“In prayer with Jesus on the way to the Cross” is the theme of the meditations that will accompany the fourteen stations during the Way of the Cross in the Coliseum. The Vatican Press Office reported that it is an act of reflection and spirituality, with Jesus at the center, in the context of the Year of Prayer proclaimed by the Pope, with a less direct but broader reference to current events. So far, there have been no changes in relation to the original planning regarding the Pontiff’s presence.
Salvatore Cernuzio – Vatican City
The meditations on the famous Way of the Cross at the Coliseum, in recent years, have been prepared by bishops, religious, families, young people, students, couples, missionaries, migrants and war refugees. However, this year, it is the Pope himself who writes the meditations for the significant moment of prayer on the night of Good Friday. This is the first time this has happened in Francis’ pontificate. “In prayer with Jesus on the way to the Cross” is the theme chosen for the reflections that will accompany the fourteen stations that remember Jesus’ journey to Calvary. A title that suggests the deeply “meditative” character of these texts which, as highlighted by the Vatican Press Room, will therefore be “an act of meditation and spirituality, with Jesus at the center. It is He who makes the way to the Cross and we go through it with Him. Everything is very centered on what Jesus is experiencing at that moment and of course the theme of suffering is expanded…”.
The reference will be the prayer
This year, therefore, there will be fewer direct links to current events. In previous years, for example, refugees, victims of trafficking or people from countries at war were involved in preparing the text. Or like last year, with the testimonies and dialogues taken from the wounded countries visited by the Pope during his apostolic journeys.
Although “in this Way of the Cross, the mentions are broader, as it is a prayer, the references are still present… The prayer does not cover a category of people, but a situation”. The choice is also linked to the Year of Prayer that the Pope called in preparation for the Jubilee, an event that, as Francis has always said, has above all a spiritual character.
The presence of the Pope
As for the Pope’s presence at the Stations of the Cross, considering the Pontiff’s state of health and the decrease in temperatures in Rome, the Vatican Press Office reported that what had already been announced previously remains, that is, that the Pope will be at Friday night at Palatino: “at the moment, there are no changes to what has already been planned.” The texts of the meditations will be distributed on Friday, March 29, and on the same day there will be more details about who will be the bearers of the cross, along the ancient streets around the Colosseum. Certainly, “the people who will carry the cross will be linked to the reflection of the seasons.”
Tags: Stations Cross Coliseum years meditations written Pope Francis
