Via Crucis in Colosseum: Jesus carries with the wounds of our history

Sebastian Samson Ferrari – Vatican City

“Calvary’s road passes through our streets every day. We, Lord, usually go in the opposite direction for you.” Thus, the reflection that opened the Via Crucis, which was celebrated on the Great Friday night in the Colosseum of Rome, began to remind us of the need to “take the path of Jesus”, which knows our hearts and calls us to change the path.

A direct and mobile message, addressed to thousands of believers who, year after year, comes to this liturgical work loaded with history and symbolism, in one of the most distinctive scenarios of primitive Christianity. Although Pope Francis was unable to attend personally because of his recovery, it was from Reflect on Which led this ceremony, headed by the Cardinal in the Dasarean Reina, the public prosecutor of the diocese of Rome.

Prayer to move the heart

“I heard the prayer is the prayer that was launched,” heard in one of the reflections. “We interrupt our usual ways to bring us from fatigue to joy.” Under the warm light of thousands of candles, about 20,000 people gathered in the colosium to meditate and pray at the fourteen stations that pass through the eagerness of Christ, a deep love story for humanity. They accompanied the Cardinate, the bishops, the priests and the religious.

The cross has been implemented through seizures by various groups representing the faces of the current world: young people, immigrants, health workers, volunteers, teachers, persons with disabilities and Caritas members, among others. Each of them offered to walk through the intentions that most of them hurt and moved to the human heart: patients, poor, prisoners, those who suffer from hunger, those who complain, those who do not believe.

Joint path

On the second station, the Pope stressed that the path of the cross is not only difficult to climb, but also a decrease: Jesus’ decline for those who love, towards a world that loves God. Meditation said: “Young people are also tired and stumbled on adults, but those who are waiting for you renew their strength; they are raising a journey like eagles.”

On the fourth station, the meeting between Jesus and his mother reminds us of the tenderness of love that does not give up: “My mom, you are one of the few who remember. Now he is the son who needs you. He feels that you are not despair.” Believers requested their intercession, their comfort and their company.

Silence, prayer and loneliness

With the constant view of the cross, a symbol of love and surrender, the attendees prayed for the sake of peace and unity of the church. In a moment of collective silence, this was asked to learn to re -coordinate the broken relationships of brotherhood. “If the church today looks like a torn jacket, then we learned to weave it again with your love.”

At the eleventh station, the reflections highlight the surface force of the cross: “You are the real jubilee. Let’s move to you, Jesus, who greeted, you can.” Then the believers made an appeal:

Cross time

At the twelfth station, the moment of the death of Jesus was revived on the cross, with the words of the Gospel of Luke: “The sun’s rays had escaped … The veil of the temple was torn … Jesus cried:

At the end of the fourteenth stations, the attendees raised an invitation, as they demanded a gift to convert the heart:

“My God is high and glory!
The darkness of my heart shines.
Direct faith gave me,
A certain hope,
Ideal charitable institution
And deep humility.
Give me, O Lord, wisdom and discrimination
To achieve your sacred will. Amen”.

The ceremony ended with the blessing of the Cardinal Reina, which led to the closure of A VIA Crucis full of faith, hope and the desire for internal renewal.