By Vatican News
“Dear young people, let us experience the joy of your Jubilee of Young People by retracing some of the stages of the Via Lucis: the journey of the Risen Christ together with his disciples. Our life is full of joys and sorrows, questions and queries, but also expectations and hopes.”
With these words, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation welcomed the tens of thousands of teenagers who had arrived in Rome for the Jubilee of Young People.
At 6.00 pm, they all gathered at the Steps of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in southern Rome to experience the first event of their Jubilee: the Via Lucis, a prayer initiative begun in 1988 by the Salesians which takes inspiration from the “Via Crucis”, or stations of the cross, but focuses on the Resurrection.
Songs, prayers, meditations
After having travelled to St Peter’s to pay their respects to Pope Francis, the young people travelled to the south of Rome. They waved flags, sang together with the choir of the Diocese of Rome and above all prayed during this special moment in the life of the universal Church.
A youth theatre troupe read the passages of the seven stations of the “Via Lucis”, and meditations taken from the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.
With the background music, the icon of the Virgin was enthroned and the unforgettable song of the 2000 World Youth Day – Jesus Christ you are my life – was sung.
“The Via Lucis, taking inspiration from the stages of the Lenten Way of the Cross, retraces the encounters of the risen Jesus with the eyewitnesses to the resurrection, from Easter Day to Pentecost,” explains Fr Massimo Tellan, the Roman parish priest who organised the prayer moment.
Living grief with hope
The Paschal Candle was present next to the Pope’s coffin last Wednesday as it was translated to St Peter’s, and it was also present for the Via Lucis, where seven torches were lit from its flame.
“For us believers, a funeral is an accompaniment towards the Father’s house,” Don Massimo goes on to explain, “and being able to pray with this perspective helps the young people to see this moment of transition and pain in the light of the Hope that does not disappoint, which is Christ himself”. – Vatican News
