Way of the Cross for priests - Fr Franciszek Grudniok

We begin the Way of the Cross, which we devote entirely to prayer for priests. The Blessed Sacrament, the greatest treasure the Church possesses, rests in priestly hands. Praying for priests, we pray that the Eucharist may be surrounded with the reverence that is its due.

Station I
THE HIGH PRIEST UNJUSTLY CONDEMNED
He was holy, and yet people passed an unjust sentence upon him. They were able to accuse the Highest, the Holy Priest. What then of those unholy, sinful men whom God calls to priestly ministry down the ages? How many unjust sentences, how many hurtful judgements, how many groundless words of criticism does the world speak against priests? Who is able to judge a priest justly, if not God himself? No man can do it.
Lord Jesus! Forgive all our unjust judgements, all that we have spoken against your priests.

Station II
THE HIGH PRIEST TAKES THE CROSS UPON HIS SHOULDERS
The cross is the altar on which the High Priest will offer the one Sacrifice able to reconcile the world with God. Every priestly vocation is a call to carry the cross, to take responsibility for the salvation of many. It is one of the hardest vocations on earth.
Lord Jesus! You who stretch out your hands for the wood of the cross, we ask you that priests may answer your call. That they may fulfil their vocation to the end, as your Priestly Heart desires.

Station III
THE HIGH PRIEST FALLS UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE CROSS
Lord Jesus, your human strength proved too small for the weight of the salvation of the world. Your knees gave way beneath the weight of the cross. At the third station we pray for the youngest priests, who are taking their first steps on the hard road of priestly life. Especially for those who are bending under the weight of their vocation.
Lord Jesus! Grant that, upheld by your grace, they may carry it through to the end.

Station IV
THE HIGH PRIEST MEETS HIS MOTHER
The Mother of Jesus shares in his priestly sacrifice. She is very near. It is a great happiness to have a loving and supportive Mother close at hand. No heart on earth understands a priestly vocation as perfectly as the heart of a priest's mother. As long as it beats, it shares in his priestly life.
Our Lady of Sorrows! Take into your Heart the mothers of priests. Teach them the difficult art of accompanying their sons on the road of their vocation.

Station V
SIMON OF CYRENE HELPS THE HIGH PRIEST TO CARRY THE CROSS
A priest must know how to work together with people, even when they are reluctant to involve themselves in the things of salvation.
Lord Jesus, you who accepted Simon's help! Teach us what the common work of priests and lay people in the salvation of the world should look like. Grant every priest the grace of cooperating with lay people, that together they may take up the labour of responsibility for the sanctification of mankind.

Station VI
SAINT VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF THE HIGH PRIEST
Today people cannot reach your face, Lord, but they can reach the faces of your priests. How many times a day do they strike them and disfigure them? One need only look at a television screen to see the disfigured image of your priest.
Grant, Lord Jesus, that hands may appear which can uncover the beauty of your priest's face. Today it takes much courage to wipe a disfigured priestly face in the world around us.

Station VII
THE HIGH PRIEST FALLS FOR THE SECOND TIME

Lord Jesus, you who rise from your fall, we ask you for the graces that confessors need. To raise people up from their falls is no easy matter. Fill priestly hearts with your wisdom, patience and love, that they may be able to raise up those who have fallen into sin! May the confessionals be a place where many rise again, where our Nation rises again.

Station VIII
THE HIGH PRIEST ADMONISHES THE WOMEN
To admonish another person in such a way that the admonition bears fruit is a great art. A priest is responsible for admonishing, for setting straight the ways of human thinking. Especially when people stray onto paths that lead far from God.
Lord Jesus, you who admonished the women of Jerusalem, grant to the priests who stand in the pulpit the spirit of brotherly love needed to admonish those who go astray to good effect!

Station IX
THE HIGH PRIEST FALLS FOR THE THIRD TIME
Lord, you who rise from the third fall, we offer you a prayer of reparation for the scandal given by priests. When the one who is to sanctify and to unite with God leads into sin, teaches sin and destroys a person, he commits one of the gravest sins that can be committed on earth. Scandal given by a priest is hard to repair. Years pass, and the wound inflicted does not cease to bleed.
We ask you, Most High Priest, for the grace of your Mercy for every priest who has been a cause of scandal on earth.

Station X
THE HIGH PRIEST STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS
The High Priest gives up everything, even his clothing. Priesthood is bound inseparably with sacrifice, with the surrender of all that is temporal and material. We human beings need a long time to grow into being able to offer up everything.
Lord, stripped of your garments, we ask you that priests may not give in to the temptation of materialism and greed! Show them the beauty of poverty as the Gospel understands it.

Station XI
THE HIGH PRIEST NAILED TO THE CROSS
Your hour has come, the time of suffering and of the full offering. With your blood there flows out a prayer of forgiveness for those who put you to death. Teach your priests, Lord, a forgiving love; teach them to conquer by love when they fall into the hands of their enemies. Only when they are able to do this themselves will they be able to teach the difficult love of enemies to those entrusted to them.

Station XII
THE HIGH PRIEST OFFERS HIS ONE SACRIFICE
Golgotha is the place of the reconciliation of earth with heaven. May all priests, standing at the altar, always be aware that they make your bloody sacrifice present. May they themselves draw fully on its fruits and be able to share them with others. Golgotha is the source of the priestly vocation. Here it is born and here it is fulfilled.
Lord Jesus, dying on the cross, we thank you for the gift of priestly vocations! We thank you that priests can make your Most Holy Sacrifice present for us on earth!

Station XIII
THE BODY OF THE HIGH PRIEST LAID IN THE TOMB
Lord Jesus! Those close to you – your Mother, John the Apostle, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus – laid your Body in the tomb. Tortured and dead, after three days it rose again. Your priests lay your Body in human hearts. The Eucharist is to lead to the glorious resurrection all those who receive your Body. May the earth never lack priests who give out Holy Communion.
At this station we thank you for every priestly pair of hands that distributes your Most Holy Body as food.

Station XIV
THE TOMB OF THE HIGH PRIEST
The tomb of the High Priest is empty. He is seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. And on earth he acts through the hearts, the lips and the hands of priests. The great priestly work goes on.
At this last station we ask you, Lord Jesus, our High Priest, to receive to yourself all priests who have died and to give them a share in your glorious Resurrection.

Fr F. Grudniok