Roots In the 14th-Century there exist mentions (Verona and Poggibonsi) of a stone in the courtyard of the Holy Sepulcher Church upon which Jesus fell. Psalm 69 translates some of Jesus' shame and disgrace: Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame and my dishonour; my foes are all known to thee. Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair: I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. Psalm 69:19-20
Representation Mountains are no longer the only obstacles on the Way of the Cross. The Suffering Servant himself has become a mountain and an obstacle on his road. He is a mountain of sorrows, a pitiful and amorphous clump of human misery. His abasement is sealed with the pitiless sign of his mission -the cross. But heaven unfurls with a cascade of mystical flowers, passion flowers maybe. Their hearts are the color of blood, but their green petals are harboring promise.
Identification "Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get into heaven" (Rose of Lima). Christians, we hail the cross as "our only hope" (Hymn Vexilla Regis). Christ was even more explicit. He wants me to take up my cross and follow him (Matthew 16:24) -provided I will accept to be his disciple.
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