, my Redeemer, since you died for me, accept me so that I may love you—for I want only you and nothing more.✦1
A Prayer of Love and Perseverance
The believer expresses deep contrition, a desire for union with Christ, and total surrender to his 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 come essendo già spirato il Signore, lo calarono dalla croce due suoi discepoli, Giuseppe e Nicodemo, e lo riposero in braccio all’afflitta Madre, la quale con tenerezza lo accolse e se lo strinse al seno. – O Madre addolorata, per amore di questo Figlio, accettami per tuo servo e pregalo per me. E tu, mio Redentore, giacché per me sei morto, accettami ad amarti, mentre io solo te voglio e niente più.
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
- ↩John.19.38-John.19.40;Mark.15.42-Mark.15.46;Luke.23.50-Luke.23.53 — After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus—but secretly, for fear of the Jews—asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away his body. John.19.39 — Nicodemus also came—the one who had come to him by night at first—bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras in weight. John.19.40 — So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Mark.15.42 — And when evening had already come, since it was the Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Mark.15.43 — Joseph, who was from Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting for the kingdom of God, took courage and went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Mark.15.44 — Pilate was amazed that he had already died, and summoning the centurion, he asked whether Jesus had been dead for some time. Mark.15.45 — And when he learned it from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. Mark.15.46 — And Joseph bought a linen cloth, took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Luke.23.50 — And behold, a man named Joseph, a member of the council, who was a good and righteous man Luke.23.51 — This man had not agreed with their plan and their action — he was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews — and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Luke.23.52 — This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Luke.23.53 — And he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had yet been laid.
- ↩Rom.5.8;1Cor.15.3 — But God demonstrates his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 1Cor.15.3 — For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
Notes
- 1 ↩Italian «accettami ad amarti» is rendered as purpose/result («accept me that I may love you»); a more literal «accept me to love you» is possible but stiffer in English.
Esercizio della Via Crucis (The Way of the Cross) companion
A prayer for every moment, already on your phone
Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.
Chosen Portion is the digital descendant of the carried prayer book: the short daily prayers this collection preserves, delivered one a day to your pocket.
- One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
- Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
- Save favourites into your personal pocket collection you can open anywhere