What Does Way of the Cross Mean
Stations of the Cross is a concept that alludes to the journey that Jesus made from the time he was captured until his crucifixion and his subsequent burial. The term can also be mentioned as via crucis , a Latin expression that can be translated as "way to the cross . "
The notion can be used in different ways. On the one hand, there is the specific path that, according to the Christians, Jesus carried out before his death. Throughout this journey, various incidents took place: Jesus falls, meets his mother Mary , is undressed, etc.
Stations of the Cross are also understood to represent the martyrdom of Jesus . In these representations, each of the incidents is referred to as a station. For this reason, according to Christian tradition, the Way of the Cross is made up of fifteen stations, from the first station where Jesus is sentenced to death to the last station, where he is resurrected. This number, however, has varied throughout history .
Specifically, the aforementioned stations are the following:
-Jesus sentenced to death.
-Jesus carrying the cross.
-Jesus falls, for the first time, under the weight of the cross.
-Encounter with the Virgin
-The Cyrenean helps the Lord to carry the cross.
-Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
-Second fall on the way of the cross.
-Jesus comforts the daughters of Jerusalem.
-Jesus falls the third time.
-Jesus stripped of his garments.
-Jesus nailed to the cross.
-Jesus dies on the cross.
-Jesus in his mother's arms.
-The corpse of Jesus laid in the tomb.
-Jesus rises.
In addition to all the above, we cannot ignore that the Via Crucis is also prayed. Specifically, it is prayed while standing essentially and, in some specific moments, kneeling.
Praying the Stations of the Cross is surely considered to have its origin in Jerusalem. Specifically, it is considered that as early as the 4th century, during the time of Emperor Constantine, the goal to be achieved by many pilgrims was established to carry out the aforementioned stations.
Regarding the stations as we know them today, it is not known where their origin is mentioned and there are many doubts about what their route was like. Thus, for example, although there are many theories in this regard, it is considered that the ideal thing was to start the journey on Mount Calvary and end at the Casa de Pilato.
Beyond religion , Stations of the Cross are understood as the suffering that a person goes through. When someone must overcome various obstacles or barriers, it is said that they had their own Stations of the Cross.
Suppose a man needs the State to deliver a certain medicine for his son, who suffers from a serious illness. This individual goes to the Main Body of Public Health , where they ask him to complete five forms. Once this is done, an official stamps the forms and tells the man that he must take them to the National Laboratory . In this office, they ask you to complete another document and announce that you will have to pick up the medicine the next day at the headquarters of the Social Protection Institute between 8 and 8:30 in the morning. Faced with all these situations, someone could indicate that the man lived a way of the cross to get the remedy.