Stations of the Cross: With Daily Lenten Readings (Catholic Liturgical Reading Year A) For the 40 Days of Lent, Holy Week to Easter Sunday

By Catholic Common Prayers

A lot of people think that the Way of the Cross is an ancient devotion, but I want to assure you that it remains a form of devotion which can help us to be very close to Jesus and Mary. In many of the revelations, when those aspiring to holiness ask Jesus what they can do to please Him, He has told them emphatically to meditate on His sufferings, death and resurrection which have brought salvation to the human race.

At the beginning and at every station there are some wonderful thoughts of Christ. As you meditate on these thoughts of Christ, He may give you a message which is not meant for you alone. By this, God's grace will show you how to live a better life as you finish this "ONE HOUR WITH JESUS ON THE WAY TO CALVARY". Every day, you will grow be like Christ and less of yourself.

The preparations for Easter begins on Ash Wednesday when all of us begin to reflect on the temptations, suffering and death of our Lord, Jesus Christ.The stations of the Cross, liturgy readings, prayers, Holy week ceremonies and gestures as laid out in the manual will afford every one of us the opportunity to triumphantly enter Jerusalem with Christ on Palm Sunday, partake in the last supper be arrested with Christ on Holy Thursday, scourged, crucified and die with Christ on Good Friday in order to RISE with him on Easter Sunday. The readings are in accordance with the Vatican II

• Language: English
• Publisher: Catholic Common Prayers
• Release date: Jun 16, 2024

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INTRODUCTION

Active participation leads to Holiness

Dear people of God, please make out the time to be actively part of every rite and ceremony of this gracious season of Lent and holy week. Easter is the most solemn of the feasts of the church. The preparations for Easter begins on Ash Wednesday when all of us begin to reflect on the temptations, suffering and death of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Our Lord's entire life, especially his passion, would have made little or no meaning if there was no resurrection. Let us therefore, thank the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who raised him from death and made us partakers of the glory of his resurrection.

At Lent and especially in the Holy week the Church offers us a very rich and spirit filled ceremony and expects us to participate actively, in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. The holy week celebration requires that all of us, priests and the faithful alike, immerse ourselves in the paschal mystery that we celebrate. This we must do through simple acts of prayer, reflection, silence and a deep expression of religious piety. If we use this Holy week and Easter Manual to participate fully in this holy season. We will be in the full spirit of the season. The stations of the Cross, liturgy readings, prayers, Holy week ceremonies and gestures as laid out in the manual will afford every one of us the opportunity to triumphantly enter Jerusalem with Christ on Palm Sunday, partake in the last supper be arrested with Christ on Holy Thursday, scourged, crucified and die with Christ on Good Friday in order to RISE with him on Easter Sunday. The readings are in accordance with the Vatican II

May the Risen Lord bless our Lenten observance with an eternal and glorious Easter

Week 7

Ash Wednesday (Fast and Abstinence)

Entrance Antiphon (Wis 11:24.25.27)

You are merciful to all, O Lord, and despise nothing that you have made. You overlook the sins of man, to bring him to repentance, for you are the Lord our God.

The Penitential Act is omitted, and the Distribution of Ashes takes its place.

Collect

Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christians service, so that we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint. Through our Lord

.1st Reading: Prophet Joel 2:12-18

Tear your hearts and not your garments

Even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and tear your hearts and not your garments. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy, and repents of evil. Who knows whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, a cereal offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ Then the Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.

The Word of the Lord

Responsorial: Psalm 51:3-4.5-6ab.12- 13.14 and 17 (R. cf. 3a)

R.: Have mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your merciful love;

according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

Wash me completely from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. (R./)

My transgressions, truly I know them; my sin is always before me.

Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done. (R./)

Create a pure heart for me, O God; Renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence; take not your holy spirit from me. (R./)

Restore in me the joy of your salvation; Sustain in me a willing spirit.

O Lord, open my lips

And my mouth shall proclaim your praise. (R./)

2nd Reading: 2Corinthians5:20—6:2

Be reconciled to God. Behold, now is the acceptable time.

Brethren: We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

The Word of the Lord

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Today, harden not your hearts, but listen to the voice of the Lord.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel: Matthew 6: 1-6.16- 18

Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give alms, sound no

trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you..

The Gospel of the Lord

Thursday Week 7

Entrance Antiphon

When I cried to the Lord, he heard my voice; he rescued me from those who attack me. Entrust your cares to the Lord, and he will support you.

Collect

prompt our actions with your inspiration we pray, O Lord, and further them with your constant help, that all we do may always begin from you and by you be brought to completion. Through our Lord.

1st Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

I set before you blessing and curse.

Moses spoke to the people, saying, "See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart tums away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other

gods and serve them, I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and clinging to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.".

The Word of the Lord

Responsorial: Psalm 1:1-2.3.4and6(R.40:5ab)

Response Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

Blessed indeed is the man

Who follows not the counsel of the wicked, Nor stands in the path with sinners,

Nor abides in the company of scorners, But whose delight is the law of the Lord,

And who ponders his Law Day and night. (R./)

He is like a tree that is planted Beside the flowing waters,

That yields its fruit in due season, And whose leaves shall never fade;

and all that he does shall prosper. (R./)

Not so are the wicked, not so! For they, like winnowed chaff, Shall be driven away by the wind.

For the Lord knows the way of the just,

but the way of the wicked will perishes. ( R/)

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Repent, says the Lord, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel: Luke 9:22-25

Whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And he said to all, "If any man would

come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"

The Gospel of the Lord

Friday Week 7

Entrance Antiphon

The Lord heard and had mercy on me; the Lord became my helper.

Collect

Show gracious favor, O Lord, we pray, to the works of penance. We have begun, that we may have strength to accomplish with sincerity the bodily observances we undertake. Through our Lord.

1st Reading: Isaiah 58:1-9a

Is such the fast that I choose?

Thus, says the Lord GOD. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgements, they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it? ’Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to lose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear

guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.".

The Word of the Lord

Responsorial: Psalm 51:3-4.5-6ab.18-19

Response: A broken and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your merciful love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

Wash me completely from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. (R./)

My transgressions, truly I know them; My sin is always before me.

Against you, you alone, have I sinned; What is evil in your sight I have done. (R./)

For in sacrifice you take no delight;

Burnt offering from me would not please you. My sacrifice to God, a broken spirit:

A broken and humbled heart,

O God, you will not spurn. (R/.)

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and the Lord will be with you

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel: Matthew 9:14-15

When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast."

At that time: The disciples of John came to Jesus, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

The Gospel of the Lord

Saturday Week 7

Entrance Antiphon

Answer us, Lord, for your mercy is kind; in the abundance of your mercies, look upon us.

Collect

Almighty ever-living God, look with compassion on our weakness and ensure us your protection by stretching forth the right hand of your majesty. Through our Lord...

1st Reading: Isaiah 58:9c-14

If you pour yourself out for the hungry, then shall your light rise in the darkness

Thus says the Lord: If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. If you turn back your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

The Word of the Lord

Responsorial: Psalm 86: l-2.3-4.5-6 (R. llab)

Response Teach me, O Lord, your way, So that I may walk in your truth.

Turn your ear, O Lord, and answer me, For I am poor and needy.

Preserve my soul, for I am faithful;

save the servant who trusts in you, my God. (R./)

Have mercy on me, O Lord,

For I cry to you all the day long. Gladden the soul of your servant,

For I lift up my soul to you, O Lord. (R./)

O Lord, you are good and forgiving, Full of mercy to all who call to you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer,

And attend to my voice in supplication. (R/)

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord, but that he turns from his way and live.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel: Luke5:27-32

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance

At that time: Jesus saw a tax collector, named Levi,