Before Jesus could rise, he first had to die.
And ever since, Christians the world over, including across Los Angeles County, have marked the day Jesus suffered and died on the cross — known as Good Friday — with solemnity and penance. They also observe the Stations of the Cross.
In some churches, a wooden cross is set up and people spend time meditating before it.
At others, people travel along the Stations of the Cross, a devotion that recalls the journey of Jesus on the Via Dolorosa — or the Way of Sorrows — to Calvary, the place just outside Jerusalem where he was crucified.
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, in San Pedro, was among the Southland’s Christian houses of worship that held a Stations of the Cross service on Friday, April 7. It did so by observing the latter ritual.
A St. Peter’s official said early Friday, hours before the Stations of the Cross event began, that the church was hoping for a good turnout, though the historically popular event has seen declining attendance since the coronavirus pandemic.
Still, worshippers did show up on Friday to mark the occasion. The church had large stones placed in its courtyard that acted as markers for the faithful to travel along as they prayed and reflected upon each of the 14 Stations of the Cross, which represent the last events of Jesus’s last day on Earth.
Good Friday began with the condemnation, climaxed with Jesus’s crucifixion and ended with his body being taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb.
From a purely historical perspective, the Roman Empire used crucifixion against religious and political agitators, according to Encyclopedia Britannica — with Jesus accused of rebelling against the state. (Constantine I, the first Christian Roman emperor, ultimately banned the punishment.)
From a Christian perspective, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of humanity.
But three days later, according to the Christian tradition, he rose from the dead — a celebratory moment revisited each Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar.
“This is one of my favorite things during the Holy Week,” said Nancy Bell. “It brings the presence of life, death and resurrection.”
When asked why she was at St. Peter’s on Friday, Lorna Wallace was succinct in her reply:
“To renew and refresh.”
There were multiple other Good Friday events throughout Los Angeles County as well.
Long Beach’s Holy Innocents Catholic Church, for example, was set to host a solemn liturgy on Friday evening. Hope Chapel in Hermosa Beach was also set to have a Good Friday service. And St. Peter’s had a service scheduled Friday evening as well, after the Stations of the Cross event ended.
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Archbishop José H. Gomez, meanwhile, presided over the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord, which took place at noon on Friday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
During the solemn liturgy, the Lord’s passion from the Gospel of John was proclaimed and a special prayer was dedicated to those who will be baptized on Easter.
The the faithful also had the opportunity to venerate the cross.
“My brothers and sisters in Christ, today in this solemn liturgy, we stand at the foot of the cross,” Gomez said during the livestreamed celebration. “We meditate on the misery of God’s suffering and the mystery of his love, which knows no limits.”
Photographer Chuck Bennett and City News Service contributed to this report.