via crocis al colloseo 2007

8/14/2019 Via Crocis al Colloseo 2007

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OFFICE FOR THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONSOF THE SUPREME PONTIFF

WAY OF THE CROSS

AT THE COLOSSEUM LED BY THE HOLY FATHER

POPE BENEDICT XVI

GOOD FRIDAY 2007

MEDITATIONS BY

Monsignor GIANFRANCO RAVASI Prefect of the Ambrosian Library and Gallery

of Milan


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PRESENTATION

It was a late spring morning, somewhere between the years 30 and 33 of our era. In a street of Jerusalem which in centuries to come would be known simply as the Via Dolorosa a small procession was winding its way: escorted by a patrol of Roman soldiers, a man condemned to deathadvanced, carrying the patibulum , the horizontal arm of a cross whose vertical arm was alreadystanding amid the stones of a small, rocky promontory called in Aramaic, Golgotha, and in Latin,Calvary, the place of the skull.

This was the last chapter of a familiar story whose central figure is Jesus Christ, the man crucifiedand humiliated, the Lord risen and glorious. It was a story that began in the darkness and gloom of the evening before, beneath the olive branches of a field called Gethsemane, the olive-press. Astory that quickly unfolded in the strongholds of religious and political power and culminated in asentence of death. Yet the case of that condemned man was unlike that of so many other victims of the brutal torture of crucifixion, which the Romans reserved for the punishment of revolutionariesand slaves. Not even the tomb, offered by a man of means named Joseph of Arimathea, could bethe end of the story.

There would in fact be another chapter, astonishing and unexpected: the condemned man, Jesus of Nazareth, would splendidly reveal another nature hidden beneath the features of his humancountenance and body: that of the Son of God. The end of the story was not the Cross and thetomb, but rather the brilliant light of his Resurrection and his glory. As the Apostle Paul, a fewyears later, would say: the one who renounced his glory to become powerless and weak like us, andabased himself even to accepting a shameful death by crucifixion, was exalted by the Father, who

made him the Lord of earth and heaven, of history and eternity (cf. Phil 2:6-11).For centuries Christians have retraced the steps of theVia Crucis , a path that leads to the hill of thecrucifixion, with their gaze fixed on its ultimate goal, the light of Easter. They have made that journey as pilgrims along that same street in Jerusalem, but also in their cities, their churches andtheir homes. For centuries writers and artists, both famous and forgotten, have sought to touch thehearts of the faithful by bringing to life those steps or stations, making them moments of meditation along the way to Golgotha. They have painted pictures ranging from the striking to theordinary, from the sublime to the simple, from the dramatic to the plain and unaffected.

In Rome, this spiritual journey in the footsteps of Jesus sets out anew each Good Friday, led by the

Pope, the Bishop of this City and the universal pastor, in union with Christians the world over. Thisyears reflections for each station are narrative and meditative in character, and follow the story of the Passion as recounted by the Evangelist Saint Luke. They have been written by a biblist,Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, prefect of the Ambrosian Library and Gallery in Milan, a culturalinstitution founded four centuries ago by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, Archbishop of that city and acousin of Saint Charles Borromeo. A century ago, among its prefects, was Achille Ratti, the futurePope Pius XI.

Let us now begin together this journey of prayer, not simply for the sake of remembering pastevents and a tragic death, but to experience the crude realism of a story which nonetheless speaks of hope, joy and salvation. Perhaps others who are still searching, uncertain and troubled will makethis journey alongside us. And as we make our way, step by step, along this path of suffering and of light, we will be able to hear an echo of the stirring words of the Apostle Paul: Death has been


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swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? But thanks be to God, who gives usthe victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Cor 15:54-55, 57).

* * *

OPENING PRAYER

The Holy Father:In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

R.Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters,the shadows of evening have fallen on Rome, just as they did that evening on the houses and gardens of Jerusalem.We too will now go out to the olive trees of Gethsemaneand follow in the steps of Jesus of Nazarethduring the final hours of his life on earth.

It will be a journey into pain, solitude and cruelty,into evil and death.But it will also be a path trod in faith, hope and love,

because the tomb which is the final stop on our waywill not remain sealed for ever.Once the darkness has passed,at the dawn of Easter, the light of joy will arise,silence will be replaced by the word of lifeand death will give way to the glory of the Resurrection.

Let us now pray,and join our wordsto those spoken by an ancient voice of the Christian East.

Lord Jesus,Grant us the tears we lack,that our sins may be washed clean.Grant us the courage to implore your mercy.On the day of your final judgmenttear out the pages listing our sinsand consign them to oblivion.[1]

Lord Jesus,you repeat to us this eveningthe words you once spoke to Peter:Come, follow me.Obedient to your summons,we wish to follow you, step by step,
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along the way of your Passion,so that we too may learnto think as God thinksand not by human standards.

Amen.

[1] NIL SORSKIJ (1433-1508), from the Penitential Prayer .
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S.P. 42: "Borromeo" Liturgy of the Hours miniated by Cristoforo de Predis, Cent. XVAmbrosian Library

FIRST STATION Jesus in the Garden of Olives

V/.Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.R/.Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

From the Gospel according to Luke. 22:39-46

Jesus came out, and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not enter intotemptation." And he withdrew from them about a stones throw, and knelt down and prayed,"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will but yours be done."

And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation."

MEDITATION

When the veil of darkness descends upon Jerusalem, the olives of Gethsemane even today seem to bring us back, with the rustling of their leaves, to that night of suffering and prayer that Jesusexperienced. He stands out, alone, at centre stage, kneeling on the soil of that garden. Like every

person facing death, Christ too is filled with anguish; indeed, the original word used by theEvangelist Luke is "agonia", struggle. Jesus prayer is dramatic, tense as if in combat, and the sweatstreaked with blood running down his face is evidence of a harsh, bitter torment.


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He cries out to heaven, to that Father who seems mysteriously silent: "Father, if you are willing,remove this cup from me", the chalice of suffering and death. One dark night, on the banks of atributary of the Jordan, one of the patriarchs of Israel, Jacob, had also encountered God as someonemysterious, and "wrestled with him until the breaking of the day"[2]. Praying at times of trial is anexperience which disturbs the body and soul alike, and Jesus, in the darkness of that evening,

"offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save himfrom death"[3].

* * *

In the Christ of Gethsemane, struggling and filled with anguish, we see ourselves reflected,whenever we pass through the night of searing pain, of separation from friends, of Gods silence. Inthis sense, it has been said that Jesus "will be in agony until the end of the world: we cannot sleepuntil that moment, for he seeks companionship and comfort"[4], like everyone else who suffers onthis earth. In him too, we see our own face, when it is wet with tears and racked by distress.

But Jesus struggle does not yield to the temptation of despair and surrender, but to a profession of confident trust in the Father and his mysterious plan. In that bitter hour it is the words of the "Our Father" that he holds out to us: "Pray that you may not enter into temptation Not my will, butyours be done!". And then an angel of consolation, strength and comfort appears, who helps Jesus,and us, to persevere to the end of the journey.

All :

Pater noster, qui es in clis:sanctificetur nomen tuum;adveniat regnum tuum;fiat voluntas tua, sicut in clo, et in terra.Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;et dimitte nobis debita nostra,sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;et ne nos inducas in tentationem;sed libera nos a malo.

Stabat mater dolorosa,iuxta crucem lacrimosa,

dum pendebat Filius.

[2] Cf.Genesis 32:23-32.

[3] Cf. Hebrews 5:7.

[4] Blaise Pascal, Penses , No. 555, ed. Brunswieg.
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SECOND STATION Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested



While Jesus was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve,was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would youbetray the Son of man with a kiss?" And when those who were about him saw what would follow,they said, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, "No more of this!" And he touched his ear and healed him.Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?" When I was with you dayafter day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

MEDITATION

Amid the olives of Gethsemane, plunged in darkness, a small crowd now comes forward: leadingthem is Judas, "one of the twelve", one of Jesus disciples. In Lukes account he does not say asingle word, he is merely an icy presence. It almost seems that he does not succeed in kissing theface of Jesus, stopped by the one voice that rings out, the voice of Christ himself: "Judas, would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?" These words are regretful but firm; they lay bare the knot of


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evil lodged in the restless, hardened heart of the disciple, who may have been disillusioned,disappointed and on the verge of despair.

Down the centuries, that betrayal and that kiss have become a symbol for countless infidelities,apostasies, deceptions. And so Christ faces another trial: betrayal and its resulting sense of

abandonment and isolation. This is not the kind of solitude he loved when he would withdraw to themountains to pray, it is not the interior solitude which is a source of peace and quiet, since it givesus a glimpse of the mystery of the soul and of God. Rather, it is the bitter experience of all those persons who, at this very moment when we are gathered here, as at other times of the day, findthemselves alone in a room, facing a bare wall or a silent telephone, forgotten by everyone becausethey are elderly or infirm, foreigners or outsiders. Along with them, Jesus drinks from this chalice,which contains the gall of abandonment, loneliness and hostility.

* * *

The scene of Gethsemane, then, suddenly comes alive: the earlier picture of prayer, solemn,intimate and silent, is now replaced, beneath the olive trees, by agitation, uproar and even violence.Yet Jesus remains always at the centre, unmoved. He knows full well that evil encircles humanhistory with its shroud of bullying, aggression, brutality: "This is your hour, and the power of darkness".

Christ does not want his disciples, ready to draw their swords, to react to evil with evil, to violencewith more violence. He is certain that the power of darkness apparently invincible and never sated by its triumphs is destined to be defeated. Night will give way to dawn, darkness to light, betrayalto repentance, even for Judas. That is why, in spite of everything, we must continue to hope and tolove. As Jesus himself taught us on the mount of the Beatitudes, if a new and different world is tocome about, we need "to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us"[5].

All :

Pater noster, qui es in clis:sanctificetur nomen tuum;adveniat regnum tuum;fiat voluntas tua, sicut in clo, et in terra.Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;et dimitte nobis debita nostra,

sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;et ne nos inducas in tentationem;sed libera nos a malo.

Cuius animam gementem,contristatam et dolentem

pertransivit gladius.

[5] Matthew 5:44
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M.S. Vat. Lat. 2639 - Miniated by Nicola da Bologna (1370)Vatican Apostolic Library

THIRD STATION Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin


From the Gospel according to Luke 22:66-71When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and

scribes; and they led him away to their council, and they said, "If you are the Christ, tell us." But he said to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from nowon the Son of man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God." And they all said, "Are

you the Son of God, then?" And he said to them, "You say that I am." And they said, "What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips."

MEDITATION

The dawn of Good Friday is breaking from behind the Mount of Olives, after brightening thevalleys of the desert of Judah. The seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewishinstitution, are gathered in a semicircle around Jesus. The hearing is about to begin, and it will


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follow the usual judiciary procedure: the identification of the defendant, the bringing of charges, thehearing of witnesses. The trial concerns a religious matter which falls within the competence of thattribunal. This is also clearly seen from the two principal questions: "Are you the Christ? Are youthe Son of God?."

Jesus answer starts from an almost discouraging premise: "If I tell you, you will not believe; if Iask you, you will not answer." He knows, then, that incomprehension, suspicion andmisunderstanding are in store for him. He can feel himself surrounded by a icy wall of distrust andhostility, all the more oppressive because it is erected around him by his own religious and nationalcommunity. The Psalmist before him had experienced such disappointment: "If this had been done by an enemy, I could bear his taunts; if a rival had risen against me, I could hide from him. But it isyou, my own companion, my intimate friend! How close was the friendship between us. We walkedin together in harmony in the house of God"[6].

* * *

And yet, despite that incomprehension, Jesus does not hesitate to proclaim the mystery within him,a mystery which from that moment on will be revealed as in an epiphany. Using the language of scripture, he acknowledges that he is "the Son of man, seated at the right hand of the power of God." The messianic glory awaited by Israel is now manifested in this prisoner. Indeed, it is the Sonof God who now, paradoxically, appears in the guise of one accused. Jesus response "I am" ,which at first sight seems like the confession of a crime, is in reality a solemn profession of hisdivinity. In the Bible, the words "I am" are the name and title of God himself[7].

The accusation, which will end in a death sentence, thus becomes a revelation, and also our own profession of faith in Christ, the Son of God. That defendant, humiliated by a disdainful court, bythe sumptuous courtroom, by a sentence already sealed, reminds us of our own duty to bear witnessto the truth. A witness which must be forcefully rendered even when there is a powerful temptationto hide, to give up, to go along with the prevailing opinion. In the words of a young Jewish womandestined to die in a concentration camp[8]: "each new horror or crime, we must oppose with a newfragment of truth and goodness which we have gained in ourselves. We can suffer, but we must notsurrender".

All :

Pater noster, qui es in clis:

sanctificetur nomen tuum;adveniat regnum tuum;fiat voluntas tua, sicut in clo, et in terra.Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;et dimitte nobis debita nostra,sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;et ne nos inducas in tentationem;sed libera nos a malo.

O quam tristis et afflicta fuit illa benedicta

mater Unigeniti!
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[6] Psalm 55(54): 12-15.

[7] Cf. Exodus 3:14.

[8] Etty Hillesum, Diary 1941-1943 (3 July 1943).
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FOURTH STATION Jesus is denied by Peter

V/.Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.

R/.Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.From the Gospel according to Luke 22:54-62

Then they seized Jesus and led him away, bringing him into the high priests house. Peter followed at a distance; and when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat downtogether, Peter sat among them. Then a maid, seeing him as he sat in the light and gazing at him,

said, "This man was with him." But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know him." And a littlelater someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not."

And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, "Certainly this man was alsowith him; for he is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

MEDITATION

Let us go back to the night we had left behind when we entered the hall where Jesus first trial wastaking place. The darkness and the cold are pierced by the flames of a brazier in the courtyard of the palace of the Sanhedrin. The servants and guards are holding out their hands to the warmth; their faces are lighted up. And three voices, one after another, speak out, and three hands point towards aface they recognize, the face of Peter.

The first is a womans voice. She is one of the maids in the palace; looking the disciple in the eye,she exclaims, "You too were with Jesus!" A mans voice follows: "You are one of them!" Another


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man later makes the same accusation, after hearing Peters northern accent: "You were with him!".Faced with these declarations, the Apostle, as if in a desperate crescendo of self-defence, does nothesitate to lie: "I do not know Jesus! I am not one of his disciples! I dont know what you aretalking about!" The light of that brazier penetrates far beyond Peters face, it lays bare his wretchedheart, his frailty, his selfishness, his fear. And yet only a few hours earlier, he had proclaimed, "Even

though all fall away, I will not! If I must die with you, I will not deny you!"[9]* * *

The curtain, however, does not fall on this betrayal, as was the case with Judas. That night a noise pierces the silence of Jerusalem, but above all Peters own conscience: the sound of the cock crowing. Precisely at that moment Jesus comes forth from the tribunal that has condemned him.Luke describes the exchange of glances between Christ and Peter with a word in Greek thatsuggests a penetrating stare at someones face. But, as the Evangelist notes, this is not just any manwho looks at another; it is "the Lord", whose eyes peer into the depths of the heart, into the deepestsecrets of a persons soul.

From the eyes of the Apostle fall tears of repentance. In his story are condensed countless stories of infidelity and conversion, of weakness and liberation. "I wept, and I believed!" in these twosimple words, centuries later, a convert [10] would compare his own experience to that of Peter,thus speaking for all of us who daily make petty betrayals, protecting ourselves with cowardly justifications, letting ourselves be overcome with base fears. But, like the Apostle, we too can takethe road that brings us to Christs gaze and we can hear him give us the same charge: you, too,"once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers!" [11].

All :

Pater noster, qui es in clis:sanctificetur nomen tuum;adveniat regnum tuum;fiat voluntas tua, sicut in clo, et in terra.Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;et dimitte nobis debita nostra,sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;et ne nos inducas in tentationem;

sed libera nos a malo.Qu mrebat et dolebat

pia mater, cum videbat Nati pnas incliti.

[9] Mark 14:29, 31.

[10] FRANOIS-REN DE CHATEAUBRIAND,The Genius of Christianity (1802).

[11] Luke 22:32.


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he seems to incarnate repressive brutality, inasmuch as Luke, on one page of his Gospel, speaks of the day in the temple when he had mingled the blood of Jews with that of the sacrificial animals[12]. At his side we encounter another dark, strange power: the savage power of the masses,manipulated by occult forces hatching plots in the shadows. The result is the decision to release aninsurgent and a murderer, Barabbas.

On the other hand, however, a different image of Pilate emerges: he seems to stand for thetraditional equity and impartiality of Roman law. Three times, in fact, Pilate attempts to releaseJesus for insufficient evidence, imposing at most the disciplinary sanction of scourging. The chargesagainst him did not stand up to a serious judicial inquiry. As all the Evangelists show, Pilatedisplays a certain openness, a receptiveness that nonetheless slowly fades away and dies.

* * *

Pressured by public opinion, Pilate embodies an attitude which appears common enough in our owntimes: indifference, lack of concern, personal expediency. To avoid trouble and to get ahead, we areready to trample on truth and justice. Explicit immorality generates at least a shock or somereaction, whereas this approach is pure amorality; it paralyzes the conscience, stifles remorse, and blunts the mind. Indifference is the lingering death of authentic humanity.

The outcome is found in Pilates final choice. As the ancient Romans would say, a false andapathetic justice is like a spiderweb in which gnats are caught and die, but which birds can tear apart by the strength of their flight. Jesus, one of the little ones of the earth, powerless to utter aword, is smothered by this web. And as we ourselves so often do, Pilate looks on from afar, washeshis hands and, as an alibi, tosses off so the Evangelist John tells us [13] the age-old questiontypical of every form of scepticism and ethical relativism: What is truth?.

All :

Pater noster, qui es in clis:sanctificetur nomen tuum;adveniat regnum tuum;fiat voluntas tua, sicut in clo, et in terra.Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;et dimitte nobis debita nostra,

sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;et ne nos inducas in tentationem;sed libera nos a malo.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,matrem Christi si videret in tanto supplicio?

[12] Cf. Luke 13:1.

[13] John 18:38
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SIXTH STATION Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns



Now the men who were holding Jesus mocked him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and asked him, Prophesy! Who is it that struck you? and they spoke many other words against him,reviling him.

From the Gospel according to John. 19:2-3

And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purplerobe; they came up to him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! and struck him with their hands.

MEDITATION

One day, walking in the valley of the Jordan not far from Jericho, Jesus halted and spoke to theTwelve with words of fire, words they found impossible to understand: Behold, we are going up toJerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked andshamefully treated and spit upon; and they will scourge him and kill him, .[14]. Now at last, thefull meaning of those enigmatic words is revealed: in the courtyard of the pretorium, the residenceof the Roman governor in Jerusalem, the grim ritual of torture has begun, while outside the palacethe murmur of the crowd begins to swell, in expectation of the spectacle of the death march.
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In that room closed to the public, things take place that will be repeated down the centuries in athousand sadistic and perverse ways, in the darkness of countless prison cells. Jesus is not only physically struck but mocked. Indeed, the Evangelist Luke, to describe those insults, uses the wordblaspheme, as if to bring out the deepest meaning of the violent abuse which the soldiers heap ontheir victim. And the torments inflicted upon Christs flesh are accompanied by a gruesome farce

that is an affront to his personal dignity.* * *

The Evangelist John recounts that insulting parody, based on the popular game of the mock king.There is a crown whose points are made of thorny twigs; the royal purple is replaced by a redmantle; there is the imperial salute: Hail, Caesar!. And yet, behind all this mockery, we can see aglorious sign: yes, Jesus is reviled like a mock king, yet in reality he is the true Sovereign of history.

When, in the end, his kingship will be revealed as another Evangelist, Matthew, tells us[15] hewill condemn every torturer and tyrant, and summon into his glory not only their victims, but allthose who visited prisoners, healed the wounded and the suffering, and assisted the hungry, thethirsty and the persecuted. Now, however, the face transfigured on Tabor [16] is disfigured; the onewho is the reflection of Gods glory[17] is darkened and abased; as Isaiah had proclaimed, themessianic Servant of the Lord has his back furrowed by the lash, his beard plucked, his facecovered with spittle [18]. In him, the God of glory, our suffering humanity is revealed; in him, theLord of history, the frailty of every creature is revealed; in him, the Creator of the world, the painfulcry of every living creature finds an echo.

All :


Pro peccatis suae gentisvidit Iesum in tormentiset flagellis subditum.

[14] Luke 18:31-32[15] Cf.Matthew 25:31-46.[16] Cf. Luke 9:29.[17] Cf. Hebrews 1:3.[18] Cf. Isaiah 50:6
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SEVENTH STATION

Jesus takes up his cross


From the Gospel according to Mark. 15:20

And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes onhim. And they led him out to crucify him .

MEDITATION

In the courtyards of the imperial palace the grim sport has ended, the silly royal robes have beentaken away, the doors open. And Jesus comes forth, dressed in his own clothing, in a tunic withoutseam, woven from top to bottom[19]. His shoulders are bent beneath the cross-beam which willreceive his arms and then be attached to the pole of the crucifix. His is a silent presence, hisfootprints stain with blood that street of Jerusalem which even today bears the name ViaDolorosa.

Now begins the real Way of the Cross, the route we repeat tonight, which leads to the hill of executions, outside the walls of the holy city. Jesus slowly makes his way forward, his mangled,weak body staggering beneath the weight of the cross. Tradition has symbolically marked that route by three falls. They reflect the unending story of all those women and men laid low by poverty or
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starvation: frail children, the aged and infirm, the weak and the poor, those from whose veins allstrength has been sucked.

Those falls also contain the story of all those who are desolate and unhappy, ignored by the busyand distracted crowd which hurries by. In Christ, bent beneath the weight of the cross, we see that

frail and sickly humanity of which the prophet Isaiah says[20] deep from the earth shall you speak,from low in the dust your words shall come; your voice shall come from the ground like the voiceof a ghost, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

* * *

Today too, as then, surrounding Jesus as he picks himself up and pushes forward carrying the woodof the cross, is the daily life of the street, with its business deals, its bright shop windows, its pursuitof pleasure. Surrounding him, however, there is not only hostility or indifference. Even today thereare those who choose to follow him, to walk in his footsteps. They have heard the summons that hehad issued one day as he walked through the fields of Galilee: If anyone would come after me, lethim deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me[21]. Let us, then, go forth to himoutside the camp and bear the abuse he endured[22]. At the end of the Via Dolorosa is not only themount of death or the darkness of the tomb, but also the mount of his glorious Ascension, the mountof light.

All :


Quis non posset contristari, piam matrem contemplari

dolentem cum Filio?

[19] John 19:23.

[20] Isaiah 29:4.

[21] Luke 9:23

[22] Hebrews 13:13
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EIGHTH STATION

Jesus is helped by the Cyrenean to carry his cross


From the Gospel according to Luke. 23:26

And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country,and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.

MEDITATION

He was returning from the countryside, perhaps after a few hours of work. Awaiting him at homewere the preparations for the holy day: sunset, in fact, would mark the beginning of the Sabbath, asthe first stars began to shine in the evening sky. His name was Simon; he was a Jew, a native of Cyrene, a city on the Libyan strand which was home to a large community of the JewishDiaspora[23]. A curt order by the Roman soldiers escorting Jesus stops him in his tracks and forceshim to take a turn at carrying the cross of that half-dead convict.

Simon was a chance passerby; he did not know how extraordinary that encounter was to be. Assomeone once wrote[24], how many men over the centuries would have wanted to be there, in his place, to have been passing by just at that moment. But it was too late; he was the one who had passed by and over the centuries he would never have yielded his place to others. Here we see themystery of the unexpected encounter with God which happens in so many lives. Paul, the Apostle,had been intercepted, seized and overcome[25] by Christ on the way to Damascus. And this led
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him to ponder anew those astonishing words of God: I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me[26].

* * *

God lies in waiting along the paths of our daily life. At times he knocks on our door and asks to sitat our table to eat with us[27]. Even a chance encounter, like that of Simon of Cyrene, can become agift of conversion. Indeed, the Evangelist Mark will name of the sons of that man, Alexander andRufus, as fellow Christians[28]. The Cyrenean is thus the emblem of the mysterious embrace of divine grace and human effort. In the end, the Evangelist paints him as the disciple who takes upthe cross behind Jesus and follows in his footsteps [29].

His gesture, carried out under constraint, becomes a symbol for every act of solidarity with thesuffering, the oppressed, the weary. The Cyreanean thus represents the innumerable host of generous persons, missionaries, Samaritans who do not pass by on the other side of the street[30], but bend low to assist the suffering, to lift them up and to give them support. Over Simonshead and shoulders, bent beneath the weight of the cross, echo the words of Saint Paul: Bear oneanothers burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ[31].

All :


Tui Nati vulnerati,tam dignati pro me pati,

pnas mecum divide.

[23] Cf, Acts 2:10; 6:9; 13:1.[24] CHARLES PGUY,The Mystery of the Charity of Saint Joan of Arc (1910).[25] Philippians 3:12.[26] Romans 10:20.[27] Cf. Revelation 3:20.[28] Cf.Mark 15:21.[29] Cf. Luke 9:23.[30] Cf. Luke 10:30-37.[31] Galatians 6:2.
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NINTH STATION

Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem



And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But 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 arethe 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 this when thewood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

MEDITATION

On that spring Friday, the path leading to Golgotha was thronged not only with the idle, the curiousand those hostile to Jesus. There was also a group of women, perhaps the members of a groupdevoted to consolation and ritual lamentation for the dying and those condemned to death. Christ,

during his earthly life, had overcome convention and prejudice, and had often surrounded himself with women, conversing with them, listening to their troubles, small and great: from the fever of Peters mother-in-law to the tragedy of the widow of Nain, from the weeping prostitute to theinterior anguish of Mary Magdalen, from the affection of Martha and Mary to the sufferings of the


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woman afflicted by hemorrages, from the young daughter of Jairus to the crippled elderly woman,from the noble Joanna, the wife of Chuza, to the poor widow and the women in the crowd thatfollowed him.

Jesus, to his final hour, is thus surrounded by a world of mothers, daughters and sisters. Standing at

his side we now can also imagine all those women who have been abused and raped, ostracized andsubmitted to shameful tribal practices, anxious women left to raise their children alone, Jewish andPalestinian mothers, and those from all countries at war, widows and the elderly forgotten by their children a long line of women who bear witness before an arid and pitiless world to the gift of tenderness and compassion, even as they did for the Son of Mary on that late morning in Jerusalem.They teach us the beauty of emotions: that we should not be ashamed when our heart is moved bycompassion, when tears sometimes come to our eyes, when we feel the need of a caress andcomforting words.

* * *

Jesus does not disregard the charitable concern shown by those women, just as once he hadaccepted other gestures of kindness. But paradoxically, he is now the one who is concerned for thesufferings about to befall those daughters of Jerusalem: Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. Looming on the horizon is a firestorm about to break upon the people and the holy city, a dry wood ready to stir up the blaze.

Jesus gaze turns to the divine judgement soon to be visited on the evil, injustice, and hatred thatfeed that flame. Christ is distressed at the grief that is about to overtake those mothers once Gods just intervention bursts in upon history. But his ominous words are not the seal set upon a hopelessfate, because he speaks with the voice of the prophets, a voice that creates not suffering and death, but conversion and life: Seek the Lord and live Then shall the maidens rejoice in the dance, andthe young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them,and give them gladness for sorrow[32].

All :

Pater noster, qui es in clis:sanctificetur nomen tuum;adveniat regnum tuum;

fiat voluntas tua, sicut in clo, et in terra.Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;et dimitte nobis debita nostra,sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;et ne nos inducas in tentationem;sed libera nos a malo.

Eia mater, fons amoris,me sentire vim doloris

fac, ut tecum lugeam.

[32] Amos 5:6;Jeremiah 31:13.


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TENTH STATION Jesus is crucified



And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and thecriminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they knownot what they do. And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God,his Chosen One! The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, and saying,If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself! There was also an inscription over him, This isthe King ofthe Jews.

MEDITATION

It was merely a rocky spur, called Golgotha in Aramaic and, in Latin, Calvary, the Skull, perhaps because of its physical appearance. On that peak rise three crosses, the crosses of men sentenced todeath, two criminals, probably anti-Roman revolutionaries, and Jesus. The last hours of Christsearthly life begin, hours marked by the rending of his flesh, the dislocation of his bones, progressiveasphyxia, interior desolation. These are hours that demonstrate the complete solidarity of the Son of

God with human beings who suffer and slowly die.


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A poet[33] once said: The thief on the left and the thief on the right / felt only the nails driven intotheir hands. / But Christ felt the pain offered for salvation, / his side torn open, his heart runthrough. / It is his heart that burned. / His heart consumed by love. Truly, all around that crossthere seem to echo the words of Isaiah: He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are

healed. He makes himself an offering for sin[34]. The outstretched arms of that mangled bodywant to draw to themselves the entire horizon, embracing humanity, as a hen gathers her broodunder her wings[35]. For this was his mission: When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw allmen to myself[36].

* * *

Beneath that dying body files the crowd, anxious to view a ghastly spectacle. It is a scene of superficiality, crass curiosity, thrill-seeking. A picture in which we can also see a society like our own, which looks for stimulation and excess as if they were a kind of drug capable of arousing asluggish soul, an unfeeling heart, a darkened mind.

Beneath that cross there is also cold hard cruelty, that of the leaders and the soldiers who in their ruthlessness are even capable of profaning suffering and death by their mockery: If you are theKing of the Jews, save yourself! They are unaware that their words of sarcasm and the official titleabove the cross This is the King of the Jews are full of truth. Certainly, Jesus does not comedown from the cross in a sudden dramatic turnabout: he does not desire servile obedience based onmiracles, but a faith that is free, a love that is authentic. And yet, in his abject humiliation and in thevery powerlessness of his death, he opens the door to glory and life, and reveals himself as the trueLord and King of history and of the world.

All :

Pater noster, qui es in clis:sanctificetur nomen tuum;adveniat regnum tuum;fiat voluntas tua, sicut in clo, et in terra.Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;et dimitte nobis debita nostra,sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;

et ne nos inducas in tentationem;sed libera nos a malo.

Fac ut ardeat cor meumin amando Christum Deum,ut sibi complaceam.

[33] CHARLES PGUY,The Mystery of the Charity of Saint Joan of Arc (1910).[34] Isaiah 53:5, 10.[35] Luke 13:34.[36] John 12:32.
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First, there is the plea of the criminal, whom tradition calls the good thief, who is converted at thefinal hour of his life: Jesus, remember me when you enter into your kingdom! It is almost as if hewas reciting his personal version of the Our Father with its invocation Thy Kingdom come! Buthe addresses it directly to Jesus, calling him by name, a name of extraordinary significance at thatmoment: The Lord saves. Then, an imperative: Remember me! In the language of the Bible this

verb has a particular force which conveys much more than our colourless word remember. It isword that breathes certainty and confidence, as if to say: Take care of me, do not abandon me, belike a friend who supports me and defends me!.

* * *

Then there is the reply of Jesus, quick, almost a whisper: Today you will be with me in Paradise.This word, Paradise, so rare in the Scriptures as to appear only two other times in the NewTestament[37], in its original meaning suggests a lush and fruitful garden. It is a fragrant image of the Kingdom of light and peace that Jesus had proclaimed in his preaching and inaugurated with hismiracles and which would shortly appear in its glory at Easter. It is the goal of our toilsome journeythrough history, it is fullness of life, it is the intimacy of Gods embrace. It is the final gift whichChrist makes to us, in the sacrifice of his death which opens up to the glory of the resurrection.

On that day of anguish and pain, those two crucified men said nothing else, yet the few wordsgasped from their parched throats echo even today. They will continue to echo as a sign of hope andsalvation for those who have sinned, but have also come to believe and trust, even at lifes finalfrontier.

All :


Sancta mater, istud agas,Crucifixi fige plagascordi meo valide.

[37] Cf.2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7.


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S.P. II, 162: Liturgy of the Hours of French countries, second half of 15th Cent.Ambrosian Library

TWELFTH STATIONThe crucified Jesus, the Mother and the disciple


From the Gospel according to John. 19:25-27

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near,he said to his mother: "Woman, behold your son!" Then he said to the disciple: "Behold your mother!". And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

MEDITATION

She had begun to distance herself from her Son since the day when, at twelve years old, he had toldher that he had another home and another mission to accomplish, in the name of his Father inheaven. But now Mary faces the moment of complete separation. At that hour she felt the agony of all mothers who, contrary to the very nature of things, see their children precede them in death. Butthe Evangelist John wipes away every tear from her sorrowful face, silences every cry of lamentfrom her lips, and keeps Mary from flinging herself to the ground in despair.

Instead, there is an aura of silence broken by a voice that descends from the cross and from the lipsof her dying Son. It is much more than the usual testament: it is a revelation which marks a turning- point in the life of his Mother. That supreme separation of death is not barren but unexpectedlyfruitful, like a mother giving birth. Just as Jesus himself had said a few hours earlier, on the finalevening of his earthly life: When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come;


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but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world[38].

* * *

Mary goes back to being a mother: it is significant that in the few lines of the Gospel account thisword mother appears fully five times. Mary goes back to being a mother, and her children will be those who are like the beloved disciple, that is, all those who take shelter under the mantle of Gods saving grace and follow Jesus in faith and love.

From that moment on, Mary will no longer be alone. She will become the mother of the Church, animmense assembly of every language, nation and people, who down the centuries will join her inclinging to the cross of Christ, her firstborn Son. From that moment on, we too walk with her alongthe path of faith, we stay with her in the house where the Spirit of Pentecost blows, we sit at thetable where the bread of the Eucharist is broken and we await the day when her Son will return to bring us, like her, into the eternity of his glory.

All :


Fac me tecum pie flere,Crucifixo condolere,donec ego vixero.

[38] John 16:21.


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S.P. II, 162: Liturgy of the Hours of French countries, second half of 15th Cent.Ambrosian Library

THIRTEENTH STATION Jesus dies on the cross


From the Gospel according to Luke. 23:44-47 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,while the suns light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with aloud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit! And having said this, he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, and said, Certainlythis man was innocent!.

MEDITATION

At the beginning of our journey, the veil of night had fallen upon Jerusalem; now it is the darknessof an eclipse that spreads like a shroud over Golgotha. The power of darkness[39] seems to loomover the land where God is dying. Yes, the Son of God, to be truly human and our brother, must alsodrink from the chalice of death, that death which is really the mark of every descendent of Adam.And so Christ has been made like his brethren in every respect[40]; he has become fully one of us, standing at our side even in that final struggle between life and death. A struggle perhaps taking place even now for a man or a woman in this city of Rome, and in countless other cities and townsthroughout the world.

This is no longer the God of the Greeks and Romans, impassible and remote, like an emperor confined to the gilded skies of his Olympus. In the dying Christ, God is now revealed as passionately in love with his creatures, even to the point of freely imprisoning himself within their twilight of pain and death. The crucifix is thus a universal human sign of the solitude of death, andof injustice and evil. But it is also a universal divine sign of hope for the fulfilment of theexpectations of every centurion, that is, of every restless and searching person.
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* * *

Indeed, even high on the cross, dying on that gibbet, Jesus, as he breathes his last, does not cease to be the Son of God. At that moment every human experience of suffering and death is embraced bythe divine. It is made radiant with eternity, a seed of eternal life is planted within it, a spark of

divine light bursts forth.Death, while losing nothing of its tragedy, now shows an unexpected face: it has the same eyes asthe heavenly Father. That is why Jesus at that final hour utters a touching prayer: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Let us make that plea our own, in the prayerful words of a poet:[41]Father, let your fingers also close my own eyes. / You who are a Father to me, turn to me like atender Mother, / at the bedside of her gently sleeping child. / Father, come to me and take me intoyour arms.

All :


Vidit suum dulcem Natummorientem desolatum,cum emisit spiritum.

[39] Luke 22:53.

[40] Hebrews 2:17.[41] MARIE NOL,Song and Hours (1930).
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FOURTEENTH STATION Jesus is laid in the tomb


From the Gospel according to Luke 23:50-54

Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the

council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their purpose and deed, and he waslooking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then hetook it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.

MEDITATION

Wrapped in the winding sheet, the shroud, the crucified, torn body of Jesus slips slowly from theloving and gentle hands of Joseph of Arimathea into the tomb hewn from the rock. In the hours of silence which follow, Christ will truly be like all men and women who enter into the dark womb of death, the stiffening of the limbs, the end. And yet in that twilight of Good Friday something wasalready in the air. The Evangelist Luke notes that the Sabbath was beginning; lamps were alreadyflickering in the windows of the homes of Jerusalem.


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The vigil kept by the Jews in their homes becomes, as it were, a symbol of the hope of thosewomen, of that secret disciple of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, and of the other disciples. Anexpectation that now fills with warmth the heart of every believer who stands before a tomb or feelsthe cold touch of sickness or death. It is the expection of a new and different dawn, which in just afew hours, once the sabbath has passed, will appear before our eyes, the eyes of Christs followers.

* * *

When that day breaks, we will be met on the street of the tombs by the angel who will say to us:Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen[42]! And as we returnhome, the Risen One will draw near and walk with us, coming to stay with us and breaking breadwith us at table[43]. Then we too will pray in the faith-filled words of the magnificentSaint Matthew Passion , set to music by one of mankinds greatest musicians:[44]

Though my heart is tearful because Jesus bids me farewell, yet his testament gives me joy. He bequeaths to me a precious treasure, his flesh and his blood I will offer you my heart; immerseyourself therein, my Saviour! I will cast myself upon you! If the earth is too small for you, then youalone shall be for me more than earth and heaven!

All :


Quando corpus morietur, fac ut anim donetur paradisi gloria. Amen.

[42] Luke 24:5-6.

[43] Luke 24:13-32.

[44] JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH,St Matthew Passion , BWV 244, Nos. 18-19.

The Holy Father addresses those present.


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At the end of his address, the Holy Father imparts the Apostolic Blessing:

BLESSING

V/. Dominus vobiscum.

R/. Et cum spiritu tuo.V/.Sit nomen Domini benedictum.R/.Ex hoc nunc et usque in sculum.

V/.Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.R/.Qui fecit clum et terram.

V/. Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus,Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus.R/.Amen.

Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

via crocis al colloseo 2007

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