Pro Sanctity Reflects on the Stations of the Cross

The First Station: Jesus is Condemned to Death

We adore You, O Christ and we praise You, because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

Is. 61:10 “I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels.”

For me, beginning the stations of the cross was a struggle. At the first station, I came face to face with the consequences of my sin, Jesus is condemned to death. How could continue when I felt shame, fear and sorrow? This past year, I came across the icon of Christ the Bridegroom. When I first discovered that Christ, the Bridegroom is portrayed as one condemned, I was disappointed. This wasn’t how I wanted Him to appear; I wanted to see His strength and power! However, what I perceived as weakness is really the decisive love of Christ the Bridegroom who not only tells us how much He loves us, but also shows us by giving Himself up for us. St. Paul in Ephesians 5:25-27 draws this parallel: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

In his apostolic letter, Mulieris Dignitatem, John Paul II also teaches about the love of Christ the Bridegroom:
“We find ourselves at the very heart of the Paschal Mystery, which completely reveals the spousal love of God. Christ is the Bridegroom because ‘he has given himself’: his body has been ‘given,’ his blood has been ‘poured out’ (cf. Lk 22:19-20). In this way ‘he loved them to the end’ (Jn 13:1). The ‘sincere gift’ contained in the Sacrifice of the Cross gives definitive prominence to the spousal meaning of God's love. As the Redeemer of the world, Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of our Redemption. It is the Sacrament of the Bridegroom and of the Bride. The Eucharist makes present and realizes anew in a sacramental manner the redemptive act of Christ, who ‘creates’ the Church, his body. Christ is united with this ‘body’ as the bridegroom with the bride...And holiness is measured according to the ‘great mystery’ in which the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom.”(MD, 26-27)

We pray to experience the love of the Bridegroom more deeply this Lent, especially through His presence in the Eucharist. “…the Almighty awaits the ‘yes’ of his creatures as a young bridegroom that of his bride.” (Pope Benedict XVI Lenten Message 2007) May our hearts be open like Mary’s as we give our resounding YES! to His will.

Holy Mother, impress into my heart the wounds of your Son.

Submitted by Joan Patten, Aspirant Apostolic Oblate, Nebraska

Pro Sanctity Reflects on the Stations of the Cross