The Good Friday Ceremony of the Sufferings of Christ, followed by the Way of the Cross, was held in Izmir St. John’s Cathedral.
While the commemoration was led by the Archbishop of Izmir, Monsignor Martin Kmetec, the Rector of St. John’s Cathedral, the priests of the Holy Name of Virgin Mary Church of Bornova and John the Baptist church of Buca accompanied the ceremony.
After reading the Words from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and the Epistle to the Hebrews, “The Suffering and Death of Christ Jesus” written by St. John was read together by Monsignor Martin; Mr. Mesut from the Cathedral and a member of the congregation.
Then, after Monsignor Martin gave a Turkish sermon, Franciscan Father Pascal Robert from Bornova Church shared a sermon in English.
After the Universal Prayers were said, reverence (worship) was shown to the cross. The veil over the Holy Cross was gradually pulled by Father Ugo De Rosa, starting from the entrance of the Cathedral, coming towards the middle nave, stopping three times and saying the words of worship in Latin and Turkish. Then while the Rector of the Cathedral was holding the Holy Cross, first Msgr. Martin, then the clergy behind him performed a ritual of veneration by kneeling and kissing Christ on the cross, after which congregation participants individually kneeled before the cross to show respect.
The Way of the Cross was performed after the worship was over. All the participants toured all 14 stops, by each congregation member at each stop holding the relic containing a splinter of the Holy Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, in a small and heavy cross-shaped enclosure.
When the name of each stop was announced, the congregation knelt briefly, singing the Latin refrain (invocation) Adoramus te. Then, after the texts of the Suffering of Jesus Christ with Words from the four Gospels were read in one of these languages at each stop, in Turkish or English, the meditations related to each stop were read together by all participants.
(SAT-7 TURK/İZMİR-Nathalie Ritzmann)
