Igreja do Loreto
Igreja dos italianos em Lisboa,
dedicada a Nossa Senhora do Loreto na Itália,
onde se encontra a Casa da Sagrada Família de Nazaré.
Bula
da fundação da Igreja do Loreto
08 de Abril de 1518
Way of the Cross
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
Everyone agrees that the suffering of people who feel alone is great, living in unwanted loneliness. Jesus felt this loneliness as he walked to Calvary. He healed so many people and no one comes to help him. It was a stranger named Simão, a native of Cyrene and the father of two children, who was obliged to help him. The Cyrene remained in the gospels as someone who carries the cross of Jesus.
2nd READER
Today there are people who need someone to relieve them from the weight of the cross. It is wonderful to help those in need and there are so many in need of relief. And let yourself be helped, as we are all weak. Helping others, but also having the humility to let ourselves be helped. All like brothers.
Our Father
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
Jesus is physically exhausted and inwardly weakened because of human malice and the abandonment of his friends. He is a man, true God but also true man. Suffers like any human being. In this way Jesus becomes sympathetic to all human beings who, through time, would feel how painful it is to feel more like a worm than a man, as the psalmist says.
2nd READER
Today we all must learn from Jesus to get up whenever we fall. Perhaps they will not be physical falls, but surely they are the falls in selfishness, in evil, in sin. He will say without tiring: "Get up, raise your head and walk into a new life". Raised, in a resurrection announced.
Our Father
NINTH STATION
Jesus falls the third time
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
The Gospel accounts of the Passion do not speak of Jesus' falls, but it is normal that the journey to Calvary was very painful. Jesus falls a third time and relapses, as the people say, are always very dangerous. Jesus, who fell, spent his public life raising people, going to meet those who were prostrated by sin, disease, contempt. And I wanted to raise them, so that they could live with their heads held high, standing. He came to have life.
2nd READER
Today Jesus seems to tell us that, in today's times that are not easy for our faith, we must be Christians with our heads held high, proud to be followers of Christ and committed builders of his Kingdom of life and love. Jesus fell so that we could rise and live with the dignity of children of God.
Our Father
ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus is nailed to the cross
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
We can imagine the preaching of hands and feet, the raising of the cross, the presence beside Jesus of two malefactors who were also crucified. Preaching a man on a cross should be a very painful torment. People pass by, watch the show and make fun of Jesus. Soldiers have no human feelings. Only one of the condemned respects Jesus: the good thief. Jesus suffers and says: "Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing" (Lk 23:34).
2nd READER
Today Jesus continues to be crucified in those who are hungry, in the mutilated of all wars, in those who work in infrahuman conditions, in those condemned to death. Jesus no longer suffers. But he identifies with those who suffer today and tells us: "Whatever you do to them, you do to me!"
Our Father
THIRTEENTH STATION
Jesus' body is taken down from the cross
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
It was necessary to descend the body of Jesus who was still on the cross. Easter celebrations were approaching, and the bodies of the executed had to be removed. His mother, disciple John and people like José de Arimateia and Nicodemos take care of this task. Religious artists sculpted and painted the scene of Mary with her dead son in her arms. Jesus' pale, cold body and the face of Mary who suffers but shows no despair. She is a woman of faith and hope.
2.0 READER
Today some say that dying is as natural as eating and sleeping. But it's not like that. Death continues to be fearful and, therefore, many want to ignore it. But, for those who believe in the God of the living, it is not an uncertain adventure, but a passage from this world to the Father. All sadness will be converted into joy.
Our Father
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
R. (b1e by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
Sacred Scripture says nothing about this Veronica. But, according to a Jerusalem Church tradition, a godly woman came to Jesus and wiped his face, which was wet with sweat and blood. This gesture of feminine delicacy was appreciated by Jesus who, as a reward, made his face engraved on that veil. A woman who realized how important it is to love the despised.
2nd READER
Today it is necessary for Christians to understand that "pure and spotless religion in the eyes of God the Father consists in respecting the rights of others, because they are God's beloved children". Verónica's gesture of charity points to the essence of Christianity, the only law: merciful love.
Our Father
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
These women of the holy city, when they see Jesus suffering, cry with pity. Jesus turns to them and tells them not to cry for him, but for his children. These children of yours may be young Jews who made fun of Jesus. In fact, those who deserve compassion are not those who love until they give their lives, but those who prefer to hate, despise, kill. These Jews deserve compassion because they don't know what they are doing.
2nd READER
Today we need to have compassion for people, especially young people, who have not yet found meaning in life. But we cannot remain in mourning. Above all, we need to act in our environment, in our family, in society, with a view to a more fraternal world.
Our Father
TENTH STATION
Jesus is stripped of his garments
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
Jesus was a worker until the age of thirty. During his public life he lived poorly, to the point of saying that he didn't even have a stone to lay his head on. At the time of the farewell, I had no assets left in my will. At Calvary he is stripped of his clothes. He has nothing, just as he was born. A radical way to affirm what I always said: that the important thing is not to have things but to be good, just, fraternal. More than having it, the important thing is to be.
2nd READER
Today we need to divest ourselves of many things that prevent us from being more. We run after things that consumer society offers us, and we forget that the important thing is to live in simplicity, in evangelical poverty. More than having, the important thing is to be: to be more human, more supportive, more Christian.
Our Father
TWELFTH STATION
Jesus dies on the cross
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
Jesus dies like every man. More painfully than most men. At 33, in the fullness of life. Still young. He does not die of natural death, victim of some disease: he was condemned to death. The words of a dying person are always worth considering. S. João puts this phrase in his mouth: "Everything is finished". In fact, he could say that he had faithfully fulfilled the mission he had received from his Father.
2nd READER
Today, each of us has a mission to accomplish in his life, a work that no one will do for himself. Each of us has something to do to make this world better than it has been. To pass through the world doing good, just like Jesus. That on the last day of life we can say like Jesus: "Everything is over".
Our Father
FOURTEENTH STATION
The empty tomb and the resurrection
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
Jesus went down to hell, that is, to the most radical loneliness that is death. He became sympathetic to the dead of all time. But he penetrates the darkness of death to rise again full of light at the dawn of Easter day. He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures. The third day is the day on which God intervenes to manifest his power. And he intervened to defeat death forever and resurrect his Son Jesus.
2.0 READER
We know that death has definitely been won. But what we are going to be has yet to be revealed, as we have not yet reached the definitive city. Our life cycle will end in natural death. But we have the guarantee that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too will be raised like him.
Our Father
INTRODUCTION
V. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. R. Amen.
As we do this pious exercise of the Way of the Cross we have three moments in history in mind: what happened two thousand years ago in Jerusalem, the passion of today and the future that will be our resurrection.
Let us remember first of all this painful journey of Jesus, feeling that he really suffered and died. Although he was the Son of God, he made himself equal to us in everything except sin.
Let us remember, secondly, that now is the time when it belongs to us to suffer, completing in some way the Passion of Christ. A suffering which purifies and sanctifies us.
Let us remember, thirdly, that by walking in procession we are expressing our condition as pilgrims to the heavenly homeland. Our final destiny is the resurrection.
FIRST STATION
Jesus is condemned to death
V. We adore and bless you, Lord Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
After preaching the Kingdom of God for three years, Jesus is betrayed by one of his disciples, arrested by the soldiers, accused by the Jewish authorities and sentenced to death by Roman power. It is human evil with the name of Judas, Annas and Pontius Pilate. Jesus dies because his Good News went against the interests of the powerful, whom he called: "whitewashed tombs". He accepted the risk of being killed before he stopped loving God, his Father, and his neighbor.
2nd READER
Today we continue to condemn and kill when, with our words that hurt, our silences of contempt, our aggressive look, our gestures of hatred, our unjustified prejudices, we make others suffer unjustly. We condemn our brothers. We kill your joy of living.
Our Father
THIRD STATION
Jesus falls for the first time
V. We adore and bless you, Lord Jesus.
R. Through your holy Cross you redeem the world.
1st READER
After preaching the Kingdom of God for three years, Jesus is betrayed by one of his disciples, arrested by the soldiers, accused by the Jewish authorities and sentenced to death by the Roman power. It is human evil with the name of Judas, Annas and Pontius Pilate. Jesus dies because his Good News went against the interests of the powerful, whom he called "whitewashed tombs". He accepted the risk of being killed before he stopped loving God, his Father, and neighbour.
2nd READER
Today we continue to condemn and kill when, with our hurtful words, our contemptuous silences, our aggressive gaze, our hateful gestures, our unjustified precepts, we make others suffer unjustly. We condemn our brothers. We kill their joy of life.
Our Father
FIFTH STATION
The Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the cross
SEVENTH STATION
Jesus falls the second time
SECOND STATION
Jesus carries the cross on his back
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
What weighs Jesus is not so much the wooden cross that you carry on your back. What causes him suffering is undoubtedly the abandonment of his friends. Not even Pedro. The one who had said he would never deny it, ended up denying it three times. But Jesus, carrying the weight of the wooden cross and the cross of the betrayals of his friends, has the strength that comes from God. He spent the night before being arrested in prayer to the Father.
2nd READER
Today there are people carrying heavy crosses. They fall on him when they least expect it. These are illnesses, marital conflicts, a child who takes drugs, undeserved misery, unwanted loneliness, lack of affection, religious persecution ... May the Spirit of God be your strength.
Our Father
FOURTH STATION
Jesus meets his mother
V. We worship and bless you, O Jesus.
A. That by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.
1st READER
What weighs Jesus is not so much the wooden cross that you carry on your back. What causes him suffering is undoubtedly the abandonment of his friends. Not even Pedro. The one who had said he would never deny it, ended up denying it three times. But Jesus, carrying the weight of the wooden cross and the cross of the betrayals of his friends, has the strength that comes from God. He spent the night before being arrested in prayer to the Father.
2nd READER
Today there are people carrying heavy crosses. They fall on him when they least expect it. These are illnesses, marital conflicts, a child who takes drugs, undeserved misery, unwanted loneliness, lack of affection, religious persecution ... May the Spirit of God be your strength.
Our Father
SIXTH STATION
Veronica wipes Jesus' face
EIGHTH STATION
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
CONCLUSION
SEND
As a way of sending, let us listen to what St. Paul wrote to the Romans.
«If we die with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, having passed from death to life, will no longer die. Death will never again have power over him.
By his death, Christ died to sin once and for all and the new life he received is life for God. Likewise, consider yourselves also dead to sin, but alive to God in union with Christ Jesus ”.
BLESSING
V. Bless you God, the Father of mercy, who, through the cross and the blood of his Son, has redeemed and saved you.
R. Amen.
V. May he grant you the grace to understand with all the saints the sublime and depth of Christ's love manifested on the cross.
R. Amen.
V. May he accept your acts of piety benignly and answer your prayers generously.
R. Amen.
Bless you almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.