Garden of Gethsemane

Lord you know our struggles. Thank you for praying with us and for us in our hour of testing. God of life and death, teach us to hold out for a deeper life, for the prayerful consciousness that enables us to transcend our petty needs, so that we may be free to rest in communion with you.

Betrayed by Judas and arrested

Lord I confess to you I have sinned against you and against others in ways obvious to me and in a way of which I am unaware. Wash me, Lord, and I will be clean. Blot out my offenses and plant in me the seeds of a new and right spirit.

Brought to High Priest

You have called us to keep telling the story of your salvation in the unjust and violent world we have made. Help us see past the limits of our vision to your limitless love, which transcends death. In the prophecies, gospel stories, and apostolic witness of our scriptures may we always find consolation and hope, never faltering in our certainty that you are the God of a kingdom of justice and the author of life.

Denied by Peter

Forgive my denials, O Lord. Instill within me that faith which trusts in you whenever I am tempted to deny you in word or deed. May my whole life honor you.

Scourged and crowned with thorns

Lord, thank you for walking the path of suffering and shame for my sake. Help me to honor you as King so that my words and deeds may reflect your glory.

Condemned to death

Lord forgive me when I turn and reject you. How tempting it is to wander away from you, wanting autonomy, eager to find my own way. How patient you are, searching for me, rescuing me. Bring me home to you. I thank you with my whole heart.

Jesus takes up his cross

Dear Lord, you chose the shame of the cross so that I might know the depth of your love for me. In my darkest moments, help me to see the light of your love that shines from your cross.

Simon helps to carry cross

Teach me to come forward whenever someone is crushed under the burden of life. Let me be a source of light for those who are burdened by a senseless dark life.

Nailed to the cross

Even abandonment, you suffered Lord Jesus Christ. To be fully human, you took the sins and pains of life and added them to your physical torture. You went beyond what any human would ask of God; being God and human you were more, and suffered more, and gave more – and all for our sake.

Behold your mother

Even while suffering, you remembered your mother and made arrangementsfor her. Teach us to pay such close attention to others, even when our own pain might easily distract us.

Crucified

Lord, thank you for living and dying for me. Thank you that you have taken my sin and brokenness upon yourself and given me life.

Taken down from the cross

We praise and thank you Lord, for the gift of yourself on the cross.

For dying on the cross for me. As we contemplate your suffering may we come in repentance and thankfulness.

Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for loving me enough to die.

Laid in the tomb

Lord, at last your pain is over. But even in the darkness of your tomb, we feel you present with us in our deepest darkness, whispering to us. “It’s not over.” Lord, give us hope beyond our despair, life beyond our many deaths. Thank you for going before us in life and in death.