Digital Marian Helper Spring_2018

Now I need to admit that I don’t know how to suffer well. Suffering is something, naturally, which I have never wanted, nor have I ever enjoyed experiencing it. I don’t know anyone who does. But, due to humanity’s Fall and the effects of original sin, suffering is part of every human life. So how do we make the best of it? Simple: We accompany Jesus on th e Way of the Cross. And by God’s Providence, I was able to do that by retracing Christ’s own steps. Now, a pil- grimage to the Holy Land was a blessing in itself — to walk where Jesus walked, to pray where He prayed. Little did I know that, through such a great blessing, He was inviting me closer to His Heart through a spiritual journey along the Via Dolorosa . The Via Dolorosa (“the painful way”) in Jerusalem is the exact road on which Jesus carried His Cross to Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. Each of us, in our own lives, has a Via Dolorosa on which we walk the Way of the Cross with our Lord. Why are we on this “painful” and sorrowful way, and where are we heading? These are questions that often plague my heart when I face a bitter cross. As I walked the Via Dolorosa on my pilgrimage in Jerusalem in late October-early November 2017, I was expecting to be shaken or moved in some special way. To be honest, the first through ninth stations, located along the street leading to Calvary and the tomb, were quiet, solemn, and beautiful, but I experienced no inte- rior flashing lights or “Aha” moments. It wasn’t until I entered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the 10 th through 15 th stations — specifically those dealing with the Crucifixion, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus — that the Lord spoke deeply to my heart and Our Lady taught me how to hope in the darkness of suffering. Throughout the week of my pilgrimage, the words of Jesus to St. Faustina had been echo- ing in my heart: “The bride must resemble her Betrothed” ( Diary , 268). But what did this mean in my life? As I awoke the morning we were to walk the Via Dolorosa and I went out into the dark streets of Jerusalem, His words came to my heart again: “Melanie, the bride must resemble her Bridegroom.” Our group prayed at each station along the street, and as I said, it was solemn and beautiful. Over the past 2,000 years, the city of Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt nine times. So the streets aren’t the exact pavement that Jesus walked on, but due to the churches that have been built and rebuilt by Christians since the time of the apostles, each station is accurately placed where each event happened to Jesus. As we entered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, M arian H elper  • S pring 2018   • marian.org  13 Church tradition holds that the Body of Jesus was laid out on a slab of rock here so that His mother, Mary, and the women could anoint and wrap His Body before placing Him in the tomb.