Via Dolorosa

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Pilgrims with cross on the Via Dolorosa.

The Via Dolorosa (lat. The painful way , path of suffering ; Arabic طريق الآلام tariq al-alam ) is aprocessionalpathin Jerusalem namedafter the suffering of Jesus of Nazareth .

history

The term Via Dolorosa was coined in 1573 by Boniface von Ragusa OFM in his book Liber de perenni cultu Terrae Sanctae ; Boniface, however, only knew four stations. Franciscans developed the individual stations of the path, which were always adapted to the accessibility for the groups of pilgrims they led, i.e. led through the city in different ways over the centuries.

The origins of this path go back to the time of the Crusaders .

It was not the case that today's Via Dolorosa was brought to their home countries by European pilgrims to the Holy Land and recreated there as a way of the cross , but rather the other way round: the way of the cross was a special form of devotion developed in Europe that pilgrims practice on their visit to Jerusalem see expected: "The Way of the Cross devotion was developed in Europe and can be found in the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem."

In the days of the Crusaders, Jesus' path through the city from his condemnation to his crucifixion was committed as follows:

After 1100 years no Christian pilgrim knew where Antonia Castle was or brought it in connection with the trial of Jesus, it was Theodericus ( Libellus de locis sanctis ) who in 1172 with the information he had read from Flavius ​​Josephus , who Antonia looked in the right place - and found. His identification of Antonia with the Praetorium of Pilate was incorrect, but prevailed. Saladin had conquered Jerusalem as early as 1187 ; Christians were thus forbidden from visiting the Temple Mount, and even more so from going on a processional route over this area. However, the few years since the discovery by Theodericus were sufficient for localizations of places of the Passion of Christ to emerge north of the Antonia: Flagellatio, Ecce Homo and House of Pilatus. These places were remembered even though the area was inaccessible for processions in Ayjubid and Ottoman times. Again and again pilgrims tried to get here anyway; In 1838 the Franciscans, with the support of Duke Max Joseph in Bavaria , succeeded in acquiring the area of ​​the Flagellatio (Station II) and in 1839 established a chapel . In 1910 the monastery and study house of the order ( Studium Biblicum Franciscanum ) was built.

In the second half of the 19th century, the various major European powers created a representative office in Jerusalem, as a result of which the Christian memorial landscape in the old city diversified and complicated confessionally and nationally-religiously. The Habsburg Monarchy chose the Via Dolorosa, which has become very important in the Roman Catholic area, as a point of contact. With the construction of the Austrian Hospice for the Holy Family (inaugurated in 1863) on the Via Dolorosa, she symbolically took this route and its pilgrims under her protection.

Today's course

The Via Dolorosa now runs along several streets at 14 stations, from one of the two conceivable official seats of Pilate , the Antonia Fortress , or its sparse remains, west of the Lion or St. Stephen's Gate through the old town to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher , which is located at that place. where Jesus is said to have been laid in the grave. It includes several old town streets: in the eastern part along Löwentorstraße ; then via the Ṭariq al-Wad ("Valley Road "), which leads from the Damascus Gate to the Western Wall and the Dung Gate ; Finally, in its western part, it leads through winding alleys, partly in the form of a staircase, partly covered with arcades. All churches and chapels that mark the stations outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are Catholic and belong either to the Roman Catholic or to one of the churches united with Rome .

Christian meaning

According to tradition, the Via Dolorosa is the road that led from the official residence of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to the place of execution on Golgotha at the time of Jesus' death . However, these locations cannot be clearly identified historically. Jesus had to cover this distance before his crucifixion , where he had to carry the cross himself for a large part of the distance. Therefore, the street is now designed as a way of the cross . Of the 14 stations of the Cross, only eight are on Via Dolorosa itself. The ninth is on the roof of the Holy Sepulcher, the last five inside. Since both the course of the street and the level of the city have changed significantly over the past 2000 years, this path must be seen more as a connection between memorials than a walk in Jesus' footsteps.

Location of the stations of the cross

This Way of the Cross is prayed by the Franciscans in a daily procession which every Friday from 3:00 p.m., during summer time at 4:00 p.m. (as summer time does not apply in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher). Except at this time, stations I. and X. are not open to the public. The resurrection is commemorated in an additional 15th station.

  • 1st courtyard of the Muslim girls' school Omariya on the spot where the Roman fortress Antonia used to be ⊙
  • II. Franciscan Chapel of the Condemnation and Chapel of the Flagellation ⊙
  • III. Former Polish chapel at the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate opposite the Austrian Hospice ⊙
  • IV. Armenian Catholic Church right next to the 3rd station in Ṭariq al-Wad (“Valley Road ”) ⊙
  • V. Oratory of the Franciscans at the intersection of Ṭariq al-Wad (“valley road”) / Via dolorosa ⊙
  • VI. French Veronica Church and Convent of the Little Sisters of Jesus in Via Dolorosa ⊙
  • VII. Franciscan Chapel at the intersection of Via Dolorosa / Suq Chan ez-Zeit ⊙
  • VIII. Marking cross in the wall of the Greek monastery at the rear of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in El Khanqa Street ⊙
  • IX. Roof of the Holy Sepulcher, past the Coptic Patriarchate ⊙
  • X. Frankenkapelle (chapel for distributing clothes) next to the right, walled-up entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher ⊙
  • XI. Roman Catholic chapel next to the crucifixion site on Golgotha ​​in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher ⊙
  • XII. A hole under the Greek Orthodox altar indicates the place where the cross of Jesus stood ⊙
  • XIII. The Stabat mater -Standbild 11 to 12 station (not how often falsely claimed the anointing stone at the entrance of the Holy Sepulcher) ⊙
  • XIV. The Holy Sepulcher in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher ⊙

  • Road sign

  • Station I.

  • Station II

  • Station III

  • Station IV (outdated picture)

  • Station V

  • Station VI

  • Station VII

  • Station VIII

  • Station IX

  • Station X

  • Station XI

  • Station XII

  • Station XIII

  • Anointing stone, but not Station XIII

  • Station XIV

Buildings

Orthodox Good Friday procession in Via Dolorosa

Today there are the following buildings along the Via Dolorosa (from east to west):

  • Ecce homo bow

  • Prayer at the fifth station

See also

Web links

Commons : Via Dolorosa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Heyer: 2000 years of church history of the holy land: martyrs, monks, church fathers, crusaders, patriarchs, excavators and pilgrims . LIT, Münster 2000, p. 185 .
  2. ↑ Marco Talarico: The Way of the Cross of Jesus in historical authenticity and Catholic piety . LIT, Münster 2003, p. 62 .
  3. ↑ a b c Max Küchler: Jerusalem . Göttingen 2007, p. 357 .
  4. ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem . S. 362-363 .
  5. ↑ Jakob Vogel: Jerusalem: On the exciting topography of a European-Christian "place of remembrance" in the 19th century . In: Kirstin Buchinger, Claire Gantet, Jakob Vogel (eds.): European spaces of memory . campus, Frankfurt / Main 2009, p. 95 .