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“People who passed by said terrible things about Jesus. They shook their heads and shouted, “So you’re the one who claimed you could tear down the temple and build it again in three days! If you are God’s Son, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

“Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross, so that everyone might come within the reach of you saving embrace. So, clothe us with your Spirit that we reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you, to the knowledge and love of you.”

When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left and Jesus in the middle and the scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘He was numbered with the transgressors’.

The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross and gambled to see who would get his clothes.  Then they sat down to guard him.  Above his head they put a sign that told why he was nailed there. It read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!”  Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

“Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.”

“And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means the place of the Skull, they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall, but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.”

“They stripped off Jesus’ clothes and put a scarlet robe on him. They made a crown out of thorn branches and placed it on his head, and they put a stick in his right hand. The soldiers knelt down and pretended to worship him. They made fun of him and shouted, “Hey, you king of the Jews!” Then they spit on him. They took the stick from him and beat him on the head with it.”

Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light. Surely against me he turned his hand again and again all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.

“We adore you O Christ and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

“Jesus was forced to carry the cross on which he die. On his head was placed a crown of cruel thorns These represented the weight of all our crosses. What he must have felt as he first took it upon his shoulders! With each step he enters more deeply into our human experience. He walks in the path of human misery and suffering, and experiences its crushing weight.” Will we too not expect to carry our crosses?

“Jesus was not only put to death, but he was also executed in one of the most violent and painful ways possible: crucifixion. He suffered in silence as huge nails were pounded into his hands and feet.”

“That is why you must never underestimate the degree of suffering of any of your brothers or sisters.  If you look only at their pain, you may wonder what they have to complain about.  “I’ve had much worse,” you may say.  But you cannot see their suffering.  You don’t know how sensitive they are, how quickly their pain can become insufferable agony.  Instead of judging, do what you can to relieve both their pain and their suffering.”

“After a painful journey, Christ finally arrives at the foot of Mount Calvary, only to fall once again. Even though he is crushed by the weight of the Cross, His love for us remains.”

“You may someday fall for a third, fourth, or fifth time and have no strength to get up.  You will have to be picked up by others. Don’t let that lead to despair; it does not mean you are less than human. Do not let the reaction of those around you work to take away your dignity when you are flat on the ground and helpless. Despite their best intentions, others probably will be showing a mixture of pity, shock, disgust, and anxiety at the sight of your helplessness.”

“And through these days of penitence, and through your Passiontide, forever more, in life and death, O Lord with us abide. May we once this life of Suffering past, attain an Easter of unending joy at last.”

“Abide with me, fast falls the eventide, though darkness deepens, Lord with me abide, when other helpers fails and comforts flee, oh thou who changest not, abide with me .”

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