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

Technorati Tags: body Christ cross