Via Crucis is a concept that refers to the journey of Jesus from the moment of his capture to his crucifixion and subsequent burial. The term can also be referred to as via crucis, a Latin expression that can be translated as “way to the cross”.
The notion can be used in different ways. On the one hand, there is the specific path that, according to Christians, Jesus traveled before his death. Along this path, various incidents happened: Jesus falls, meets his mother Mary, takes off his clothes, etc. The stations of the cross are also understood to represent the martyrdom of Jesus. In these representations, each of the incidents is called a season. Therefore, according to Christian tradition, the way of the cross is made up of fifteen stations, from the first station in which Jesus is sentenced to death to the last station in which he is resurrected. This number, however, has varied throughout history.
Specifically, the aforementioned stations are the following:
-Jesus condemned to death.
-Jesus carrying the cross.
-Jesus falls, for the first time, under the weight of the cross.
– Meet the Virgin
-The Cyrene helps the Lord to carry the cross.
-Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
-Second fall on the way of the cross.
N Jesus comforts the daughters of Jerusalem.
-Jesus falls for the third time.
-Jesus undressed.
-Jesus nailed to the cross.
-Jesus dies on the cross.
Jesus in his mother’s arms.
-The corpse of Jesus placed in the tomb.
– Jesus gets up. In addition to all this, we cannot ignore that the Via Crucis is also prayed. Specifically, one prays essentially standing up and, at certain times, on one’s knees. The Stations of the Cross prayer is believed to have originated in Jerusalem. Specifically, it is considered that already in the fourth century, in the times of Emperor Constantine, the goal to be reached by many pilgrims was established to carry out the aforementioned stations. As for the stations as we know them today, it is not known where their origin is said and there are many doubts about how their journey was. Thus, for example, although there are many theories about it, it is considered that the ideal was to start the trip on Mount Calvário and finish it at the House of Pilate. In addition to religion, the via crucis is understood as the suffering that a person goes through, when someone has to overcome various obstacles or barriers, it is said that they had their via crucis. Suppose a man needs the state to give some medicine to his son who is seriously ill. This individual goes to the Central Public Health Agency, where he is asked to fill out five forms. This done, an officer seals the forms and tells the man that he must take them to the National Laboratory. In this workshop they ask you to fill out another document and you tell them that you will have to pick up the medicine the next day at the headquarters of the Social Protection Institute between 8:00 and 8:30 in the morning. Faced with all these situations, someone could indicate that the man lived a crossed path to obtain the remedy.