This page needs to be proofread.

THIRD STATION.

JESUS FALLS THE FIRST TIME UNDER HIS CROSS.

V. We adore Thee, O Christ, etc.

R. Because by Thy holy Cross, etc.

Consider this first fall of Jesus under His Cross. His flesh was torn by the scourges, His head crowned with thorns, and He had lost a great quantity of blood. He was so weakened that He could scarcely walk, and yet He had to carry this great load upon His shoulders. The soldiers struck Him rudely, and thus He fell several times in His journey.

MY Jesus, it is not the weight of the Cross, but of my sins, which has made Thee suffer so much pain. Ah! by the merits of this great fall, deliver me from the misfortune of falling into mortal