H.E. Bishop Stephen Lee blesses the people with the Relic of the Lignum Crucis (a piece from the Wooden Cross of our Lord). Photo by Ivan Leong.
The Procession of Our Lord carrying the cross – Bom Jesus dos Passos – returned to the streets of Macau last weekend, capping the novena of Masses in Chinese and Portuguese in honor of the Lord’s Passion at the church of S. Agostinho.
At 8:00 AM on Saturday, 9 March, Mass in honor of the Feast of the Five Wounds of our Lord was celebrated, in both Chinese and Portuguese. The Way of the Cross was prayed at 4:00 PM, followed by anticipated Mass, also in Chinese and Portuguese. At around 6:30 PM, Father Cyril Law preached the sermon on the Agony in the Garden in Chinese.
By 7:15 pm, members of the Confraternity of Our Lord Bom Jesus dos Passos, surrounded by several hundred faithful who were unfazed by the downpour, had finalized the preparations for the procession to the Cathedral.
A purple veil hung from a canopy over the Statue of the Bom Jesus. Father João Evangelista Lau, Dean of the Cathedral Chapter, led the procession, escorted on both sides by the members of the Confraternity, all dressed in purple. The Macau Police Brass Band provided the march music.
As the procession exited the church, almost as if by a miracle as countless faithful attest, the rain stopped and the procession inched slowly toward the churchyard.
Bishop Stephen Lee welcomed the statue at the Cathedral and the vigil concluded with a sermon on the Agony in the Garden in Portuguese by Father Daniel Ribeiro.
Citing a dialogue between St Francis of Assisi and Friar Leo, the priest recalled that one day the saint was found crying. When asked the reason, he replied: “I cry because Love is not loved.” And who is this love? “Love is God, it is Christ.”
Father Daniel remarked that “the worst sin is ingratitude,” because “Jesus, after suffering so much for men, received the Cross.”
In this context, the priest explained that “to participate in the Mass is not an obligation but a gesture of love,” and Confession is equally important: “There is no happiness without peace. There is no peace without God. The most important thing is to forgive. Let us obtain forgiveness ourselves, through the confession of sins.”
The next day, Sunday, 10 March, Father Cyril Law preached the sermon on our Lord in the Praetorium before Pilate. After this, the procession began, led by the image of the Bom Jesus followed by the Bishop carrying the relic of the true Cross, the Lignum Crucis. Bishop Lee was accompanied by the Canons, clergy, children dressed in white, torch-bearers and banner-bearers representing each parish.
The Lignum Crucis is given the same veneration as the Eucharist, which explains why in the procession, it is carried with a humeral veil and under a canopy, just like during a Corpus Christi procession.
The procession wound its way through the major thoroughfares of the city center, stopping in seven stations of the Cross.
A young girl, chosen each year to perform the role of Veronica, sang the O Vos Omnes (“O all you”) while unrolling the scroll depicting the Holy Face each time the procession stopped for a station. The faithful all responded likewise in Latin singing Parce, Domine (“Have mercy, Lord”) with the short refrain Senhor Deus, misericordia in Portuguese.
Father Daniel Ribeiro pronounced the homily on our Lord in Calvary. The rite ended with the adoration of and Benediction with the Lignum Crucis given by Bishop Lee.
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