Washington Heights Stations of the Cross: In the Rain, Filled with Faith
By: Armando Machado
In a cold, heavy rain parishioners from five churches in Washington Heights and nearby Inwood participated in a morning Stations of the Cross procession, with prayer, songs, and the Holy Spirit – marking the eve of Holy Week.
The Saturday morning, March 23, event began at 9:30 at the Church of the Incarnation on St. Nicholas Avenue. Parishioners walked to St. Elizabeth Church on Wadsworth Avenue, where members of that parish joined the annual sacred event.
From St. Elizabeth, the growing, faithful crowd, many under umbrellas, then walked to Our Lady Queen of Martyrs on Arden Street, joined by parishioners of that church, then on to the Church of St. Jude at 10th Avenue and West 205th Street, and to the Church of the Good Shepherd at Isham Street and Broadway.
At Good Shepherd, a noon Mass was celebrated by Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop Edmund Whalen, Vicar for Clergy, who also served as homilist and participated in the entire procession. The Mass and procession prayers and hymns were conducted mostly in Spanish, with some in English. Pastors and parochial vicars from the five parishes served as concelebrants.
“We have been doing this Stations of the Cross, all five churches, for about eight years now – rain or shine,” Father Felix Reyes, pastor of the merged parish of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and St. Jude, told The Good Newsroom in a March 25 telephone interview, citing the importance of the procession.
“We were praying and singing with the people, in preparation for the Mystery of the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We had more than 300 people in the procession, and close to 500 at the Mass,” Father Reyes added.
“It was successful considering that it was raining,” said Altagracia Marmol, a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, noting the number of participants despite the weather.
“Events like this show how people are thirsty for God, and how we want to get closer to Him each time,” said Raquel Ramos and Krismely Garcia, parishioners of St. Elizabeth. Ramos said she particularly likes the idea of several parishes conducting the annual procession.
Garcia, noting the joy of being guided in the procession by her pastor, Father Ambiorix Rodriguez, and other priests despite the heavy rain, said that such holy gatherings “give us hope to continue united in prayer for peace in the world.”