- Rosary
- Station Options
- Via Crucis Stations
- Station 11
Via Crucis Station 11
Valinhos Sanctuary
The Sacred Way of the Cross
Via Crucis Station 11
JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS
Via Crucis Station 11 confronts me with the horror of crucifixion in its rawest form. Jesus is laid upon the wood, and soldiers drive iron nails through His hands and feet. Each hammer blow echoes with a sound I can barely stand to imagine—yet each blow also proclaims love that will not let go, mercy that holds us fast, sacrifice that binds heaven to earth.
At Valinhos Sanctuary, this station invites the deepest contemplation of what salvation actually cost. These nails don't hold Jesus to the cross by force alone—love holds Him there more than iron ever could. He could have come down at any moment but chose to stay. Every strike of the hammer proclaims something I'm trying to fully understand: "I will not abandon you. I will not let you go. I love you to the very end and beyond."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Jesus, my Savior, what did You feel when the first nail pierced Your flesh? Was it the physical agony, or the spiritual knowledge that my sin was driving that nail deeper? Your hands that healed the sick, blessed children, broke bread for the hungry—now pinned, rendered useless, streaming blood. Your feet that walked dusty roads to find the lost—now nailed, immobile, unable to walk away even if You wanted to. Yet You don't cry out in anger or curse Your executioners. You cry out in love: "Father, forgive them." Nail my heart to Yours, Lord. Nail my wandering will to Your perfect will. Let me never pull away from Your cross, never walk away when following You becomes costly. Hold me fast to You, no matter how much it costs me, because apart from You I am nothing and have nothing worth keeping.
Via Crucis Station 11:
Three Nails, Three Commitments
Being held fast to what matters most
Commitment to Prayer
Nailed to God's Presence
The first nail pins us to prayer—not casual prayer when convenient, but committed prayer even when dry, boring, or difficult. Jesus prayed through His agony. We nail ourselves to a prayer life that persists through dryness, distraction, and doubt. This nail holds us to God.
Commitment to Sacrifice
Nailed to Others' Good
The second nail pins us to sacrifice for others—not occasional charity but committed self-giving. Jesus was nailed down, unable to escape or withdraw. We nail ourselves to service that stays when it's hard, loves when it costs, gives when it hurts. This nail holds us to others.
Commitment to Perseverance
Nailed to the End
The third nail pins us to perseverance—finishing what we start, staying when we want to quit. Jesus could not come down from the cross even if He wanted to. We nail ourselves to seeing things through—marriage, vocation, faith through doubt. This nail holds us to faithfulness.
Deepen Your Journey
Explore the richness of this station through sacred history, spiritual wisdom, and contemplative practices.
The Fátima Connection
The Angel of Peace who appeared at Valinhos taught the shepherd children a prayer that has become central to my own prayer life: "O my Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary." This prayer echoes the meaning of the eleventh station for me—everything accepted and offered for love of Jesus crucified.
Our Lady at Fátima showed the children hell and explained that many souls go there because no one prays and makes sacrifices for them. The eleventh station commissions me: be that someone who prays and sacrifices. Nail yourself to prayer through commitment. Nail yourself to sacrifice through perseverance.
Wisdom from Saints
St. Paul wrote something that has shaped my understanding of Christian life: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." According to St. Catherine of Siena, God created us without our cooperation, but He will not save us without our cooperation—we must choose to be nailed to His will.
St. Padre Pio bore the visible stigmata—the nail wounds—for fifty years, saying simply that he belonged to Jesus crucified. I'm learning that being nailed to Christ isn't about suffering for its own sake—it's about love that refuses to let go.
Contemplative Practice
Praying the Five Wounds Meditation this week: each day meditating on one wound of Christ. Monday (right hand): what am I grasping that I should release? Tuesday (left hand): what am I refusing to grasp that God is offering me? Wednesday (right foot): where am I walking away from God's will? Thursday (left foot): where do I refuse to walk toward where God is leading? Friday (pierced side): what wounds my heart? What must I surrender?
I'm also making a Commitment Prayer about the sin in my life that keeps "nailing Christ to the cross" over and over. I'm naming it honestly, confessing it sacramentally, and making a concrete plan to stop.