by
Fr. John Keep

5th.Station: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

Verse:  We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.
Response:  Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

It was not with the strength of God but with the weakness of man that Jesus carried the Cross, and it was too much for Him.  It is because He wanted us to have His strength when we take up our cross and follow Him that He chose to have our weakness as He took up His Cross for us.  What an exchange!  So weak is He that it would be a great relief to let Himself collapse and die.  But the cruelty of His guards led them to take precautions against this, and they forced a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, to help.  It was Our Lord’s wish to accept this help, not for His own sake, but to teach us that there is something we can do to help Him, to help His holy Mother, to help the Church, in suffering for the salvation of mankind.  Simon was made famous for all future time by what he was forced to do.  What we do in reparation, in helping to carry the Cross, will be known with joy for all eternity.

(after a brief pause)

Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.