Station of the Cross Twelve 2023

Allie Senyard and Larisa Shaterian, Seminarians
Holy Apostles Episcopal Church, Good Friday 2023

The Stations of the Cross

The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross.

Station One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen

The Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross.                                                   

Jesus breathed in.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Between two criminals, a mocking title above his head, with only Mary and John and Mary Magdalene to support him, Jesus surrenders his last breath: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”

So, I have asthma. And it doesn’t come up very often, but I definitely notice it when I’m exercising. So at the moment, I’m training for a race. I used to be a runner and it’s been a few years since I’ve done that regularly and definitely a lot of years since I’ve signed up for a race. So I’m starting to run on a regular basis. And you know, not just jogging, but pushing myself a little. And there’s a time that I’m aware that I’m not taking deep breaths anymore and that becomes the focus. It’s always nice when you’re running a longer distance than you’re comfortable with to have something else to think about besides running so I’ll focus on getting that breath and eventually that happens where I take a big deep life-giving breath that changes the trajectory of the run that day where it just sort of… Maybe it’s a mental trick, but you can feel the oxygen go through the fingers and all through the body. And after that, there’s a renewed energy to get through the rest of it, so that shallow breathing transforming into a deep breath is always—-it’s, you know, a moment that I don’t look forward to but then it feels so good afterwards. 

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Jesus breathed out.

Station One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen