He carries the Cross

 

He carried the Cross. Taking upon himself the means of His own sacrificial presentation onto His shoulders He carried the cross from the court of Pilate to a placed called Calvary in Hebrew it is called Golgotha (John 19: 17). The cross that Jesus would have carried, not only would have been rather large as it had to have enough length to be buried in the ground to support it and Him, but it would have been of significant weight for someone who has toxins in His body, and severe blood loss. This is a reason why St. Simon of Cyrene was called upon to help Christ carry the cross to calvary. 

His cross would have been about 12-16 feet long, with a cross bar a length of about 6 feet long. This was determined by a French Architect and Archeologist Charles Rohault de Fleury from the 1870's. He began his investigation to refute the erroneous claims of John Calvin and other Reformation leaders who denied the veracity of the relics of the True Cross. After his investigation he determined the approximate size of the True Cross that Christ would have carried and determined the approximate volume of the True Cross with reference to the relics of the True Cross that the Catholic Church preserved from the time of the Apostles to now. You can read his writings on the Instruments of the Passion called Instruments de la Passion. If your French is good enough, reading it will be easy, my Latin, Spanish, and Italian only gets me so far. But the topic of relics of the True Cross can be found in Chapter 1 starting on page 44. 

Average height of men in the levant during the 30's A.D. (Anno Domini, year of the Lord, not after death which would be post-mortem, as many think it to be). Would have been right around 170cm, this is based on skeletal remains, which is around 5'7". So, Christ, hypothetically, being around 5 foot 7 inches carrying His cross which would have been 2 to 3 times as large as He is, and wider too. And the cross, by estimation, would be around 300 pounds. So, a healthy 5'7" man would have had difficulty carrying a 300-pound cross, three times his size, over a mile up a small mountain or large hill, let alone the wounded, bloodied, poisoned, and tortured Christ. 

As we pray the Stations of the Cross, we read, pray, and meditate on Christ having fallen three times on His way to Golgotha (stations 3, 7, and 9). With the knowledge of His physical condition, and the physicality of the cross can help us to understand why He fell. This is just a physical look at this part of the Passion. However, we also must look to the spiritual aspect of the Passion of Christ. His human nature was at its limits due to the tortures, and yet His Divine nature was bearing our sins as He made His way to Golgotha. He, being God, could have concluded His Passion at any point, or even before He began His passion, but He patiently bore the sufferings for us. 

He patiently suffered his scourging, the blasphemies said against Him, the emotional pains of abandonment from His friends and Apostles. The fruit of this mystery is patience. As we pray and meditate on this mystery, we meditate on the necessity of patience in our life as we suffer. We suffer with Christ, and we patiently suffer as the Will of God requires of us. 

The Scriptural Rosary is:

1. The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Carrying the Cross
1. Pater Noster ...
2. And after they had mocked him, they took off the cloak from him, and put on him his own garments, and led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27:31)
1. Ave Maria ...
3. And going out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon: him they forced to take up his cross. (Matthew 27:32)
1. Ave Maria ...
4. And there followed him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented him. (Luke 23:27)
1. Ave Maria ...
5. But Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves, and for your children. (Luke 23:28)
1. Ave Maria ...
6. For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck. (Luke 23:29)
1. Ave Maria ...
7. And they came to the place that is called Golgotha, which is the place of Calvary. (Matthew 27:33)
1. Ave Maria ...
8. And the people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided him, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the elect of God. (Luke 23:35)
1. Ave Maria ...
9. And saying: If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. (Luke 23:37)
1. Ave Maria ...
10. Where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the midst. (John 19:18)
1. Ave Maria ...
11. But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. (Luke 23:40-41)
1. Ave Maria ...
12. O My Jesus ...
13. Gloria Patri ...