body of Christ on the cross









body of Christ on the cross


Question from on 06-12-2007:


when viewing the crucified Christ displayed in about every
circumstance, why is the body of Christ shown in a "clean" state, there
are genraly no displays of the scourging or the treatment that Jesus
received prior to His beeing nailed to the cross? are we too sencitive
to what it is that He suffered? would our feelings about the total
passion be more enhanced if Jesus was shown with the total of the
wounds and the bloodiness that took place and He suffered? Why are we
willing to allow such a ddepection? the only places that we might
visualy experience Christ true passion is the stations.


Answer by Fr. Brighenti on 06-19-2007:

Dear Frank,

In the past there have been
devotional crucifixes that depict a very bloody version of Christ on
the Cross. Some have been private revelations of very pious people. In
fact, in Spain has a crucifix of this nature. Too meditate upon it one
can think of the excrutiating pain our Divine Lord suffered in His
final agony.

Liturgically, a crucifix depicts Christ on the Cross
with crown of thorns and of course the five wounds. At Holy Mass, the
center of worship of course is the Altar of Sacrifice and therefore,
the crucifix enhances the connection between the bloody sacrifice and
the sacramental at Mass. Again some churches, especially Spain or South
America, portray a more detailed version of the passion, and others a
more liturgical presentation so as not to distract from the Holy
Sacrifice.

Finally, the directions in the missal only describe
that a crucifix must be present for the faithful and the priest to look
upon. Everything else is left to the artist, the designer and the
tastes of the parish.

Sincerely,
Father





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