The Lent Cross dolorosa

We're halfway through Lent and the cross is having an interesting time in the centre of town 24 hours a day 7 days a week. In the first week there was an attempt to dismantle it by someone very determined who managed to unscrew all but one of the screws holding the top of the cross in place. despite the fact that these were hexagonal head screws which require a specialist tool to undo them.

The second week the cross went for a little walk as it had been wrenched free from the tree to which it was padlocked. Despite all of this people were contributing Lent thoughts and prayers in a very meaningful way such as the one which unfurled itself on the bottom of the cross for all to see on which someone had responded to the question 'what could I do without' by answering "hurting myself".



This week the cross took a more serious beating and a collection of cracks appeared in it until finally one panel was kicked in completely. This gave added poignancy to our informal breaking of bread and sharing of wine on Sunday afternoon as we contemplated the broken cross and what to do with it.

So we dismantled it for 24 hours and one of our team set to repairing all the cracks with metal strips, nuts and bolts and it was reinstalled yesterday afternoon, complete with the scars of the previous week. The perfection of the original transparent cross in all it's simplicity and cleanliness is now even more beautiful bearing the scars of it's mistreatment, speaking far more powerfully of the journey to Easter and all that it meant for Jesus than if it had stayed in it's original form. We hope to continue to repair any further damage and that those who pass the cross or go to it as part of their Lent devotion will understand something more of the suffering of God on the Via Dolorosa.