227. The Way to Golgotha. Mt. 27:31–32; Mk. 15:20–21; Lk. 23:26–32; Jn. 19:16–17

And the soldiers, taking the Lord, removed the scarlet robe from him and clothed him in his own garments and led him away to crucifixion.

And, bearing his cross, he went out to the place called the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

And as the soldiers led him, they met on the way, going out from the city, a certain Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, coming from the field. They seized him and laid the cross of the Lord Jesus upon him and forced him to carry it behind him.

And a great multitude of people followed the Lord and women who mourned and wailed for him. But the Lord Jesus, turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem! do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck. Then they will begin to say to the mountains: Fall on us! and to the hills: Cover us! For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

And there were led with him to death two criminals.