![]() ![]() Archaeological findings prove the existence of expressions of Christian worship in the burial grounds where the tomb used for Christ had been hewn out of the rock, as early as the second century. The Church in Jerusalem showed her love for the « holy places » very early on. However she also loves the historical memory of the places where Christ suffered, the streets and the stones bathed in his sweat and in his blood. The Church is aware that in the Eucharist her Lord left her the objective, sacramental memory of the Body broken and the Blood shed on the hill of Golgotha. The Church knows in fact that in every episode which happened on that Way lies hidden a mystery of grace, a gesture of his love for her. The Church has always kept alive the memory of the words and the events of the last days of her Spouse and Lord, a loving although painful memory of the path Jesus walked from the Mount of Olives to the Mount of Calvary. ![]() Along that way of suffering Jesus' every meeting - with friends, with enemies, with the indifferent - is a chance for one final lesson, one last look, one supreme offer of reconciliation and peace. Every new suffering of Jesus is a seed of future joy for humanity, every jeer, a premise of glory. Jn 19, 34), the immolation of the true Paschal Lamb, of whom not one bone will be broken (cf. Lk 23, 34), the pierced Heart – the opening of an inextinguishable fountain of grace - (cf. Each step of Jesus is one step closer to the accomplishment of the plan of salvation: to the hour of universal forgiveness (cf. The evangelists lingered, although with moderation, over the description of the Way of the Cross which the Son of God and Son of man walked out of love for the Father and for humanity. The last stage of the journey is unspeakably hard and painful. Lk 4, 1) and then, as a divine fire burning in his breast, drives him to walk the way to Calvary (cf. The life of Jesus is a journey traced by the Spirit: at the beginning of the mission the Spirit leads him into the desert (cf. In the Christian West few pious practices are as loved as the Way of the Cross, a devotion which recalls with mindful affection the last stage of the journey that Jesus walked in his earthly life: from when he and his disciples, « after psalms had been sung, left for the Mount of Olives» ( Mk 14, 26), until the Lord was taken to the « place called Golgotha, The Skull » ( Mk 15, 22), to be crucified and then buried in a garden nearby, in a new tomb hewn out of the rock. OFFICE FOR THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF ![]()
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