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Friday, April 14, 2006
Order invites pilgrims to Via Crucis in Talamban
By JUJEMAY G. AWIT
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
CATHOLICS are encouraged to observe the traditional pilgrimage that traces the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ this Holy Week.
The Way of the Cross is a series of 14 stations representing key events in the Passion of Christ. One example can be found in the Order of the Discalced Augustinians’ (OAD) formation house in Tabor Hills, Talamban, where pilgrims can make their way up a hill where the different stations are spread out.
But instead of 14 stations, OAD has 16 stations.
According to the OAD regional supervisor, Fr. Luigi Kerschbamer, the OAD Way of the Cross was intended to symbolize Jesus Christ’s walk before He was crucified.
The formation house’s “Stations of the Cross” was opened four years ago, and stays open all year-round.
On Holy Thursday and Good Friday, “it’s like Carbon,” said Kerschbamer of the crowds.
The practice of retracing the Way of the Cross originated in Jerusalem, inspired by early Christians who walked the route on which Christ was taken to Calvary.
From the words of St. Bridgitte who saw a vision of Jesus and His suffering before He was crucified, Jesus received 150 blows on the head, 108 on the stomach and 80 kicks on the shoulders.
More than 600 armed soldiers trailed him during his journey to Calvary. Citing her vision, St. Bridgitte also wrote that Jesus had 20 wounds on the head from blows, 110 gashes on the head caused by a crown made of thorns, and 1,000 wounds on His body.
Meditation
“This is a meditation of the passion and death of Jesus Christ... Doing this is a sign of gratitude because Jesus paid for our sins,” Fr. Kerschbamer said of the practice, in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu.
The Stations of the Cross were built on a steep hill, so the OAD also has a Rosary Garden that contains all the 20 mysteries, where the elderly and those with health problems can pray without the uphill climb.
The first station is at the lower portion of the hill, where the first step of a long staircase starts.
A 33-meter-long millennium cross stands on the 12th station. At the foot of the cross is a framed portrait of relics of the witnesses of Jesus’ Passion and other important items found during Jesus’ lifetime.
Fr. Harold Toledano, the formation house’s master of aspirants, announced that they will have a Holy Week presentation this 7:30 p.m. that is open to the public.
According to Toledano, the play “Kristo Tanging Mahal” reflects the Passion of Christ according to the Gospel of John, and portrays a modern life story of a family that overcomes trials through faith.
At 5 a.m. of each Friday, different groups make their pilgrimage in Tabor Hills but this Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, more people are expected to fill the area.
Apart from retracing the Way of the Cross, Catholics also practice fasting and abstinence during the Holy Week.
On Good Friday, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal is expected to deliver a message during the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral’s Siete Palabras, a meditation on Jesus Christ’s final words.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 13, 2006 issue)
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