More than a hundred Miami Catholics walked the streets of Little River Friday afternoon for a longstanding Good Friday ritual: The procession of the cross to honor the biblical story of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.
Bishops, deacons, priests and parishioners from St. Mary’s Cathedral marched down Northwest Second Avenue stopping every so often to pray — “Our Father” and “Hail Mary” — and sing in English, Creole and Spanish to accommodate the multi-lingual crowd.
As volunteers held statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, Miami residents looked on from their porches and Little River homes to mouth the words and record videos of the crowd singing, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
A Christian ritual dating back to the fourth century, the “Veneration of the Cross” happens late afternoon on Good Friday and allows the faithful to take time after service to honor the cross. Each of the 14 stations of the cross represents a different moment in the story of Jesus’ death, and it’s customary to pray and meditate at each milestone.
St. Mary rector Father Steven O’Hala said carrying the cross is not just about remembering the scenes of the Bible, but a way for the faithful to “relate those stations as scenes along the way from scripture or from tradition to our contemporary spirituality.”
Rose Anderson, a Miami native and St. Mary’s parishioner for 10 years, said she attends the Holy Week services every year…