The cold, rain and hail did not discourage (all) the pilgrims to Jerusalem to follow the way of the cross on the Via Dolorosa. It is true that many magnificent clear spells encouraged them and their faith led them to the Holy Sepulchre.
After having celebrated the office of the Passion in the morning at Calvary, the Franciscans crossed the Old City to go from St. Saviour’s Convent to the first station from where the Custos of the Holy Land and his vicar presided the way of the cross.
On this day and like every Friday in the year when they guarantee the same ritual, only the Franciscans are authorized to enter the basilica. The Latin parish deny those who bring their large cross as far as the Empty Tomb to show that death has already been overcome. People push and crush into one another inside the building. Everyone wants to be there on these holy days.
The basilica of the Resurrection is taken by assault by believers. A loud noise starts, but it is impossible to know whether it is prayer or clamour. The faithful come and go and irresistibly mount towards the joy of Easter.
The Franciscans have returned to their convent. They will go back to the Holy Sepulchre in the afternoon, then in the evening for the office of the funeral of Christ.
Funeral of Christ
There is all the fervour of joy and prayer at eight p.m. at the Holy Sepulchre. The funeral of Christ is about to be commemorated in the Basilica of the Resurrection. That sacrificed through which Christ had to pass to save us is remembered. There is no sadness but there can be a lot of emotion. “It is through his wounds that we are saved,” recalls the mosaic of Calvary.
The Gospels, read in succession during the procession that leads the Franciscans and the celebrants from the altar of Mary Magdalene to the Tomb, passing through the ambulatory and stopping at Calvary, evoke the story from the Last Supper to the judgement, from the insults of the soldiers at the crucifixion to the death.
It is then that in the silence of Calvary, where the crowd is thronging, the strokes of the hammer echo through the basilica. Christ’s body has to be removed from the cross, perfumed and laid in the tomb. It is there empty and it receives him like Good Friday. The doors are closed.
These hours, of the ordeal that Christ suffered must be remembered, to enter the silence of the great Sabbath and this Holy Saturday.
The joy will explode later. It is already bubbling over but the death toll of the Holy Sepulchre takes us back to the time of mourning and already digs out the efurrow of hope.
Article and photos by Marie Armelle Beaulieu
After having celebrated the office of the Passion in the morning at Calvary, the Franciscans crossed the Old City to go from St. Saviour’s Convent to the first station from where the Custos of the Holy Land and his vicar presided the way of the cross.
On this day and like every Friday in the year when they guarantee the same ritual, only the Franciscans are authorized to enter the basilica. The Latin parish deny those who bring their large cross as far as the Empty Tomb to show that death has already been overcome. People push and crush into one another inside the building. Everyone wants to be there on these holy days.
The basilica of the Resurrection is taken by assault by believers. A loud noise starts, but it is impossible to know whether it is prayer or clamour. The faithful come and go and irresistibly mount towards the joy of Easter.
The Franciscans have returned to their convent. They will go back to the Holy Sepulchre in the afternoon, then in the evening for the office of the funeral of Christ.
Funeral of Christ
There is all the fervour of joy and prayer at eight p.m. at the Holy Sepulchre. The funeral of Christ is about to be commemorated in the Basilica of the Resurrection. That sacrificed through which Christ had to pass to save us is remembered. There is no sadness but there can be a lot of emotion. “It is through his wounds that we are saved,” recalls the mosaic of Calvary.
The Gospels, read in succession during the procession that leads the Franciscans and the celebrants from the altar of Mary Magdalene to the Tomb, passing through the ambulatory and stopping at Calvary, evoke the story from the Last Supper to the judgement, from the insults of the soldiers at the crucifixion to the death.
It is then that in the silence of Calvary, where the crowd is thronging, the strokes of the hammer echo through the basilica. Christ’s body has to be removed from the cross, perfumed and laid in the tomb. It is there empty and it receives him like Good Friday. The doors are closed.
These hours, of the ordeal that Christ suffered must be remembered, to enter the silence of the great Sabbath and this Holy Saturday.
The joy will explode later. It is already bubbling over but the death toll of the Holy Sepulchre takes us back to the time of mourning and already digs out the efurrow of hope.
Article and photos by Marie Armelle Beaulieu