Contemplating the Face of Christ: A Way of the Cross

Contemplate the face of Christ as you pray with these exquisite images of his journey to the cross.

The beautiful images in this special "Way of the Cross" by Father Marko Rupnik will enhance your prayer life or make a stunning gift that will be cherished for years. Art as accompaniment to prayer is a practice more ancient than the Church itself, and the second council of Nicea affirmed it as a "translation" of the Word of God. As you contemplate the face of Christ in these images of his journey to the cross, you are bound to feel that which you read through Scripture and pray through these stations.

The story behind the mosaics used for this "Way of the Cross" is poignant. Completed in 2008, it stands outside the church of Santa Maria in Tolmin, Slovenia. The church originally had another set of stations, but they were destroyed as the Yugoslav government sought to erase Catholicism-even in remote mountain villages like Tolmin. After the Balkan wars, the parish priest wanted the church that had seen so much violence throughout the 20th century to have its "Way of the Cross" back again and commissioned Father Marko Rupnik to create it.

Contemplating the Face of Christ includes readings from Scripture, commentaries by Eastern rite saints and theologians, hymns, and prayers. As the title indicates, this exquisitely beautiful "Way of the Cross" focuses visually on Jesus's face, on his eyes filled with pain and sorrow. As you journey with him, contemplate this face and all that it elicits in you. How can you respond?

About the Author:

Marko Ivan Rupnik, SJ, is the director of the Centro Aletti, a center for scholars and artists of Eastern Europe to meet and study with their western counterparts. He has made mosaics for churches around the world. He also teaches at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and he is author of many books. His work as an artist and theologian has always been complemented by his pastoral work of leading retreats.