Every year, during the fasting period before Easter (Resurrection) Feast, a Way of the Cross is made, usually at the Virgin Mary’s House on Selçuk Bülbül Mountain, on the Palm Sunday. This year, the Way of the Cross in the House of Virgin Mary was held on Thursday, March 25, which coincides with the Feast of the Annunciation.
The ritual was first administered by the Archbishop of Izmir, Monsignor Martin Kmetec, while the Rector of St. John’s Cathedral, the priests of the Göztepe Notre-Dame de Lourdes church, the Alsancak Rosario church, the Holy Name of Virgin Mary church of Bornova, the Santa Maria church, the Karşıyaka St. Helena church, and the Ephesus. The priest and nuns of the House of Virgin Mary accompanied the Mass for the Feast of the Annunciation.
The Feast of the Annunciation, or in other words “the conception of Christ Jesus”, describes God’s decision to choose Mary as the Mother of Jesus Christ, that is, the mother of her son, and this news was heralded to Mary by the angel Gabriel.
After the Mass and before beginning the Way of the Cross, Monsignor Martin read a short thought begins with the words: “The Way of the Cross leads us with Jesus along the way of suffering and death, from one stop to the next and on the cross to death. We accompany him in his endless sorrow, his unbearable pain, his shameful death. Carrying his cross even if they accompanied him, he went alone, alone in solitude; fell and stood up, until his death; shared until his death on the cross”
The first stop of the way of the cross began at the altar outside, and the Archbishop of Izmir first held the cross in his hands; During the next 13 stops, different participants carried the cross.
When his name was announced at each stop, the congregation knelt briefly, chanting the Latin chorus of Adoramus Te (invocation). Then, after the texts of the Suffering of Christ with Words from the four Gospels were read in one of these languages at each stop; Turkish, French, English and Italian. Meditations related to each stop were also read by all participants.
An icon representing one of the moments of Christ’s Suffering was also displayed at each stop.
In this way, proceeding through the open spaces of the House of Virgin Mary, wandering in front of the fountains and the House, the Way of the Cross ended at the open-air altar. At the final stop, the cross was again held by Monsignor Martin.
These two ceremonies were accompanied by social media. (Nathalie Ritzmann, Sat-7 Turk/İzmir)
