Thirteenth Station - Jesus is taken down from the cross

The 13th station of the Way of the Cross represents the moment when Jesus is taken down from the cross and handed over to Mary. It is a profound moment of reflection on suffering and love. In this tragic moment, Mary receives the lifeless body of her Son, an act that symbolises not only a mother's pain, but also the deep connection between Christ's suffering and the redemption of humanity.

Mary, in her pain, becomes the mother of us all, even if we are not all aware of it. Yet she remains the mother of all of Jesus' brothers and sisters. Her painful sadness is amplified by the realisation of the horror of the heinous crime against her son, Jesus, with whom she is deeply united, who gave His life for humanity.

This historic and dramatic moment is described as an act of great love and compassion in which Mary meditates on the immense and undeserved pain of her innocent son. The sword that pierces her soul, as prophesied by Simeon, represents the pain of every mother on earth who loses a son, but also the pain of every person who experiences suffering. All this invites us to reflect on the suffering of the innocent and on God's presence in human suffering. Jesus is the new figure of the Suffering Servant who bears all the sufferings of men, peoples, lonely, unloved, wounded, desperate, abandoned, crucified people. He is the most beautiful symbol of God's love and solidarity with humanity. It is the beauty of love that saves. Jesus' suffering is not only a historical event, but a mystery that invites deep contemplation and spiritual connection with the victims of history.

Christ's suffering also has a salvific, redemptive, cathartic, therapeutic, liberating, transforming and healing significance. Through His death, Jesus opened the way to resurrection and hope. Thus, suffering is not an end in itself but rather leads to transformation and new life. By welcoming the body of Jesus, Mary becomes the one who gives birth to a multitude of children, uniting all in her pain and hope. In this moment of contemplation, we are invited to recognise the presence of God even in the darkest moments of life. The suffering of Jesus and Mary reminds us that we are not alone in our tribulations. We are invited to live our suffering with deep faith, hope, courage and resilience, knowing that every tear and every pain, every cry and every call have a profound meaning in God's plan of salvation. The beauty of love expressed through suffering is a call to all to become witnesses of hope and martyrs of love in the world.

Prayer

Mary, mother and teacher even in sorrow, teach us to imitate Jesus and to persevere faithfully in His love through the vicissitudes, difficult trials and terrible contradictions of life, so that we may inherit the kingdom promised to those who give themselves entirely to the sacred, great and eternal cause of Christ and the gospel of love, which inaugurates in the world, already and not yet, the eternal civilisation of love that is the Civitas Dei. O Mary! Pray for us and spread your mantle of grace over our wounds and infirmities, enabling us to contemplate, in the hope that does not disappoint, the dawn of Christ's resurrection in our human history. Amen!