Dorota Abdelmoula-Viet – Vatican City
He thus returned to the custom of St. John Paul II, who had been the only Pope to carry the cross himself in the procession, observing all 14 Stations of the Cross.
“I carry all the sufferings of Christ in my prayers”
The Holy Father spoke about the significance of this gesture during a recent conversation with journalists who were waiting for him in Castel Gandolfo. The Pope then emphasized that it would be an important sign, reminding us that Christ still suffers today: “And I too carry all these sufferings in my prayers.” Leo XIV thus returns to the custom introduced and practiced solely by St. John Paul II. From 1980 to 1994, the Polish Pope also personally carried the cross during the Good Friday service in the Roman Colosseum – Vatican News reports.
To carry the cross amidst the clamor of the world
“The Way of the Cross is not the path of those who live in a sterilely pious and abstractly focused world – wrote Fr. Patton OFM in the introduction to the devotion – but it is an exercise for those who know that faith, hope, and love must be realized in the real world, where the believer is constantly tested and must constantly assimilate the style of Jesus’ conduct.”
A personal plea for conversion
Although Fr. Patton OFM explained that the inspiration for the prepared content included challenges faced by residents of, among others, the Holy Land, the meditations for the subsequent 14 Stations of the Cross primarily form a beautiful personal prayer for the grace of conversion. St. Francis serves as a guide, with his thoughts concerning specific attitudes, such as serving one’s neighbor, giving thanks for Redemption, forgiving, and enduring humiliations.
And each meditation concludes with a personal prayer for a change of life: for example, to shed prejudices against others, for help in rising from falls, for attentiveness to lonely people, for the ability to mourn the evil of the contemporary world, for the restoration of hope, and for liberation from the fear of the cross.
“As we walk this Way of the Cross, let us therefore accept the invitation of St. Francis to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in a way that is not merely ritual or intellectual, but engages our whole person and our whole life,” encouraged the author of the meditations.
The meditations also included references to specific challenges of the contemporary world: the abuse of power to provoke wars, the fear of following Jesus, the suffering of mothers during war, the objectification and humiliation of the human body. All were presented from the perspective of hope flowing from Christ’s Sacrifice, which can transform the darkest circumstances of life.
Growing in a relationship of love
At the conclusion of the service, which was also broadcast to millions of people worldwide, Leo XIV recited one of the prayers authored by St. Francis of Assisi, encouraging us to “live our lives as a journey of gradual engagement in the relationship of love that unites the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
On Holy Saturday, Leo XIV will preside over the Easter Vigil liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica at 9:00 PM. On Easter Sunday, at 10:15 AM, he will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Square, and at noon, he will deliver the Easter message and impart the solemn Urbi et Orbi blessing – to the city and the world. On the second day of Easter, the Pope will also meet with the faithful in St. Peter’s Square during the midday Regina Caeli prayer. All liturgies and the Easter message will be broadcast with Polish translation on the Vatican News portal.
