Dr Marianne Furtado de Nazareth –
The Way of the Cross is one devotion which seems to come alive for me during Lent. It is a devotional practice meditating on Jesus Christ’s final day, from condemnation to entombment. Traditionally prayed during Lent, especially on Good Friday, these 14 scenes, trace Christ’s journey to Calvary. The melancholy hymns that we sing, the priests’ intervention and explanation of each station, the added sacred incense which seems to envelop us all, the faithful, and our white or black clothing, brings in a solemn and hallowed aura to the practice. It’s only then that the true horror of what befell Jesus comes alive for me, with the 14 Stations of the Cross.
Research says that the devotion was popularised by St. Francis of Assisi, and mimics the pilgrimage route in Jerusalem. While the 14 stations are traditional, a “Scriptural Way of the Cross” was introduced by Pope John Paul II in 1991, and some churches include a 15th station for the Resurrection. The faithful genuflect and stop between 14 images or carvings, offering prayers and listening to the priest’s reflection at each stop.
It’s good for us to read and understand an explanation for each station, which often we are not aware of. The 14 stations can help us work towards inspiring a more reverent Lent for all of us, who otherwise live extremely busy lives.
The 1st Station: Jesus is condemned to death. It is easy enough to interpret this as referring to the moment at which Pontius Pilate hands Jesus over to the chief priests,
The 2nd Station: Jesus carries his cross. The cross—be it the whole thing or just the cross beam—is a great heavy weight and it is placed on Jesus to carry and He staggers with the weight. A clear picture of Jesus’ carrying the weight of our sins upon Himself
The 3rd Station: Jesus falls the first time. His first fall under his Cross; under torn flesh by the merciless scourging, his head crowned with thorns; and he had lost a great quantity of blood. Completely weakened he could scarcely walk, and yet he had to carry this great load upon his shoulders. The soldiers struck him constantly and he fell several times.
The 4th Station: Jesus meets his mother Mary. Tradition tells that Jesus met his mother on the way. She was most likely among those lining the roadway watching the event unfold. Can you imagine the depth of her pain watching what was being done to her son?
The 5th Station: Simon of Cyrene, a big man, was compelled by the Romans to help carry the cross of Jesus of Nazareth, as he was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three Synoptic Gospels.
The 6th Station: .Veronica wipes the face of Jesus after being moved by Jesus’ pain. She courageously steps forward to wipe the blood and sweat from Jesus’ face. She cannot change his fate, but she fearlessly performs her small act of compassion.
The 7th Station: Jesus falls the second time. Outside the walls of the city, the body of Jesus again gives way through weakness, and he falls a second time, amid the shouts of the crowd and the rough handling of the soldiers.
The 8th Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem on his way to be crucified. They walked among the crowd who followed him, beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
The 9th Station: Jesus falls the third time. On the slope leading up to Calvary, with only forty or fifty paces between him and the summit. Jesus can no longer stay on his feet: his strength has failed him, and he lies on the ground in utter exhaustion.
The 10th Station: Jesus is stripped of his garments by the soldiers, after mocking him. They stripped him off the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. And he was stripped again as the soldiers began the crucifixion.
The 11th Station: Jesus is nailed to the cross and was put to death by crucifixion. Being nailed to a cross was the method followed by the Romans for capital punishment. The instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus forming a “cruciform” or T-shaped structure.
The 12th Station: Jesus dies on the cross. Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered vinegar mixed with myrrh to drink. At Golgotha, he was then hung between two convicted thieves and, according to the Gospel of Mark, was crucified at the third hour (9 a.m.), and died by the ninth hour of the day (at around 3:00 p.m.).
The 13th Station: Jesus is taken down from the cross by two of his disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, who placed his lifeless body in the arms of his grieving Mother.
The 14th Station: The final step is when Jesus is laid in the tomb by a councillor named Joseph of Arimathea. In church art, we are told it’s called the Entombment of Christ.
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Dr Marianne Furtado de Nazareth is a former Asst Editor, The Deccan Herald.