Via Crucis

This Via Crucis was preached by Don Claudio in Lourdes on October 12, 1991 during a pilgrimage made by some members of the community.
In the same circumstance and exactly on October 14, 1991 Marisa began to write "from dictation" the life of the Mother of the Eucharist. After much time Our Lady expressed the wish the Via Crucis preached in Lourdes to be used by the members of the community to meditate Jesus' passion and death.
In this Via Crucis the fifteenth station is missing, the one of Jesus' Resurrection. It will be written - Don Claudio said - when will be restored the faculty to celebrate the Holy Mass in our chapel.
Only at that moment it will be truly Easter for us.

 

FIRST STATION: JESUS IN THE GETHSEMANE

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
And he 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 into temptation". And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed: "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, 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". (Luke 22, 39-46)

Reader
In the first station we meditate Jesus' agony in the Gethsemane, we deeply reflect upon the dramatic moment in which the Son of God, who is infinitely loved by the Father and who infinitely loves the Father, has chosen of his own will to feel the suffering of the abandonment. Each one of us in some moment of his life surely suffered because he felt alone, misunderstood and abandoned; but the abandonment Christ wanted to feel was so violent and upsetting that it caused a deep emotion and a spasmodic suffering that manifested itself by sweating blood.
We bow reverent and astonished before the glorious Christ of the transfiguration, of the ascension, before Christ Son of God sitting on the Father's right, but we feel particularly near to us Christ prostrate to ground who cries and moans, covered by blood sweat, because we feel this Christ our brother, we feel this Christ near to us.
Jesus wanted and wants to share our suffering, but it is right, because we love Him, that we share a little part of his suffering. When we love a person who suffers we cannot be unmoved in front of his suffering. So why does Christ's pain, that happens again today, leave us cold or sleepy like the apostles while Christ moaned and suffered? They slept and Christ suffered. Let us hope this scene of the gospel does not repeat itself for us because we can, must, want to be awake to keep Jesus company. Let us impress in our heart the words He said to the apostles: "So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation". In front of Christ's suffering we must shout our love to Him and show Him the will of running along the same road that He began and ran before us.
Our Father…

 

SECOND STATION: JESUS IS BETRAYED BY JUDAS

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
While he 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 you betray the Son of man with a kiss?". (Luke 22, 47-48)
Then they (who had come with Judas) came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. (Matthew 25, 50)

Reader
The betrayal is not a sin that is done in a moment of weakness, but it is the conclusion of a long process.
Judas betrays Christ because he himself feels to be betrayed. In fact he had accepted to follow Him because, since he had seen his miracles and listened to his speeches, he believed to be able to occupy an important place in God's kingdom. But when Christ said clearly that He had come into the world to save the man from sin and for this reason He would have suffered and died, Judas, very disappointed, abandoned the master.
Today after two thousand years Judas is still present in many brothers of ours. Let us pray and ask unceasingly Our Lady that we never follow Judas in betraying Jesus.
Let nobody of us have the presumption of saving himself without God's grace. Only the grace guarantees to the man the right of being and being called son of God and the grace must be got through the sacraments.
Let us ask Mary to be able to kiss Jesus, but let our kiss be always a kiss of love, never of betrayal. Our Lady said: "Pray, do sacrifices for the conversion of sinners". We want to welcome this supplication, this grief-stricken motherly appeal and start to offer the Lord little acts of mortification and sacrifices. Let us manage serenity and joy to be read on our faces and if we are upset, high-strung, sad, let us hide it and open the lips to smile, the heart to hope and the soul to God's kiss, so that through this meeting with Him a true transformation and an authentic change of style of life can take place.
Only this way we will be able to get peace, serenity, harmony and concord to give them to the people we meet.
Our Father…

 

THIRD STATION: JESUS IS CONDEMNED BY THE SYNEDRION

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none…
And the high priest said to him: "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God".
Jesus said to him: "You have said so"...
Then the high priest tore his robes, and said: "He has uttered blasphemy… What is your judgment?". They answered: "He deserves death".
(Matthew 26, 59…66)

Reader
The Synedrion was the court that gathered the greatest authorities of the jewish people; they had also the task of keeping awake the promise of the Messiah's coming. On the contraty those who had to recognize and welcome the Messiah refused, rejected and condemned him. This must prompt us to meditate. We must open ourselves to God's grace and allow it to guide us to understand the logic of the Lord, even when it can oppose ours.
The heads of the Synedrion condamned Jesus, because they had altered the concept of Messiah. They wanted a political Messiah who set them free from the roman dependence amd for this reason they had replaced God's plan with theirs.
Let us pay attention to recognize God's plans and not to claim to impose to Him stupidly our opinions and valuations. When Our Lady says: "Abandon yourselves to God" she refers in particular to the words of Jesus: "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.". The Lord will never make us want for what we need if we assume Mary's attitude who answered to the angel's announcement: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word".
Unfortunately even nowadays Jesus keeps on being judged and condemned by the Synedrion, by our brothers who with their wickedness, perfidy and harshness dare to judge the divine judge, to condemn the innocent victim, to oppose God who became incarnate to lift us up to a never reached height and dignity: the one of being sons of God.
Let us pray for those who betray, judge and mock our engagement; criticizing the christian engagement means judging and condemning Christ himself who preached and taught it.
Christ opposed his silence against those who judged Him; let us also oppose our silence, let us not allow ourselves be carried away by resentment and grudge, but let us repeat the marvellous words that came out of his heart: "Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they do".
Our Father…

 

FOURTH STATION: JESUS IS DENIED BY PETER

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a maid came up to him, and said: "You also were with Jesus the Galilean".
But he denied it before them all, saying: "I do not know what you mean".
And when he went out to the porch, another maid saw him, and she said to the bystanders: "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth". And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man".
After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter: "Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you". Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear: "I do not know the man".
And immediately the cock crowed. (Matthew 26, 69-74)
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. (Luke 22, 61-62)

Reader
To understand better Peter's denying we have to recall to our mind the event that precedes it: Christ had predicted that He would have remained alone and would have been abandoned, but Peter immediately affirmed: "If I must die with you, I will not deny you".
But notwithstanding Christ's words had warned him: "Peter, Peter: before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times", soon afterwards he denied Him.
Peter's denying must make us reflect upon our weakness. Peter still had not that strength that comes only from God and that after the descent of the Holy Spirit would have made him an authentic leader of the Church. As a matter of fact, through the support of the grace, Peter will be able to bear witness to Christ up to the martyrdom.
In Peter's fall we must see our falls. Peter fell because he was weak, as well as we fall due to our weakness; but there is a remedy that can prevent us from falling: the grace that Christ gives us profusely through the sacraments.
Let us ask Our Lady to understand how necessary and important are for us the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist. The Holy Communion received seldom and the participation in the Holy Mass only on sunday don't give us guarantees to live in a state of grace, but a daily meeting with the Lord can give them.
If we have inside ourselves Christ who is strength, grace and love, He will be that rock on which we will be able to make the spiritual building of our life on which will break down waves, thunderstorms and hurricanes without demolishing it. If we build our house on the living rock who is Christ we will resist, we will not fall and others will not be able to make us fall. In this moment let us beg Peter, because if we followed him in betraying the Lord, now we can follow him in the repentance, fidelity and persevering and constant love.
Following St. Peter's example, we will be in Christ's company again.
Our Father…

FIFTH STATION: JESUS IS JUDGED BY PILATE

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them: "You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him… I will therefore chastise him and release him".
But they shouted out: "Crucify, crucify him!". (Luke 23, 13-16)
So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying: "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves".
And all the people answered: "His blood be on us and on our children!". (Matthew 27, 24-25)

Reader
Many times we heard saying that God is judge. We know that Christ will judge the men at the end of times, in the last judgment, when the resurrection of the body will take place and the good will follow Him in the joy of the Paradise and the wicked will follow the devil in the sufferings of the hell. So Christ is judge; being judge is a right of his, a privilege of his. Nevertheless before Pilate He is accused and is submitted to a judgement.
Christ bows his head and accepts the sentence with love, because He knows that through it He will be able to realize the Father's plans: being innocent victim immolated on a cross for the salvation of mankind.
We must thank the Lord because He wanted to undergo an unjust accuse and judgment and without them our salvation would not have come true.
An other comment: Christ, infinitely perfect God, accepts voluntarily to be judged. Now let us put ourselves in Christ's place and in Pilate's place a brother either a friend or a parent or a priest who reprimands us for some faults of ours. What is our attitude in front of a just reproach or remark? We often react vexed, we feel offended and irritated. Christ is silent and is judged unfairly, we react negatively and we are reprimanded rightly.
In this station, through Mary's intercession, let us ask the Lord the gift of humility, of being able to accept with gratefulness the reproach of a brother who invited us to look inside ourselves and to recognize our limits, imperfections and faults. We must always remember that when we intervene in the right moment, any defect or vice can be changed into a virtue, a positive quality. Let us pray the Lord so that He helps us to become docile, humble, simple and to understand that many graces are offered to us through the merits He acquired, when Pilate judged and condemned Him unfairly.
Our Father…

 

SIXTH STATION: JESUS IS FLAGELLATED AND CROWNED WITH THORNS

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
Then he released for them Barab'bas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.
And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying: "Hail, King of the Jews!". And they spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. (Matthew 27, 26-30)

Reader
Now let us reflect upon the great suffering of Jesus at the moment of the flagellation and crowning with thorns. When we read the short but intensely dramatic words of the Gospel about the flagellation and crowning with thorns of the Lord, it is natural wondering: "Why did Christ want to feel so piercing pains and so strong sufferings when it would have been enough only one drop of his blood, whose value is infinite, in order to save us? Why didn't Christ want to spare himself any suffering, if only He could drive us to conversion?".
By showing us his sufferings, He wanted to make us understand that his love is so great, inexplicable, infinite, that He was ready to drink the chalice of sorrow up to the last drop.
Unfortunately, nowadays before the flagellation and crowning with thorns the souls keep on being unmoved and living their life opposing the law of God: they are many, a lot, too many. Let us beg Mary, because she generated Christ's body, she loved Him with an immense love, she suffered because she knew that body would have been covered with wounds and she saw her Son pierced, crowned with thorns, covered with blood, so that she expresses our sufferings with her Son and she keeps on praying the Father so that mankind can come back repentant to Him.
Let us think about the marvellous parable of the prodigal son who is awaited with much anxiety by the father. We want to pray the Lord so that is sped up the return of many prodigal sons, beginning from those who we love and have with us a bond of blood, love, affection, friendship. We met Christ and we discovered how this meeting is beautiful, rich, full of fruits and we want also our brothers to meet Him. Through an endless prayer, our sacrifices and acts of mortification, we must accompany our brothers towards the Lord: bringing a soul back to God is a marvellous and very great thing that assures the Paradise.
Divine Blood of Jesus, keep on going down on this mankind even if it is not received by the heart of many souls. We want to receive and temporarily leave it in our heart in order to give it to our brothers later, so that can start pulsating in them the true life that comes from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Our Father…

 

SEVENTH STATION: JESUS IS LOADED WITH THE CROSS

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27, 31)

Reader
For a moment let us try to close our eyes and open the heart to gaze at a touching scene: some men carry a cross, terrible instrument of torture and death. Jesus sees it approaching; He looks at it and his eyes fill with tears of love, because He knows that through this cross He will win the death and He embraces it. The guards, the jailers, the executioners surround Him and none of them understands the deed of love of the Lord embracing the cross. Only Mary understands it.
Do we feel love for the cross? Sure, it is natural that we fear the cross as a suffering, but we must consider that if we want to save our beloved ones, children, friends, this is the only way. If it had been possible to run along a different way from the suffering of the cross, wouldn't Christ have preferred it? He chose it because it is the only valid and right one to defeat the evil and the sin of the world.
Let us thank the Lord who embraces, loves and holds the cross tigthly to himself and from now on we will be able to understand better S. Paul's words: "I preach Christ ands Christ crucified, because the salvation comes only from the cross".
We limit ourselves only to have an image of the cross in our home, but let us take a glance to it frequently and pray before it so that in our home, family, community it does not remain only a symbol, a sign, but a reality of salvation.
Our Father…

EIGHTH STATION: JESUS MEETS THE CYRENENAN AND THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyre'ne, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
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 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 this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?". (Luke 23, 26-31)

Reader
The cyrenean and the women of Jerusalem live the meeting with Jesus with a completely different spirit. The cyrenean is obliged to carry the cross and to help Christ; he would have never taken this initiative on his own free will, because Christ is indifferent to him. On the contrary, the women of Jerusalem cry, suffer for Jesus and when He sees their tears and their sorrow Christ does not think about his suffering, but about their situation and their children' situation. The Lord says a sentence that manifests his state of mind: "If they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"; the green wood is the innocent Christ, without sin, that is burnt by the sacrifice and suffering; the dry wood represents those who have not life because they are without the grace; the fire will consume them more speedly and nothing of them will remain.
The words of the Lord must drive us to engage ourselves and to make a precise choice: being green wood or dry wood. Since the green shoot produces grapes if it is united with the vine, let us ask Our Lady to allow us to be always united with her Son and this union with Him to be never interrupted. In this light we will be able to understand also the affirmation of the young St. Dominic Savius: "The death, but not the sin", because the true destruction of man is not the physical death, but the spiritual one.
Let us promise to the Lord never to die spiritually and if unfortunately sometimes the weakness drove us to live sinful experiences, let us not time pass, but through the sacrament of Confession let us immediately come back to the One who is life and can give us the life.
Our Father…

 

NINTH STATION: JESUS IS UNDRESSED AND NAILED TO THE CROSS

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
And when they came to a place called Gol'gotha (which means the place of a skull), they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. (Matthew 27, 33-35)

Reader
Jesus reaches the Calvary, where is undressed and nailed to the cross. As a lamb, led to sacrifice without a moan, the Lord lies down on the cross.
In the Old Testament the animal victims were offered to God and then only a part of the flesh was eaten by the offerers. On the contrary, Christ, divine victim, does not offer as food only a part, but all himself to man, because He is the only and true nourishment.
While the Lord is undressed, he looks around himself and searches for the eyes of men who He loves infinitely. He finds few glances full of love: the one of his mother, of the pious women and John's glance. Even if around Him there are indifference and hostility, he continues his mission, to realize the plan of salvation that He wanted with the Father. He lies down on the cross and opens his arms, the deed of the one who loves; in this supreme moment Christ wants to embrace all mankind and each man.
The love shown to us by the Lord is unique, unrepeatable. The Lord loves each one of us in a personal way, without taking anything away from the others. He offered the suffering He wanted to live for everybody and for each one of us.
It is right to affirm that each man costed Christ all the sufferings he lived during his life and passion.
Let us try to approach Christ who is on the cross, still not raised, let us make our way through the people to whom He is indifferent and who are hostile to Him, to make Him feel that we love Him, that we wish to keep on loving Him and we always want to be next to Him.
Our Father…

 

TENTH STATION: JESUS AND THE GOOD ROBBER, JESUS AND HIS MOTHER

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying: "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!". But the other rebuked him, saying: "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong". And he said: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". And he said to him: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise". (Luke 23, 39-43)
So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Mag'dalene. 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. (John 19, 25-27)

Reader
In this station we reflect upon the conversation of Jesus with the good robber, with his mother and John the Evangelist.
Jesus is crucified between two robbers, one mocks Him and the other one, more sensitive, pities Him. The good robber simply asks Him: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom"; and humbly addresses the other one saying: "And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong". Before this deed of faith and humility the Lord answers: "Today you will be with me in Paradise".
This promise of the Lord is consoling because it allows us to hope for us and the others; it makes us understand that after all it is not difficult to be able to enjoy God, to be his son, to live united with Him for all our life and all the eternity; great sacrifices are not necessary, we just need to repent and recognize our faults and sins.
We should recognize ourselves in this robber, at least for hearing addressed to us the sweet and consoling words of the Lord: "You will be with me in Paradise".
Before dieing, in the conversation with his mother and John, Jesus offers the last, great, marvellous present to mankind. A few hours earlier the Lord had offered himself in the Eucharist: "Take and eat, this is my body; take and drink, this is my blood"; now He presents us also with his mother, because his love for us is so great.
By entrusting her mother to John who represents all mankind, Jesus presents all men with her. Let us stop for a moment to consider what Our Lady could feel in her heart in those moments. She knows very well that Jesus is on the cross and He is going to die after terrible sufferings caused by the same people of which she has just become the mother, but she does not draw back from the universal maternity to which Jesus called her. All the men, even if sinners, are loved by Jesus, in the same way all the men, even if sinners, are loved by Mary.
Mary remembers Jesus' words: "I have come for the sinners" and she lives this teaching of the Son. The Gospel says that John, who represents all of us, took her with himself from that moment.
Let us also imitate John, let us welcome Mary; after all she does not expect anything but this invitation: "Enter my soul, enter my home"; so for each one of us will become reality the wish of pope John XXIII: Our Lady always keep us good company.
Our Father…

 

ELEVENTH STATION: JESUS ON THE CROSS

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads, and saying: "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!". So also the chief priests mocked him to one another with the scribes, saying: "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe". Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. (Mark 15, 29-32)

Reader
Let us live the last moments of Christ's life on the Earth at the foot of the cross next to Mary, John and the pious women. Let us remember what Jesus had previously said: "When I will be risen on the cross I will attract everybody to me"; but man must want his hug in order to be attracted by Christ. We must renew our engagement for a truly christian life, even if it is not easy due to difficulties, adversities, incomprehensions of men and their frequent mocking our engagement. We must promise the Lord to be never ashamed of following Him. Christ had already warned: "If you feel ashamed of Me, I will feel ashamed of you before the Father", that means: "If you deny Me, how will I be able to remember about you before the Father?. If you want to go away from Me, how will I be able to lead you again to the Father?".
The Lord is on the cross and looks around himself: He sees his mother, John and the other women and He feels comforted, but He sees also the others and He suffers. We must not forget that Jesus is God and his glances perforates the time through the centuries and reaches us. He sees also us at the foot of the cross, searches our glances and reads inside our hearts. Let us ask to ourselves what He finds inside them: love or hostility and indifference?
Lord, we will never thank you enough for having saved and redeemed us, for having given yourself in the Eucharist and having gifted us with your mother as our mother. But we can only stammer a few words, because our heart is very little. In this moment we want to take refuge in Mary's heart which is always present next to the tabernacle and we want to hear it beating full of love. As at that time you felt comforted by seeing your mother at the foot of the cross, so now you will rejoyce by seeing us closed inside her heart. We don't offer you our love which is so lacking and insufficient, but your mother's love to obtain spiritual graces, to love you and make you be loved, to serve you and make you be served, now and for ever. Amen.
Our Father…

 

TWELFTH STATION: JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice: "Eli, Eli, la'ma sabach-tha'ni?" that is: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?". (Matthew 27, 45-46)
Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said: "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!". And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23, 46)

Reader
The Gospel narrates that Christ bows his head and dies. Shortly before He sighed: "It is finished". For the eyes that can't see beyond the harsh reality nothing changes, but in God's eyes, the only ones that deeply know the truth, the situation changes completely. The souls of the just men are visited by Christ and are taken into the Paradise by Him; next to Christ who comes back to the Father there is Joseph, his putative father, there is the forerunner John the Baptist and all the just men who have awaited Him, keeping the hope of the Messiah's coming.
God converses with man again, the Paradise is open, a new covenant begins: we owe all this to the man-God who died on the cross.
Any human word, even the highest and most inspired will never be able to make us understand the mystery of Christ's death. In this station it is convenient that man stops speaking so that the soul opens to God. Let us dip into silence and prayer; let us lift our heart up to God, because only through silence and prayer we reach those highnesses that no human word can reach. Through prayer man meets God and so God himself carries him in his arms and makes him rest in his heart. Now, in this moment, let us pray, thank the Lord and confirm our love for Him.
Our Father…

 

THIRTEEN STATION: JESUS IS REMOVED FROM THE CROSS

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathe'a. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their purpose and deed, and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever yet been laid. (Luke 23, 50-53)

Reader
Jesus is removed from the cross and is laid down on his mother's womb; it is a terrible and touching moment that has lasted for a short time because it was urgent to start the rite of the sepulture. The Mother of the Eucharist remembers the years she has lived with Him, since the first day of Christ's life on the Earth. That body, generated, loved, looked after by Mary with much love is in her arms adult, but blood-stained, defaced and the heart of this mother is pierced and suffers agonies.
Mary's suffering will not finish either at the resurrection: since she accepted to be mother of all mankind, as the mothers suffer when their children die, so Mary suffers because too many children of hers have died spiritually.
The sorrow of this mother is great, she holds tightly the lifeless body of her divine Son, but Mary's sorrow is as much great because the love of her first-born Son is not welcome by many children of hers, who keep on dying because they don't understand and welcome Christ's passion, death and resurrection.
Mary cries, suffers, there are neither resentment nor rancour in her, but only love and sorrow: she prays, suffers, forgives and loves.
Through her behaviour she is a bright example for our life. If we are able to love, give and forgive like Mary, we also will be able to cooperate in renewing the world and the Church.
Our Father…

 

FOURTEENTH STATION: JESUS IS LAID TO REST IN THE SEPULCHRE

We adore you, o Christ, and we bless you,
because through your holy cross you redeemed the world.

From the Gospel
After this Joseph of Arimathe'a, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body. Nicode'mus also, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds' weight. They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. (John 19, 38-42)

Reader
The permanence of Christ's body in the sepulchre lasts for just three days.
Nowadays Christ is present as Eucharist in the tabernacles of the churches and is wrapped in the silence as in the grave of Jerusalem.
Jesus the Eucharist is living, is present with his body, blood, soul and divinity; Christ's body in the grave of Jerusalem is preparing to rise from the dead in the splendour of his divinity.
Let us pass from the silence of the grave to the silence of the tabernacle; between the one and the other there is the great event of the resurrection in which we believe. Let us engage to love, to converse with Christ, to feel Him living and present in the Eucharist, so that our relationship, our familiarity with Him are stronger and stronger and lived better.
We began this via crucis in Mary's company; Mary followed us, spoke with us, inspired in our hearts good intentions; well, let us continue our life with Mary and remember what she said: "Wherever is present my Son, I am there". If we want to find Mary we will meet her near to the tabernacle: her Son is there, so she is present there. Let us engage to promise and wish to visit Jesus the Eucharist, to make Him company to say "thanks" to Him and renew our love for Him.
Our Father…