Jesus Entrusts Mary and the Beloved Disciple to Each Other

V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.

R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

"Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home" (John 19:25-27).

This act of Jesus from the cross is the third of his seven last words, and it is an act of filial love and ecclesial architecture simultaneously. Jesus ensures that his mother will be cared for — the act of a dutiful son, providing for a widowed mother. But the Church has always understood the act as containing a deeper meaning: in giving Mary to the beloved disciple — who represents the ideal disciple, every disciple — and in calling her "Woman" (the same word he used at Cana, and the title given to Eve in Genesis), Jesus is giving his mother to the Church. Mary becomes the mother of all the redeemed.

This station is unique to the Scriptural Way. It draws attention to the community of love that forms at the foot of the cross: Mary, the women, the beloved disciple. While the men who led the disciples (except John) have fled, the women remain. Love keeps them there. And from the cross, in pain and dying, Jesus is still ordering the life of his community, still thinking of others, still making provision for those who will carry on his mission after the tomb. From the cross, the Church is born.