Digital Marian Helper Spring_2018

14 M arian H elper  • S pring 2018   • marian.org I began to tremble, knowing full well I was on holy ground. In this massive church are two of the holiest sites on earth: Calvary and the tomb of Jesus. The altar on Calvary is built on top of the spot where Jesus’ Cross went into the ground. I had the opportunity to kneel underneath the altar and place my hand down into the hole that had held the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I thought of His Precious Blood and Water that had gushed forth from His side and poured down into this very spot. I also thought, in almost a single instant, of everything that He has done for me in my life, of the times in which He has been faithful to me in my trials, sufferings, temp- tations, and sins. I wanted to pour myself completely out for Him there, ask His for- giveness for my sins, and renew my com- mitment to live for Him alone. I looked up and noticed that directly in front of me was an icon of Jesus, the Divine Bridegroom. I knew He was calling me to become one with Him— as He had said: to be the bride who resembles the Bridegroom. I knew at that moment more than ever before that the Via Dolorosa of my life is my path to union with Him and the path to eternal life in Heaven. As I connected this experience to the Mass that we had celebrated in the tomb of Jesus just before we visited Calvary, I discerned once again that the suffering of this world will lead to a resurrection into eternal life. The Mass was quiet and small, but was nevertheless one of the most powerful liturgies I have ever attended. Our pilgrimage director, one of the Marian Fathers, con- fected the Blessed Sacrament — the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ — upon the very altar under which He was buried and resurrected. In this liturgy, as in every liturgy, we remember the Passion and Death of our Lord, and profess the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I saw that every death comes with the promise of the Resurrection, in our own Via Dolorosas as well as in Christ’s Way of the Cross. We give up the things of this earth; we suffer the effects of sickness, emotional pain, and even physical death; but this is not the end. We are living for Heaven. Why do we suffer? Why do we need to learn how to suffer well? Why did Jesus tell St. Faustina that He is going to teach her how to suf- fer? So that we might learn to be like Him — our Bridegroom, who loved even in the midst of suffering — and so inherit eternal life. By learning to keep our hearts open to God and others in the midst of suffering, we are transformed by the fire of Divine Love. This fire can be painful, but it divin- izes us and makes us like Him. The Lord brought this even further home as we walked to Calvary after Mass. We passed by a mural of the burial of Jesus (see cover), behind a slab of rock on which, tradition holds, Jesus was placed while our Blessed Mother and others quickly anointed and wrapped Him for burial before sundown, when the Sabbath would begin. As I prayed there, I reflected upon what it must have been like for Our Lady on the Via Dolorosa . She saw her Son scourged, mocked, tortured, beaten, crucified, and buried. As I gazed upon the image of Our Lady, the anguish Underneath the altar built on top of where Jesus’ Cross was planted in the ground on Calvary, Melanie renews her commitment to Jesus, the Divine Bridegroom, and reflects on His Blood poured out for our sins. Each station along the Via Dolorosa is commemorated by a church or sculpture for pilgrims to pray at. Seen here are stations three, four, and five.