CHEMIN DE CROIX
Nicole Berger, Paris, France, 2011
In April 2011, I came across this series of images illustrating the Stations of the Cross in the Church St. Louis en l'île, in Paris. At first, I didn't know what to make of them: they seemed too random, too abstract to be valid illustrations of the story I knew so well. Then I began to look more closely at the images, which were created with ink and wax on handmade Nepalese paper by the artist Nicole Berger. And what I saw astounded me: out of the apparent murkiness came figures, hints of life (and death), layers of color that suggested a depth of meaning I had not originally seen. (Note: The series below retains the order in which Berger's images were presented in St. Louis en l'île; it is not quite the order to which we are accustomed.)
As we move through the Triduum, we are invited to spend some time with Jesus' Stations of the Cross. We wait in train stations, in bus stations. Perhaps we might "wait" with Jesus as we ponder the Stations, either by praying with the images below, or by attending Stations at church on Good Friday afternoon, making a kind of spiritual pilgrimage to the main scenes of Jesus' suffering and death.
1. Jesus is condemned to death / Jésus est condamné à mort
2. Jesus takes up his cross / Jésus est chargé de sa croix
3. Jesus falls the first time / Jésus tombe pour la première fois
4. Jesus meets His Mother / Jésus rencontre sa mère
5. Simon of Cyrene carries the cross / Simon de Cyrène aide Jésus à porter sa croix
6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus / Véronique essuie le visage de Jésus
7. Jesus falls the second time / Jésus tombe pour la deuxième fois
8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem / Jésus rencontre les femmes de Jérusalem
9. Jesus falls the third time / Jésus tombe pour la troisième fois
10. Jesus is nailed to the cross / Jésus est cloué sur la croix
11. Jesus dies on the cross / Jésus meurt sur la croix
12. Jesus is stripped of his garments / Jésus est dépouillé de ses vêtements
13. Jesus' body is removed from the cross / Jésus est détaché de sa croix
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb / Jésus est déposé au tombeau
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