Praying with the Via Crucis in Some French Churches and God's Love for Us in the Old Testament: Contemplative Reading of Scripture 2.4

PRAYING WITH THE VIA CRUCIS IN SOME FRENCH CHURCHES AND GOD’S LOVE FOR US IN THE OLD TESTAMENTCONTEMPLATIVE READING OF SCRIPTURE SERIES 2.4Shirley Muriel SullivanIn Series 2, Contemplative Reading of Scripture contains volumes dedicated to praying with events from the life of Jesus as depicted in the stained glass of various French churches. We also treat prominent themes to be found in the Old and New Testaments. This book begins with a discussion of the nature of prayer in the Carmelite tradition. It then discusses God’s love for us in the Old Testament. The passages quoted help us to understand Jesus who out of love for us chooses humbly to carry his cross to Calvary. The book presents images of the Via Crucis to be found in some churches in France. All the images have been taken from the presentation of French churches on the amazing website of Painton Cowen, The Rose Window. https://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/index.htmCurrently this site offers free access to many images of medieval stained glass. As we present different images of the Via Crucis, we give the location of each image in the church in which it is found. My suggestion is that we engage in the Prayer of the Heart to the Trinity and then pray with the images along with passages about God’s love in the Old Testament. Responding to the beauty of each image, we enter into the amazing wonder of the love of Jesus.For each Scripture passage, I suggest a pattern of prayer, using the contemplative way of reading Scripture called CLASP. This pattern is a form of lectio divina, the prayerful way of reading Scripture. In the word CLASP, the letters stand for:Cor: We begin in our “heart” (cor) with the Prayer of the Heart to the Trinity. We spend 20 minutes in this prayer.Lectio: We “read” (lectio) through our Scripture passage.Auditus: We “listen” (auditus) to what this passage says to our hearts.Suspiria: We express in “sighs” (suspiria) to the Holy Spirit our longing to understand the Scripture more deeply.Pax: We end our prayer time in “peace” (pax). My hope is that each image will draw us into a deep, personal encounter with God at the centre of our beings. In this book all English quotations of Scripture are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. Read more