“Truly, the cross of Jesus was a throne of pain. “It is not the throne of the powerful, but the place of love.” Proverb Msgr. Andrea Bruno Mazzucato The Pope inaugurated the Stations of the Cross in the streets of the Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital in Udine on the evening of Friday, March 8. “Many people, in these wings, stand on a veritable throne of pain. We will see some of them peeking out from the bright windows. Let us pray with them and for them.”
More than three hundred participated in what, in the city, is by all accounts one of the most heartfelt moments of prayer of the year. Reflections at the various stations are interspersed with readings Young people from the seminary Diocese of Castelrio and of Reflections Young people from the citycoordinated by the Youth Ministry of the Urban Vicariate: Words – the words of many of the young people present – for those who seek Christ in situations where today's pain is evident: from illness to war, from Gaza to Ukraine, from betrayals to mistakes, through life's most difficult choices.
The long torchlight procession, winding through the hospital streets, ended in the Udine Hospital chapel. “Jesus set conditions for following Him,” the Monsignor recalls, “to carry the cross.” Punished by those present. “We are not asked to carry the crosses of persecution – as happens to Christian brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world, such as in Nigeria, Syria or India – but rather we are asked to welcome others into our hearts. The more the edges of other people's crosses grow, the more we have to expand our hearts to make room for them.”
The urban representative also spoke during the celebration Msgr. Luciano NobileWho thanked the Archbishop “because over the years he wanted the Stations of the Cross to be a special experience for the city, and to relaunch it with the participation of children.” also Msgr. Mariano LinosiThe Dean of Hospital Chaplains thanked Msgr. Mazzucato – who led the recent Stations of the Cross Hospital – remembers “particularly his perseverance on the occasion of the Stations of the Cross performed in the year of Covid, which was so desired by the Archbishop himself, and which was remarkably carried out even in a surreal climate.”
GL