BRIDGEPORT— In a stark and somber Good Friday service, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano walked from one Station of the Cross to another, his lone voice echoing in the emptiness of the Cathedral at noon.
“We adore you O Christ and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world,” he intoned at each of the fourteen Stations, where he genuflected in sorrow and adoration.
In past years the Bishop has walked the “Way of the Cross” with hundreds of the faithful through the streets of Bridgeport and Stamford. This year in the face of the coronavirus, he processed past the empty pews of the historic cathedral.
The Stations were live-streamed on the diocesan website and made available through the Bishop’s social media, as are all the Holy Week liturgies in response to the inability to publicly gather.
Vested in red that is reserved for Good Friday, Palm Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, and celebrations of the Lord’s passion, the bishop prayed the stations while St. Augustine choir master Dr. Sam Schmitt provided the solitary singing voice.
“My Lord Jesus Christ, you have made this journey to die for me with unspeakable love, and I have so many times ungratefully abandoned you. But I I know I love you with all my heart, and I am sincerely sorry for ever having offended you,” the Bishop said at the foot of the altar before beginning the stations.
Throughout the Stations the Bishop asked that we not be lost to the weight of our sinfulness but saved by Christ’s love for us. He prayed that we accept our own sufferings and abandon ourselves to God’s love:
“I love you Jesus above all things and I repent of offending you. Let me never separate myself from you again. Grant that I may love you always, and then do with me what you will.”
After the 14th Station, the Bishop returned to the foot of the altar and prayed, “ I kneel before you asking you to engrave on my heart your living faith, hope and charity.
Expressing true repentance for our sins and resolving to make amends, the Bishop said we must reflect on the five wounds of Jesus and recall the words of the prophet, David. “They have pierced my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones.”
