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Station X.

Jesus is stripped of His Garments, and offered Vinegar and Gall.

V. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and bless Thee.

R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

The Mystery.

THIS Station represents how our Lord Jesus Christ ascended Mount Calvary, and was by His inhuman executioners stripped of His garments. The skin and congealed blood are torn off with them, and His wounds renewed.

Consider the confusion of the modest Lamb, exposed naked to the contempt and derision of an insulting rabble. They present Him with vinegar and gall for a refreshment. Condemn here that delicacy of taste, that sensual indulgence, with which you flatter your sinful body. Pray here for the spirit of Christian mortification. Think how happy you would die if, stripped of the world and its attachments, you could expire covered with the blood and agony of Jesus.

Prayer.

Suffering Jesus! I behold Thee stript of Thy garments, Thy old wounds renewed, and new ones added to the old. I behold Thee naked in the presence of thousands, exposed to the inclemency of the weather; cold, trembling from head to foot, insulted by the blasphemous derisions of the spectators. Strip, O mangled Lamb of God! my heart of the world and its deceitful affections. Divest my soul of its habits of sensual indulgence. Embitter the poisoned cup of pleasure, that I may dash it with contempt from my lips, and through Christian mortification arrive at Thy never fading glory. Amen, Jesus.

Our Father, &c. Hail Mary, &c. Glory, &c.

Jesus Christ crucified, have mercy on us!

O Queen of angels, how thy heart did bleed
To see thy Son stripped naked here indeed,
And to the vile and cruel throng exposed,
Who round Him now in furious hatred closed