Crucify!

Now, we stand for the Gospel. The longest Sunday Gospel is that for Palm Sunday, and it calls for participation of the congregation. Each fellow in the pew is supposed to join in as the Gospel calls for the crowd to speak. It is the Passion of Christ.

A few years ago, a small boy, two rows of pews before me, picked up the chant, with mindless enthusiasm, but after the co-ordinated unison, and yelled, “Crucify Him!” The mindless enthusiasm of the child, embarrassed his mother, because of the awkwardness and untimeliness. It was humorous on several levels: the unexpectedness, the joy of the outburst in the small voice, the ignorance of the new word he joyfully mouthed.

I have tried to make stations every week during lent. The way of the cross is Palm Sunday’s Gospel. Good Friday there is no mass, but the Passion according to John is read. Before the joy of Resurrection Sunday, the events of that one Friday are to have been deeply felt and understood.

The mindless enthusiasm of that child was innocent. Many, many people have that same mindless enthusiasm as a response for many other situations.

The United States has a huge jailed population, the largest in the world in percentage and absolute numbers. More than half of the world’s military spending is that of the US. The world’s largest military-industrial complex--the US. More than half of the world’s countries have US military bases. Each one of these items yell with a guilty, mindless enthusiasm, “Crucify Him!”

If your impending birth is inconvenient, “Crucify Him!” Cross the border, “Crucify Him!” Drink a glass of wine, or drink two beers before driving, “Crucify Him!” Grow a marijuana plant, “Crucify Him!” Vote the wrong way, “Crucify Him!” Disagree with any of political or social opinions, “Crucify Him!” Support a rival sport’s team, “Crucify Him!” Dropping two atomic bombs was, “Crucify Him!” Invading Iraq was, “Crucify Him!” The mouthfoamers on lunatic television and radio yell, “Crucify Him!” several times a day. It has become automatic, almost an autonomous reflex.

Sure, similar responses happen the world round. Is there another country claiming to be a christian one more or louder than this one?

Part of the old Good Friday services was the Reproaches from the Cross. How many of the crucifiers listen to the reproaches?

14th Station

14th Station (Saint Mary of the Assumption, Cleve., O.)
XIV Jesus is laid in the tomb
14. Jesús es colocado en el sepulcro

John xix ― 39 And Nicodemus also came, (he who at the first came to Jesus by night,) bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 They took therefore the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now there was in the place where he was crucified, a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. 42 There, therefore, because of the parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

39 Venit autem et Nicodémus, qui vénerat ad Jesum nocte primum, ferens mixtúram myrrhæ et áloës, quasi libras centum. 40 Accepérunt ergo corpus Jesu, et ligavérunt illud línteis cum aromátibus, sicut mos est Judǽis sepelíre. 41 Erat autem in loco, ubi crucifíxus est, hortus : et in horto monuméntum novum, in quo nondum quisquam pósitus erat. 42 Ibi ergo propter parascéven Judæórum, quia juxta erat monuméntum, posuérunt Jesum.

Porque no pensemos, hermanos, que nuestros muertos se han apartado de nosotros, su cielo, su recompensa eterna, los perfecciona en el amor, siguen amando las mismas causas por las cuales murieron, lo cual quiere decir que en El Salvador esta fuerza liberadora no sólo cuenta con los que van quedando vivos, sino que cuenta con todos aquellos que las han querido matar y que están más presentes que antes en este proceso del pueblo. ― Monsenor Romero. 2 March 1980.

Don’t think, brothers, that our dead have left us. Their heaven, their eternal recompense, makes them more perfect in love. They are still loving the same causes that they died for. That means that in El Salvador this liberating force not only counts those who remain living, but also counts those who they wanted to kill who are more present than before in the people.

13th Station

13th Station (Saint Wendelin, Cleve., O.)
XIII Jesus is taken down from the Cross and given to his Mother
13. Jesús es bajado de la cruz

Mark xv ―43 Joseph of Arimathea, a noble counsellor, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. 44 But Pilate wondered that he should be already dead. And sending for the centurion, he asked him if he were already dead. 45 And when he had understood it by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 And Joseph buying fine linen, and taking him down, wrapped him up in the fine linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewed out of a rock. And he rolled a stone to the door of the sepulchre.

43 venit Joseph ab Arimathǽa nóbilis decúrio, qui et ipse erat exspéctans regnum Dei, et audácter introívit ad Pilátum, et pétiit corpus Jesu. 44 Pilátus autem mirabátur si jam obiísset. Et accersíto centurióne, interrogávit eum si jam mórtuus esset. 45 Et cum cognovísset a centurióne, donávit corpus Joseph. 46 Joseph autem mercátus síndonem, et depónens eum invólvit síndone, et pósuit eum in monuménto quod erat excísum de petra, et advólvit lápidem ad óstium monuménti.

Maria es la expresión de la necesidad del pueblo Salvadoreño. Maria es la expresión de la angustia de quienes están en prisión. Maria es la tristeza de las madres quienes han perdido a sus hijos y nadie les dirá donde están. Maria es la ternura que busca con angustia una solución. ― Monsenor Romero. 24 Diciembre 1978.

Mary is the expression of the need of the Salvadorian people. Mary is the expression of the anguish of those who are in prison. Mary is the sadness of the mothers who have lost their children and no one will tell them where they are. Mary is the tenderness that looks with anguish for a solution.

12th Station

12th Station (Saint Augustine, Cleve.,O.)
XII Jesus dies on the Cross
12. Jesús muere en la cruz

Luke xxiii ― 44 And it was almost the sixth hour; and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And Jesus crying out with a loud voice, said: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And saying this, he gave up the ghost. 47 Now the centurion, seeing what was done, glorified God, saying: Indeed this was a just man.

44 Erat autem fere hora sexta, et ténebræ factæ sunt in univérsam terram usque ad horam nonam. 45 Et obscurátus est sol, et velum templi scissum est médium. 46 Et clamans voce magna Jesus ait : Pater, in manus tuas comméndo spíritum meum. Et hæc dicens, expirávit. 47 Videns autem centúrio quod factum fúerat, glorificávit Deum, dicens : Vere hic homo justus erat.

Mientras miramos a Cristo clavado en la cruz nos invita la Sagrada Palabra a descifrar un misterio de actualidad. Si Cristo es el representante de todo el pueblo en sus dolores, en su humillación, en sus miembros acribillados con unos clavos en una cruz, tenemos que descubrir el sufrimiento de nuestro pueblo. Es nuestro pueblo torturado, es nuestro pueblo crucificado, escupido, humillado al que representa Jesucristo Nuestro Señor para darle a nuestra situación tan difícil un sentido de redención ― Monsenor Romero. Marzo 24, 1978.

While we look at Christ nailed to the cross, he invites us to discern from the sacred word a real mystery. If Christ is the representative for all people, we have to discover the suffering of our people in his suffering, his humiliation, his body scarred by the nails of the cross. This is our people tortured, crucified, spat upon, and humiliated from whom Christ our Lord is represented in order to give our very difficult situation a sense of redemption.

11th Station

11th Station (Saint Stephen, Cleve., O.)
Jesus wird ans Kreuz geschlagen
XI Jesus is nailed to the Cross
11. Jesús es clavado a la cruz

Mark xv ― 22 And they bring him into the place called Golgotha, which being interpreted is, The place of Calvary. 23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh; but he took it not. 24 And crucifying him, they divided his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. 25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of his cause was written over: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. 28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith: And with the wicked he was reputed. 29 And they that passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying: Vah, thou that destroyest the temple of God, and in three days buildest it up again; 30 Save thyself, coming down from the cross. 31 In like manner also the chief priests mocking, said with the scribes one to another: He saved others; himself he cannot save. 32 Let Christ the king of Israel come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.

22 Et perdúcunt illum in Gólgotha locum : quod est interpretátum Calváriæ locus. 23 Et dabant ei bíbere myrrhátum vinum : et non accépit. 24 Et crucifigéntes eum, divisérunt vestiménta ejus, mitténtes sortem super eis, quis quid tólleret. 25 Erat autem hora tértia : et crucifixérunt eum. 26 Et erat títulus causæ ejus inscríptus : Rex Judæórum. 27 Et cum eo crucifígunt duos latrónes : unum a dextris, et álium a sinístris ejus. 28 Et impléta est Scriptúra, quæ dicit : Et cum iníquis reputátus est. 29 Et prætereúntes blasphemábant eum, movéntes cápita sua, et dicéntes : Vah ! qui déstruis templum Dei, et in tribus diébus reædíficas, 30 salvum fac temetípsum descéndens de cruce. 31 Simíliter et summi sacerdótes illudéntes, ad altérutrum cum scribis dicébant : Álios salvos fecit ; seípsum non potest salvum fácere. 32 Christus rex Israël descéndat nunc de cruce, ut videámus, et credámus. Et qui cum eo crucifíxi erant, convitiabántur ei.

Roma crucificaba pero no a sus romanos, Roma crucificaba a los pueblos que dependían de su imperio; y como Palestina dependía de Roma -Pilatos era el representante de Roma en aquel pueblo oprimido- Cristo tiene que ser humillado como un ser que no merece ni siquiera ciudadanía ― Monsenor Romero. 19 Marzo 1978.

Rome used to crucify people, but not Roman citizens. Rome used to crucify the people that depended on their empire. And since Palestine depended on Rome (Pilate was the representative of Rome to this oppressed people), Christ had to be humiliated like someone who didn’t merit citizenship.

10th Station

10th Station (Saint Rocco, Cleve., O.)
X Jesus is stripped of his garments
10. Jesús es despojado de sus vestiduras

John xix ― 18 Where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the midst. 19 And Pilate wrote a title also, and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am the King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written. 23 The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified him, took his garments, (and they made four parts, to every soldier a part,) and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 They said then one to another: Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the scripture might be fulfilled, saying: They have parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they have cast lot. And the soldiers indeed did these things.

18 ubi crucifixérunt eum, et cum eo álios duos hinc et hinc, médium autem Jesum. 19 Scripsit autem et títulum Pilátus, et pósuit super crucem. Erat autem scriptum : Jesus Nazarénus, Rex Judæórum. 20 Hunc ergo títulum multi Judæórum legérunt : quia prope civitátem erat locus, ubi crucifíxus est Jesus, et erat scriptum hebráice, græce, et latíne. 21 Dicébant ergo Piláto pontífices Judæórum : Noli scríbere : Rex Judæórum : sed quia ipse dixit : Rex sum Judæórum. 22 Respóndit Pilátus : Quod scripsi, scripsi. 23 Mílites ergo cum crucifixíssent eum, accepérunt vestiménta ejus (et fecérunt quátuor partes, unicuíque míliti partem) et túnicam. Erat autem túnica inconsútilis, désuper contéxta per totum. 24 Dixérunt ergo ad ínvicem : Non scindámus eam, sed sortiámur de illa cujus sit. Ut Scriptúra implerétur, dicens : Partíti sunt vestiménta mea sibi : et in vestem meam misérunt sortem. Et mílites quidem hæc fecérunt.

Este es el compromiso de ser cristiano: seguir a Cristo en su encarnación y si Cristo es Dios majestuoso que se hace hombre humilde hasta la muerte de los esclavos en una cruz y vive con los pobres, así debe ser nuestra fe cristiana. El cristiano que no quiere vivir este compromiso de solidaridad con el pobre, no es digno de llamarse cristiano. Cristo nos invita a no tenerle miedo a la persecución porque, créanlo hermanos, el que se compromete con los pobres tiene que correr el mismo destino de los pobres: ser desaparecido, ser torturados, ser capturados, aparecer cadáveres ― Monsenor Romero. 17 Febrero 1980.

This is the commitment of being a Christian: to follow Christ in his Incarnation. And if Christ is a majestic God who becomes a humble man and lives with the poor until the death of slaves on a cross, our Christian faith should be lived in the same fashion. This Christian who doesn’t want to live with this commitment of solidarity with the poor doesn’t deserve to call himself a Christian. Christ invites us not to fear persecution because, believe it brothers, the one who binds himself with the poor has to go through the same destiny as the poor: to be disappeared, to be tortured, to be captured to appear as dead.

9th Station

9th Station (Shrine Church of Saint Stanislaus, Cleve., O.)
Jezus upada pod krzyżem raz trzeci
IX Jesus falls for the third time
9. Jesús cae por tercera vez

Luke xvii ― 1 And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come: but woe to him through whom they come. 2 It were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones.

1 Et ait ad discípulos suos : Impossíbile est ut non véniant scándala : væ autem illi per quem véniunt. 2 Utílius est illi si lapis moláris imponátur circa collum ejus, et projiciátur in mare quam ut scandalízet unum de pusíllis istis.

¡No está vencido nadie aunque lo pongan bajo la bota de la opresión y de la represión, el que cree en Cristo, sabe que es un vencedor y que la victoria definitiva será de la verdad y de la justicia. ― 23 Marzo 1980 (un día antes de su muerte)

¡Qué bien se identifica Cristo con el sufrimiento de nuestro pueblo! Así parecen clamar muchas cosas, muchos tugurios, muchos en las cárceles y en el sufrimiento, muchos hambrientos de justicia y de paz. "¿Dios mío, Dios mío, por qué me has abandonado?" No nos ha abandonado. Es la hora en que el Hijo de Dios va pasando con toda su carga de pecado por la obediencia que Dios le pide para poder perdonar esos pecados de la humanidad de donde derivan todas las injusticias, todos los egoísmos ― Monsenor Romero. 8 Abril 1979.

No one is vanquished even though he is put under the boot of oppression and repression. He who believes in Christ knows that he is victor and that the ultimate victory will be from truth and from justice. (a day before his death)

How well Christ identified himself with the suffering of his people! Many shacks, many slums, many imprisoned by suffering, many hungry for justice and peace appear to clamor, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’ He hasn’t abandoned us. This is the hour in which the Son of God is carrying all of the load of sins to obey God, asking him to pardon these sins of humanity from whom is derived all injustices, all selfishness.

8th Station

8th Station (Saint Procop, Cleve., O.)
VIII Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem
8. Jesús habla a las mujeres de Jerusalén

Luke xxiii ― 27 And there followed him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

27 Sequebátur autem illum multa turba pópuli et mulíerum, quæ plangébant et lamentabántur eum. 28 Convérsus autem ad illas Jesus, dixit : Fíliæ Jerúsalem, nolíte flere super me, sed super vos ipsas flete et super fílios vestros.

El que convive con el pobre, con el miserable, con el campesino y lo defiende y quiere como Cristo nuestro Señor predicar la liberación a los pobres, a los oprimidos, a los prisioneros, a los que sufren. Este es Cristo que está en medio de nosotros ― Monsenor Romero. 23 Marzo 1978.

The one who lives with the poor, the miserable, the peasant and who defends them and loves them like Christ our Lord, and who preaches the liberation of the poor, of the oppressed, of the one who suffers, this one is Christ in our midst.

7th Station

7th Station (Our Lady of Peace, Cleve., O.)
VII Jesus falls for the second time
7. Jesús cae por segunda vez

John xii ― 24 Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die,

24 Amen, amen dico vobis, nisi granum fruménti cadens in terram, mórtuum fúerit,

Aquí donde Cristo es carne que sufre, aquí donde Cristo es cosa, donde Cristo es persecución, donde Cristo es hombres que duermen en el campo porque no pueden dormir en su casa, donde Cristo es enfermedad que sufre por consecuencia de tantas intemperies y de tantos sufrimientos; aquí es Cristo con su cruz a cuestas, no meditado en una capilla junto al vía-crucis, sino vivido en el pueblo; es Cristo con su cruz camino del Calvario ― Monsenor Romero. 5 Marzo 1978.

Here, Christ is flesh that suffers. Here where Christ is something, he is persecution, where Christ is men who sleep out in the country because they can’t sleep in their house, where Christ is sickness that suffers because of the consequences of being so unprotected. Here is Christ with the cross upon his shoulders on the road to Calvary, not meditated in some chapel with the way of the cross or lived outside the people.

6th Station

6th Station (Saint Colman, Cleve., O.)
VI Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
6. Verónica limpia el rostro de Jesús

Matthew xxvi ―27 And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this.

27 Et accípiens cálicem, grátias egit : et dedit illis, dicens : Bíbite ex hoc omnes.

Si viéramos que es Cristo el hombre necesitado, el hombre torturado, el hombre prisionero, el asesinado; y en cada figura de hombre, botadas tan indignamente por nuestros caminos, descubriéramos a ese Cristo botado, medalla de oro que recogeríamos con ternura y la besaríamos y no nos avergonzaríamos de él ― Monsenor Romero. 16 Marzo 1980.

If we could see that Christ is the needy person, the tortured person, the prisoner, the assassinated one, the one thrown away with so much indignity on our roads. If we could discover in this rejected one Christ, we would treat this Christ as a medal of gold. We would pick him up with tenderness and kiss him. We would not feel ashamed of him.

5th Station

5th Station (Saint Peter, Cleve., O.)
V Simon the Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the Cross
5. Simón el Cirineo ayuda a Jesús a cargar la cruz

Luke xxiii ― 26 And as they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country; and they laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus.

26 Et cum dúcerent eum, apprehendérunt Simónem quemdam Cyrenénsem veniéntem de villa : et imposuérunt illi crucem portáre post Jesum.

Lamentablemente, queridos hermanos, somos el producto de una educación espiritualista, individualista. Donde se nos enseñaba: procura salvar tu alma y no te importe lo demás. Como decíamos al que sufría: "Paciencia, que ya vendrá el cielo, aguanta". ¡No!, no puede ser eso, eso no es salvar, no es la salvación que Cristo trajo. La salvación que Cristo trae es la salvación de todas las esclavitudes que oprimen al hombre. Es necesario que el hombre que vive bajo de tantas opresiones y esclavitudes rompa las cadenas-el miedo que esclaviza los corazones; la enfermedad que oprime los cuerpos, la tristeza, la preocupación, el terror que oprime nuestra libertad y nuestra vida ― Monsenor Romero. 9 Septiembre 1979.

Unfortunately, dear brothers, we are the product of an education which is spiritualistic and individualistic, where we are taught ‘to gain salvation of the spirit, don’t worry about others.’ Like we say to the suffering, ‘Have patience that you will get to heaven, endure!’ No! That can’t be. This isn’t salvation, not the salvation that Christ brought. The salvation that Christ brings is the salvation from all the slaveries that oppress people. It is necessary that people break the chains that bind them: starting with the many oppressions and slaveries, fears that enslave their hearts, illnesses that oppress their bodies, sadness, preoccupations, terrors that oppress their freedom and their life.

4th Station

4th Station (Saint Patrick, Cleve., O.)
IV Jesus meets his Mother
4. Jesús encuentra a su madre

John xix ― 25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. 26 When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. 27 After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.

25 Stabant autem juxta crucem Jesu mater ejus, et soror matris ejus, María Cléophæ, et María Magdaléne. 26 Cum vidísset ergo Jesus matrem, et discípulum stantem, quem diligébat, dicit matri suæ : Múlier, ecce fílius tuus. 27 Deínde dicit discípulo : Ecce mater tua. Et ex illa hora accépit eam discípulus in sua.

La liberación de Cristo, hermanos, es ternura, es amor, es la presencia de una madre bondadosa: María. Y María es el modelo de quienes colaboran con Cristo para la liberación de la tierra y la adquisición del cielo. María en su cántico de acción de gracias proclama las grandezas de Dios y también proclama que Dios desecha el orgullo de los poderosos y enaltece a los humildes ― Monsenor Romero. Marzo 24, 1978

Brothers, the liberation of Christ is tenderness; it’s love; it’s the presence of a loving mother, Mary. And Mary is the model of those who collaborate with Christ for the liberation of the earth and the acquisition of heaven. Mary, in her song of thanksgiving, proclaimed the greatness of God and also proclaims that God rejects the pride of the powerful and exalts the humble.

3rd Station

3rd Station (Sacred Heart of Jesus, Cleve., O.)
Jezus Upada Pierwszy Raz
III Jesus falls for the first time
3. Jesús cae por primera vez

Mark viii ― 34 And calling the multitude together with his disciples, he said to them: If any man will follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

34 Et convocáta turba cum discípulis suis, dixit eis : Si quis vult me sequi, déneget semetípsum : et tollat crucem suam, et sequátur me.

Cristo no es un ser insensible. Cristo es un hombre de carne y hueso, de nervios y músculos como nosotros. Un hombre que siente lo que siente alguien cuando lo lleva la Guardia Nacional y lo lleva a ese lugar de tortura ― Monsenor Romero. 1 Abril 1979.

Christ is not an insensitive man. Christ is a real person of flesh and bones, nerves and muscles, just like us. He is a man who feels just like a person feels when he is carried away by the National Guard and taken to a place of torture.

2nd Station

2nd Station (Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cleve., O.)
II Jesus takes up his Cross
2. Jesús carga su cruz

John xix ― 14 And it was the parasceve of the pasch, about the sixth hour, and he saith to the Jews: Behold your king. 15 But they cried out: Away with him; away with him; crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar. 16 Then therefore he delivered him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him forth. 17 And bearing his own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha.

14 Erat autem parascéve Paschæ, hora quasi sexta, et dicit Judǽis : Ecce rex vester. 15 Illi autem clamábant : Tolle, tolle, crucifíge eum. Dicit eis Pilátus : Regem vestrum crucifígam ? Respondérunt pontífices : Non habémus regem, nisi Cæsárem. 16 Tunc ergo trádidit eis illum ut crucifigerétur. Suscepérunt autem Jesum, et eduxérunt. 17 Et bájulans sibi crucem exívit in eum, qui dícitur Calváriæ locum, hebráice autem Gólgotha :

Sentimos en el Cristo de la Semana Santa con su cruz a cuestas, que es el pueblo que va cargando también su cruz. Sentimos en el Cristo de los brazos abiertos y crucificados, al pueblo crucificado pero que desde Cristo, un pueblo que crucificado y humillado, encuentra su esperanza ― Monsenor Romero. 19 Marzo 1978.

We feel in the Christ of Holy Week, with the cross upon his shoulders, that his is the people who are also carrying their cross. We feel the people crucified in this Christ with the open arms crucified, but it is from this Christ that a people crucified and humiliated will encounter their hope.

1st Station

1st Station (Immaculate Conception, Cleve., O.)
I Jesus is condemned to death
1. Jesús es condenado a muerte

Luke xxiii. ― 1 And the whole multitude of them rising up, led him to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying: We have found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he is Christ the king. 3 And Pilate asked him, saying: Art thou the king of the Jews? But he answering, said: Thou sayest it. 4 And Pilate said to the chief priests and to the multitudes: I find no cause in this man. 5 But they were more earnest, saying: He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place. 6 But Pilate hearing Galilee, asked if the man were of Galilee? 7 And when he understood that he was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him away to Herod, who was also himself at Jerusalem, in those days.

1 Et surgens omnis multitúdo eórum, duxérunt illum ad Pilátum. 2 Cœpérunt autem illum accusáre, dicéntes : Hunc invénimus subverténtem gentem nostram, et prohibéntem tribúta dare Cæsári, et dicéntem se Christum regem esse. 3 Pilátus autem interrogávit eum, dicens : Tu es rex Judæórum ? At ille respóndens ait : Tu dicis. 4 Ait autem Pilátus ad príncipes sacerdótum et turbas : Nihil invénio causæ in hoc hómine. 5 At illi invalescébant, dicéntes : Cómmovet pópulum docens per univérsam Judǽam, incípiens a Galilǽa usque huc. 6 Pilátus autem áudiens Galilǽam, interrogávit si homo Galilǽus esset. 7 Et ut cognóvit quod de Heródis potestáte esset, remísit eum ad Heródem, qui et ipse Jerosólymis erat illis diébus.

Dios que renuncia a su categoría, de Dios, deja la felicidad de su cielo y se viene a hacer hombre, hombre que no anda mencionando sus prerrogativas de Dios, hombre cualquiera -dice la Biblia hoy-, un hombre cualquiera; un hombre cualquiera que es amarrado por la autoridad de su tiempo, llevado a los tribunales, ajusticiado. Se me ocurre pensar cuando San Pablo dice: "un hombre cualquiera", esas figuras que ya estamos acostumbrados a ir viviendo en nuestros periódicos: el campesino esposado, el campesino torturado, el obrero a quien no se le reconocen sus derechos, un hombre cualquiera, así se quiso hacer Cristo ― Monsenor Romero. 19 Marzo 1978.

This is a God who renounces his condition as God, coming down from the happiness of heaven to become a man, a man who doesn’t go around mentioning his prerogative as God—“any man,” says the bible today. “Any man” who is tied to the authority of his time and carried to the courts. When St. Paul says “any man,” it occurs to me to think of those people whom we are already accustomed to seeing in our newspapers: the handcuffed peasant, the tortured peasant, the laborer whose rights aren’t recognized. This is the “any man” whom Christ wanted to become.

An introduction to the Stations

There are many forms to the devotional practice of the Way of the Cross, or as it is often popularly called, ‘Stations’. There are living Stations, where people perform the parts. Some parishes have school children in the enactment, often on Good Friday itself, and sometimes the Friday before. A few parishes take to the streets with adults in a procession on Good Friday, and of course there are two the world media will photograph--the ones in Jerusalem, and in Rome.

Some are less theatrical, yet can still be very moving and spiritually enrichening. I have for many years attended stations, the last few years I have tried to attend them in different parishes in the lenten season. There are, of course, different programmes. They are usually on Friday at 7 p.m., but they can be found at other times. Some precede or follow mass, some have an exposition of the Eucharist and Benediction. There are versions where you are put in the position of Mary, Jesus or a member of the crowd. Some are done with audio-visual equipment, some people are encouraged to process through the church from depiction to depiction of each station. There are parishes that do one form in english, and another in the language of the old country. Where I went to parish grade school, they were the traditional ones of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, which as a youth, I found too intensely intimate; as an adult I am more comfortable with the language. Each can affect different souls, one peson may notice the effect of a different presentation has on him.

Some people wish to add an extra station of the Resurrection. No such 15th Station. Yes!, we all know Jesus was resurrected, and we wait for it on Holy Saturday, but the events of the cross were of Friday, on which, He suffered, died and was buried. Via Crucis was Friday, not Sunday. It is, in part the protestant tendency of uncomfortableness with Good Friday, that, americans have picked up, and allow for this reformation of the stations. Some of these people who want this 15th are upset, with people whom do not want it. They want to force their indulgence upon others. Now, I will go on a generalising tangent, in reference to general principles. There are many such things some wish to progressively alter. Good Friday must be, primarily, about Good Friday, just as Easter Sunday must be about Easter. Similar criticisms were directed at Gibson’s film on The Passion. The conservative view is to be held. In so many things, change should come when there is a true need for change, not just when change is desired, especially when the change is desired by the few for all. Some novel private permutations are fine, as long as they are not made mandatory, by soft, or hard coercion. This is a form of tyranny by diktat. There are people of position, who overstep and over reach their legitimate authority, and there are people of no position who overstep and over reach. A committee as well as a bishop, a policeman as well as an activist or a ‘facilitator’ can, and do, go too far.

This is the form of the Stations, that, will be presented in the following pages. Caveat: this is just one of many possible versions. Stations can be done privately or publicly, in solitude or in community. A visual focus of the scene, will be here, a photograph of a station from a local church, this will be followed by: a Douay Rheims Challoner revision of the Vulgate, and the Vulgate passage from the New Testament, which will be followed by: quotations from Archbishop Óscar Romero and an english translation, most of this will be lifted from: Monsenor Romero: El Pueblo Es Mi Profeta, Equipo de Educacion Maiz, 1994.

Veronica of the Veil

Domenico Fetti. The Veil of Veronica. 1618-20. District of Columbia.

The Veil of Veronica resides at the Capuchin monastery at Monoppello. The (blood)stained cloth’s image is visible or invisible dependent on the angle of light. The Face on it, is like the face on the Shroud of Turin. It had been in Rome some centuries*. It was stolen from Saint Peter’s Basilica, in 1608 and soon was in Monoppello.

In the Acts of Pilate, the woman of the 6th Station of the Cross is Berenike (latinised to Veronika). Eusebius identifies her with the incident in Matthew ix. 20 and Luke viii. 43-44:

And behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment.

And there was a certain woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had bestowed all her substance on physicians, and could not be healed by any. She came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment; and immediately the issue of her blood stopped.

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* In Dante’s Paradiso Canto XXXI (Longfellow tr.), he alludes to pilgrims:

Qual è colui che forse di Croazia
viene a veder la Veronica nostra
che per l'antica fame non sen sazia,

ma dice nel pensier, fin che si mostra:
'Segnor mio Iesù Cristo, Dio verace,
or fu sì fatta la sembianza vostra?';

As he who peradventure from Croatia
Cometh to gaze at our Veronica,
Who through its ancient fame is never sated,

But says in thought, the while it is displayed,
"My Lord, Christ Jesus, God of very God,
Now was your semblance made like unto this?"

Stations — the Way of the Cross

A moving, prayerful and wonderful devotion, especially during lent, is the reciting and meditation of the Via Dolorossa, the Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross. In attempt to empathise with the Lord's Passion on Good Friday millions of people around the world pray the stations, standardly fourteen places from Christ before Pilate and his sentencing to the entombment. Many versions are done, one written by Alphonso Liguori, several scriptural ones, living recreations with actors amongst others. Some are accompanied by familiar popular prayers, some are done before or after mass, benediction, communion service and often a verse tristiche of the moving and lovely, Stabat mater dolorosa is sung after each station. Quite often one can communally participate in this service, in many parishes at 7 p.m. on the first six fridays of lent and at noon on Good Friday. Going to different locations each week, with, perhaps, a different presentation can add to the appreciation of the experience and prayer.

I Jesus is condemned to death
II Jesus takes up his Cross
III Jesus falls for the first time
IV Jesus meets his Mother
V Jesus is helped by Simon the Cyrene to carry his Cross
VI Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
VII Jesus falls for the second time
VIII Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
IX Jesus falls for the third time
X Jesus is stripped of his garments
XI Jesus is nailed to the Cross
XII Jesus dies on the Cross
XIII Jesus is taken down from the Cross and given to his Mother
XIV Jesus is laid in the tomb

Stabat Mater dolorosa iuxta Crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius.	At, the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to Jesus to the last.
Cuius animam gementem, contristatam et dolentem pertransivit gladius.	Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, all His bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has passed.
O quam tristis et afflicta fuit illa benedicta, mater Unigeniti!	O how sad and sore distressed was that Mother, highly blest, of the sole-begotten One.
Quae maerebat et dolebat, pia Mater, dum videbat nati poenas inclyti.	Christ above in torment hangs, she beneath beholds the pangs of her dying glorious Son.
Quis est homo qui non fleret, matrem Christi si videret in tanto supplicio?	Is there one who would not weep, whelmed in miseries so deep, Christ's dear Mother to behold?
Quis non posset contristari Christi Matrem contemplari dolentem cum Filio?	Can the human heart refrain from partaking in her pain, in that Mother's pain untold?
Pro peccatis suae gentis vidit Iesum in tormentis, et flagellis subditum.	Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled, she beheld her tender Child All with scourges rent:
Vidit suum dulcem Natum moriendo desolatum, dum emisit spiritum.	For the sins of His own nation, saw Him hang in desolation, Till His spirit forth He sent.
Eia, Mater, fons amoris me sentire vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam.	O thou Mother! fount of love! Touch my spirit from above, make my heart with thine accord:
Fac, ut ardeat cor meum in amando Christum Deum ut sibi complaceam.	Make me feel as thou hast felt; make my soul to glow and melt with the love of Christ my Lord.
Sancta Mater, istud agas, crucifixi fige plagas cordi meo valide.	Holy Mother! pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified:
Tui Nati vulnerati, tam dignati pro me pati, poenas mecum divide.	Let me share with thee His pain, who for all my sins was slain, who for me in torments died.
Fac me tecum pie flere, crucifixo condolere, donec ego vixero.	Let me mingle tears with thee, mourning Him who mourned for me, all the days that I may live:
Iuxta Crucem tecum stare, et me tibi sociare in planctu desidero.	By the Cross with thee to stay, there with thee to weep and pray, is all I ask of thee to give.
Virgo virginum praeclara, mihi iam non sis amara, fac me tecum plangere.	Virgin of all virgins blest!, Listen to my fond request: let me share thy grief divine;
Fac, ut portem Christi mortem, passionis fac consortem, et plagas recolere.	Let me, to my latest breath, in my body bear the death of that dying Son of thine.
Fac me plagis vulnerari, fac me Cruce inebriari, et cruore Filii.	Wounded with His every wound, steep my soul till it hath swooned, in His very Blood away;
Flammis ne urar succensus, per te, Virgo, sim defensus in die iudicii.	Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, lest in flames I burn and die, in His awful Judgment Day.
Christe, cum sit hinc exire, da per Matrem me venire ad palmam victoriae.	Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, by Thy Mother my defense, by Thy Cross my victory;
Quando corpus morietur, fac, ut animae donetur paradisi gloria. Amen.	While my body here decays, may my soul Thy goodness praise, safe in paradise with Thee. Amen.

stabant autem juxta crucem Jesu mater ejus et soror matris ejus Maria Cleopæ et Maria Magdalene
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. — John xix. 25.

This marvelous poem and hymn is, usually, attributed to the third order Franciscan, Jacopone da Todi (c.1228-1306), translation by Edward Caswall (1814-1878), trochaic tetrameter often sung in plainsong (dom Fonteinne O.S.B. of Solesme), but many other musical settings, also.