Extract from the Catechesis of Pope Benedict XVI (March 19, 2008) :
Dear brothers and sisters,
[...] At the end of the Lenten itinerary, we too are preparing to enter the very climate that Jesus he then lived in Jerusalem. We want to reawaken in us the vivid memory of the sufferings that the Lord suffered for us and prepare ourselves to celebrate with joy, next Sunday,“the real Passover, which the Blood of Christ covered in glory, the Easter in which the Church celebrate the Feast which is the origin of all feasts”, as the Preface says for Easter day in the Ambrosian rite. […]
Good Friday:is the day that commemorates the passion, crucifixion and death of Jesus. On this day the liturgy of the Church does not include the celebration of Holy Mass, but the Christian assembly gathers to meditate on the great mystery of evil and sin that oppress humanity, to retrace, in the light of the Word of God and helped by moving liturgical gestures, the sufferings of the Lord that atone for this evil.
After listening to the story of the passion of Christ, the community prays for all the needs of the Church and of the world, adore the Cross and approaches the Eucharist, consuming the species preserved from the Mass inDomini dinnerof the previous day.
As a further invitation to meditate on the passion and death of the Redeemer and to express thelove and the participation of the faithful in the sufferings of Christ, the Christian tradition has given life to various manifestations of popular piety, processions and sacred representations, which aim to impress more and more deeply in the soul of the faithful feelings of true participation in the redemptive sacrifice of Christ.
Among these stands out theWay of the cross, a pious exercise which over the years has been enriched with multiple spiritual and artistic expressions linked to the sensitivity of different cultures.
Shrines with the name of have thus sprung up in many countries“Calvaria”, which can be reached through a steep climb that recalls the painful path of the Passion, allowing the faithful to participate in the ascent of the Lord towards the Monte della Croce, the Monte dell'Amore pushed to the end. […]
