Before Jesus could rise, he first had to die.
And ever since, Christians the world over, including across Los Angeles County, have marked the day Jesus suffered and died on the cross — known as Good Friday — with solemnity and penance. They also observe the Stations of the Cross.
In some churches, a wooden cross is set up and people spend time meditating before it.
At others, people travel along the Stations of the Cross, a devotion that recalls the journey of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa — or the Way of Sorrows — to Calvary, the place just outside Jerusalem where he was crucified.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, in San Pedro, was among the Southland’s Christian houses of worship that held a Stations of the Cross service on Friday, April 7. It did so by observing the latter ritual.
A St. Peter’s official said early Friday, hours before the Stations of the Cross event began, that the church was hoping for a good turnout, though the historically popular event has seen declining attendance since the coronavirus pandemic.
Still, worshippers did show up on Friday to mark the occasion. The church had large stones placed in its courtyard that acted as markers for the faithful to travel along as they prayed and reflected upon each of the 14 Stations of the Cross, which represent the last events of Jesus’s last day on Earth.
Good Friday began with the condemnation, climaxed with Jesus’s crucifixion and ended with his body being taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb.
From a purely historical perspective, the Roman Empire used crucifixion against religious and political agitators, according to Encyclopedia Britannica — with Jesus accused of rebelling against the state. (Constantine I, the first Christian Roman emperor, ultimately banned the punishment.)
From a Christian perspective, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of humanity.
But three days later, according to the Christian tradition, he rose from the dead — a celebratory moment…
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