Many partook in the March 29th Via Crucis that was organized by the Communion and Liberation movement’s lifeforce in Canada. Some friends of the ESCC were among them!
All aspects of the stations and prayerful procession in relative silence were orchestrated in the spirit of Fr. Luigi Giussani, the founder of the Movement. The grounding words of welcome at the Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours Chapel included an invitation to “not be astonished if we catch ourselves distracted for a few minutes”, essentially a call to enter fully and humbly into the personal and shared experience. The ‘pilgrimage’ through Old Montreal and downtown streets was led by Msgr. Christian Lépine. It invoked the power of music: the choir graced us with Gregorian chants, an Ukrainian hymn, a Polish song, and an American spiritual. The readings from the gospels of Luke and Matthew as well as from Charles Péguy’s, The Mystery of the Charity of Joan of Arc helped us more fully enter into the experience of a live meditation.
The sunshine and light we were blessed to walk in seemed to accentuate the beauty and legacy “enfolded in” or captured respectively by the Basilica of Notre-Dame, the Basilica of St. Patrick, the Place Ville Marie Esplanade (and its Ring linked to the history of Montreal), and the Mary Queen of the World Cathedral. Truly, the 2024 Via Crucis afforded all an experience of the call to journey with authenticity in the Presence of Christ and to rejoice in the call to a personal and collective relationship with him.
Adaptation of the words that framed the welcome and launch of the procession (Via Crucis 2024 booklet offered by Communion and Liberation).
Photos: Anne Sophie Ross and Jean-François Bigras