Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross)

Amidst the bustling markets of Jerusalem's Old City, you will find Christian pilgrims walking the Via Dolorosa - the Way of the Cross.  

They retrace the path Jesus took from the place He was condemned to death to the place of His crucifixion and finally His empty tomb. Every Friday at 3:00pm all the people in the streets of Jerusalem can watch the procession of Franciscan Friars pray the Stations of the Cross as they walk the Via Dolorosa with a group of pilgrims following prayerfully. Other pilgrim groups, like my parents', walked it at 5am, before the sun is up and before the vendors have opened shop for the day.  Our family walked it one afternoon - and with everything going on in the streets it was hard to really imagine what Jesus went through here - but I'm hoping I'll be able to reflect back on our experience, especially during Lent and Easter, and be able to more fully enter into Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection. 

I. Here Jesus is Condemned to Death

The site was in the Roman times the place of the seat of Pontius Pilate, located in the Antonia fortress, and the place of the hall of judgment. John 18-28: "Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment". Jesus is condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, as per John 19:16: "Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified".

Church of Condemnation

 Jesus is convicted, flogged, and the soldiers place a crown of thorns.   "Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands" (John 19: 1-3).

II. Here Jesus Carries His Cross

At this station Jesus  receives the cross (John 19:17, 19): "And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha...And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross...".

Church of Flagellation - stained-glass window illustrating flogging Jesus and placing a crown of thorns on his head

Ecce Homo Arch ("Ecco homo" is "Behold the Man")

According to tradition, this is the site Pilate presented Jesus to the crowds (John 19:5): "Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!".

Ecce Homo Basilica

III. Here Jesus Falls the First Time

"And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried." (Is. 53:4).

IV. Here Jesus Meets His Mother

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Mt. 5:4).

V. Here the Cyrean Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

"And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus". (Lk 23:26).

VI. Here Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

"And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him".  (Lk 23: 27).

VII. Here Jesus Falls the Second Time

 The 7th station, according to the tradition, marks the place where Jesus passed through the Gate of Judgment, along the streets of Jerusalem. This street in one of the busiest in the old city, as it may have been during Jesus times. It was an intersection of the Cardo Maximus and a transverse street of the Roman Aelia-Capitolina, and in modern days an intersection of Via Dolorosa with Khan es-Zeit (the Oil Market).

   The way up hill and the pressure of the city had its toll: Jesus falls here for the second time under the weight of the cross.

VIII. Here Jesus Meets the Holy Women of Jerusalem

 "But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children". (Lk 23:28).

IX. Here Jesus Falls the Third Time

The station is marked by a cross on a pillar, which is seen below, located on the wall of the Coptic Patriarchate. 

Entering the Grounds of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

X.  Here Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

"And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take". (Mark 15:24).

XI. Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

"They crucified Him" (Jn 19:18).

XII. Here Jesus Dies on the Cross

"Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit." (Mt. 27:50).

Rock of Golgotha, Calvary

 "And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. ... The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (Mt 27: 51-54).52

Rock split from the earthquake - directly below the place of Jesus' death

XIII. Here Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

"Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury". (Jn 19: 40).

XIV. Here Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

"After he had taken the body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried." (Lk 23:53).

The Resurrection of Jesus. (Mt. 28: 1-10)1After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,^* Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.2And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.3His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow.4The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men.5Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.6He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.7Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”8Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples.9And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”