The Ninth Station: Jesus Falls a Third Time

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. Psalm 38, Verses 4 to 9 For my iniquities have gone over my head;they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.My wounds grow foul and festerbecause of my foolishness,I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;all the day I go about mourning.For my loins are filled with burning,and there is no soundness in my flesh.I am utterly spent and crushed;I groan because of the tumult of my heart.Lord, all my longing is known to thee,my sighing is not hidden from thee.My heart throbs, my strength fails me;and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,and my kinsmen stand afar off.Those who seek my life lay their snares,those who seek my hurt speak of ruin,and meditate treachery all the day long.But I am like a deaf man, I do not hear,like a dumb man who does not open his mouth.Yea, I am like a man who does not hear,and in whose mouth are no rebukes.But for thee, O Lord, do I wait;it is thou, O Lord my God, who wilt answer.For I pray, “Only let them not rejoice over me,who boast against me when my foot slips!”