Via Dolorosa, the "Way of Sorrow", is an extremely important street in Jerusalem for Christians. According to tradition, it was along this street that Christ carried his cross to the place of crucifixion.
The Way of the Cross begins at the Lion Gate. It is known that after destroying Jerusalem in the 1st century, the Romans built the city of Elia Capitolina on the ruins. The modern Via Dolorosa, part of its main street, hardly corresponds exactly to the real last journey of Christ. But, in addition to the geographical dimension, the Way of the Cross has another dimension - a spiritual one.
In the Catholic Church, during Lent, services of the Way of the Cross are held, giving the faithful an opportunity to relive Jesus' suffering in a new and very personal way. Usually fourteen images corresponding to the events of the Way of the Cross are placed in churches. Near them, the faithful kneel in what is known as standing. On the Via Dolorosa, the fasts are marked by black round signs with Roman numerals, and there are nine on the street.
The first fast is near the Lion Gate, at the Al-Omariyya school. This is believed to have been the Praetorium where Pilate tried and delivered Jesus to be crucified. Archaeological excavations show that in fact the Praetorium was located elsewhere, south of the Jaffa Gate. However tradition here puts the beginning of the Way of grief in length of six hundred metres.
Across the road - the second standing. Here the Saviour took on His shoulders a heavy wooden cross. In the church of Scourging located nearby Franciscan monastery there are stained-glass windows on which - washing hands Pilate, scourging Jesus and crowning Him with a crown of thorns, rejoicing pardoned robber Barabbas.
The third stand, at the corner of El Wad Street, commemorates the place where Jesus first fell under the weight of the cross. In a tiny 15th-century Armenian Catholic chapel is a fresco depicting Christ stumbling and angels praying for Him.
Scripture says nothing about Christ's falls during the Way of the Cross. However, tradition dictates: there were three, all of which are marked on the Via Dolorosa (the third, seventh, and ninth stands). Tradition also indicates the places where Jesus met with His mother Mary (the fourth stand) and with St Veronica, who wiped His face with a silk handkerchief (the sixth stand). But the meeting with Simon of Cyrene, who carried the cross instead of Christ (the fifth standing), is an event mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. Like the Saviour's address to the women of Jerusalem: "Ladies of Jerusalem, do not weep for me..." (Luke 23:28) - this is the eighth standing.
The rest of the standing is on the territory of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: the tenth (Jesus is stripped of his clothes), the eleventh (nailed to the cross), the twelfth (the Saviour dies on the cross), the thirteenth (Jesus is taken down from the cross) and the last, fourteenth (Christ is placed in the tomb).
Today's Via Dolorosa bears little resemblance to a place of concentration and prayer: the shouting of vendors, crowded, noisy. But this is exactly the picture Christ must have seen as he walked to his execution through the bustling streets of Jerusalem. In the pavement of the Via Dolorosa there are several stone slabs, probably worn away by the sandals of Roman soldiers. One can imagine the bloody feet of the Saviour treading on them.
