The meditations of this year\u2019s Way of the Cross were entrusted to Sister Maria Rita Piccione, O.S.A., President of the Our Lady of Good Counsel Federation of Augustinian Contemplatives in Italy. Sister Mary Rita is a member of the Augustian hermitage of Lecceto, near Siena (Italy,) one of the Tuscan convents of the thirteenth century and a cradle of the Order of Saint Augustine.
\n
\nThe full opening prayer said by Pope Benedict follows.<\/em><\/p>\nLord Jesus,
\nyou invite us to follow you
\nin this, your final hour.
\nIn you, each one of us is present
\nand we, though many, are one in you.
\nIn your final hour is our life\u2019s hour of testing,
\nin all its harshness and brutality;
\nit is the hour of the passion of your Church
\nand of all humanity.
\nIt is the hour of darkness:
\nwhen \u201cthe foundations of the earth tremble\u201d
\nand man, \u201ca tiny part of your creation\u201d,
\ngroans and suffers with it;
\nan hour when the various masks of falsehood
\nmock the truth
\nand the allure of success stifles the deep call to honesty;
\nwhen utter lack of meaning and values
\nbrings good training to nought
\nand the disordered heart disfigures the innocence
\nof the small and weak;
\nan hour when man strays from the way leading to the Father
\nand no longer recognizes in you
\nthe bright face of his own humanity.
\nThis hour brings the temptation to flee,
\nthe sense of bewilderment and anguish,
\nas the worm of doubt eats away at the mind
\nand the curtain of darkness falls on the heart.
\nAnd you, Lord,
\nwho read the open book of our frail hearts,
\nask us this evening,
\nas once you asked the Twelve:
\n\u201cDo you also wish to leave me?\u201d
\nNo, Lord, we cannot and would not leave you,
\nfor you alone \u201chave the words of eternal life\u201d,
\nyou alone are \u201cthe word of truth\u201d
\nand your cross alone
\nis the \u201ckey that opens to us the secrets
\nof truth and life\u201d.
\n\u201cWe will follow you wherever you go!\u201d
\nFollowing you is itself our act of worship,
\nas from the horizon of the not yet
\na ray of joy
\ncaresses the already<\/em> of our journey.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A profound and beautiful prayer, one packed with meaning: part of the Via Crucis led by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI: The meditations of this year\u2019s Way of the Cross were entrusted to Sister Maria Rita Piccione, O.S.A., President of the Our Lady of Good Counsel Federation of Augustinian Contemplatives in Italy. Sister Mary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4826],"class_list":["post-27487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-benedict-xvi"],"yoast_head":"\n
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