“I have no words to express what it means for me to pray here. More than anything, I feel the one who died here for me. I feel humble to be here.”
— Teame Tesfamichael, a Catholic refugee from Eritrea, after praying just before Easter at the Stone of Unction in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem
“Every single family has its own Way of the Cross: illnesses, deaths, financial problems, poverty, betrayals, immoral behavior, discord with relatives [and] natural disasters. But every Christian, every family, on this path of pain can turn their gaze toward Jesus, man and God.”
— Danilo and Annamaria Zanzucchi, an Italian couple married 59 years, as part of the meditations they wrote for Pope Benedict XVI’s Good Friday service April 6 in Rome
“This is what happens in a good confession: You take off your dirty rags — your sins — receive the bath of mercy and rise ‘clothed in the garments of salvation, covered with the robe of righteousness.’”
— Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, quoting from the Book of Isaiah during his homily at the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica April 6
“Christ needs you to expand and build his kingdom of charity.”
— Pope Benedict XVI, greeting 5,000 cheering young people from Spain who came to the Vatican April 1-2 to thank the pope for visiting Madrid for World Youth Day last August
