Twelfth Station – Jesus dies upon the cross

Leader: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. 

All: Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world. 

From the Gospel according to Luke 

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent” (Lk 23:44-47). Reflection St. John tells us that Mary stood beneath the cross of Jesus. Mary experiences another death of someone she loves. First her parents, her relatives St. Elizabeth and Zechariah, then St. John the Baptist, but closest to her, St. Joseph – and now her son. By Jesus’ entrusting of Mary to St. John, we know that St. Joseph had already passed from this life. As Jesus draws his last breath, let us recall the last breath of St. Joseph, who died in the company of Mary and Jesus.

Dear St. Joseph, watch over families who have experienced a recent loss; be with the widowers and comfort the bereaved. 

Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...