The Pietà

I prayed the Way of the Cross tonight, St. Alphonsus’ method (the best Way, in my opinion).  I was amazed my focus fell on Jesus being taken down from the cross into His mother’s arms, the thirteenth station. Usually this station does not get any more attention than the others. But tonight it hit me. You have to read between the Gospel lines; we know Mary was there and the Gospel accounts say that she followed Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus to the sepulcher, it is only the station that tells us Jesus was placed in His mother’s arms.

And so my visualization expanded. We don’t like to think about it, but Jesus was naked. Some will insist that Jesus was covered by a cloth, but this is not the way the Romans worked. A crucifixion took away every ounce of dignity. I’m sure He was immediately covered as Mary’s arms received Him. And what her anguish must have been holding her son’s lifeless, torn and bloody body. She had witnessed the torment helplessly. I can hear her moan of anguish. I can see the expression on her face. She is not aware of those who surround her, Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, Salome, and others in feeble attempt to comfort. She trembles as her love emanates from her to her son.

After a while He was taken from her, carried/carted to the sepulcher as she followed. How could she even walk supported by the other women, though not far, as Calvary and the holy sepulcher are both within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher? And we know that Mary, assisted by the others anointed Jesus’s body, placed his arms, and arranged the shroud. She left, the tomb was closed.

 And once again, as at the Nativity, I’m sure she pondered these things in her heart.