THIRD STATION.
Jesus falls under the Cross for the first time.
V. We adore thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless thy holy name:
R. Because, by thy holy cross, thou hast redeemed the world.
THE MYSTERY.
THIS station represents our Lord Jesus Christ over-powered by the weight of the cross, fainting through loss of blood, and falling to the ground. Contemplate the unwearied patience of that meek Lamb, under the violence and insults of his brutal executioners; while you, impatient in adversity and infirmity, presume to complain, nay, to insult the majesty of heaven by your blasphemies. Purpose here to suppress the sallies of an ill temper; and, beholding your amiable Jesus prostrate under the cross, excite in yourself a just hatred for sin, the cause of that insupportable weight under which your Saviour sank; and thus address your afflicted Jesus:
PRAYER.
ALAS! my Jesus, the violence of thy heartless executioners, the weight of the cross, or rather the more oppressive load of my sins, bend thee to the earth. Exhausted, panting for breath, thou dost not refuse new tortures for my sake; shall I then refuse the light burden of thy commandments ? Shall I refuse to do violence to my passions and sinful inclinations? Shall I relapse into the very crimes I have often wept over? O Jesus, stretch out thy hand to my assistance, that I may never more fall into mortal sin, but secure my salvation. Amen.
