Mechernich/Adenau – With around 80 participants, the Way of the Cross 2024 of the Communio in Christo Good Friday in Adenau returned to pre-epidemic times, when up to a hundred pilgrims were counted. Sister Lidwina and the deacon-in-formation Tilj Puthenveettil once again led the opening service in the Ordo's house chapel on Bruchgasse in Mechernich and on the Way of the Cross in Adenau, which was created between 1861 and 1863. Sister Theresia and Gaby Dämmer were also the prayer leaders.

The main theme was "What is salvation?". Sister Lidwina had asked three Christians in advance what they could think of on the subject. Gaby Dämmer mentioned "detachment", for example from the expectations of others to which one feels bound. Heiko Jung, pastor of the Clemens-Josef-Haus (Vellerhof) near Hüngersdorf (municipality of Blankenheim), put it even more dramatically. For him, "redemption" means "liberation" from circumstances that make one unfree.

For Father Jean Elex Normil, a Haitian priest who is very close to the Ordo Communionis in Christo in Mechernich, redemption simply means the chance for a new beginning. All three speakers linked "redemption" very specifically with the person of Jesus Christ, his passion and resurrection.

„Real connection with Jesus"

The Ordo Communionis in Christo had begun the "Triduum", the holy three days of death and resurrection, on Maundy Thursday evening with the celebration of Holy Communion and the Indian priest Jaimson Mathew as preacher. The priest, who will take up a pastor's post in Switzerland in the summer, compared Jesus to Buddha and described the Eucharist not just as a symbol, like the lotus flower in Buddhism, but as a lasting real connection with the Christian Saviour beyond his death and resurrection.

On the Way of the Cross in Adenau, to which the pilgrims were taken by a double-decker bus from the traditional Mechernich company "Schäfer-Reisen", prayers and songs were sung at the 14 stations and in front of the grotto of the Holy Sepulchre. The meditation texts were based on concrete situations in the lives of ordinary people who, like Jesus, have to endure pain, suffering and unjust treatment.

The prayers were linked to the desire not only to look after oneself, but also to develop empathy and a willingness to help others in precarious situations. Tilj Puthenveettil: "Open our eyes and hearts to people who are suffering from catastrophes, misfortune, hunger, fear, illness and death, from seduction, slander, persecution, terror and war."

After returning to the Mechernich motherhouse of the Ordo Communionis in Christo and a hearty meal prepared by hostess Monika Ziegler and her kitchen team, Superior General Jaison Thazhathil celebrated the Good Friday liturgy with the faithful. The focus was on the veneration of the cross and the Great Intercessions.

On Easter Saturday, the members of the Communio in Christo and Christians from Mechernich and the surrounding area then celebrated the Easter Vigil liturgy in the cafeteria of the care facilities as the start of the 50-day Easter period, during which the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated until Pentecost.

Mother Marie Therese, the founder of the Communio in Christo, was repeatedly quoted in all the services, who was convinced of the cross as the "certainty of my life", the resurrection as "certainty" and redemption as a certain expectation of salvation for all people.

pp/Agentur ProgfiPress