On Friday, the ecumenical crusade will take place in Old Riga

On Good Friday, March 29, the traditional ecumenical cross will take place in the streets of Vecrīgas, which will gather clergy and believers of various Christian denominations, the Catholic Church Information Agency informed LETA.

This kind of prayer will take place in the streets of Riga for the 19th time, at eight stops, encouraging us to reflect together on the events of Good Friday, when Christ went on his path of pain and then died on the cross at Calvary.

The prayer will begin at 11 a.m. at St. James Cathedral in Riga. From 10:30 a.m., it will be possible to gather in this place to perform a prayer of repentance and receive a sign of repentance from one of the clergy.

This year, the words from the Gospel of John have been chosen as the motto of the prayer: “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God.” The organizers of the prayer express that the text of the Gospel of John invites us to reflect “both on the word that became flesh and lived among people, and on the meaning of each word that entered our thoughts and was spoken. The words of the Gospel make us pay attention to the consequences of each word that we say to our fellow men”.

“There are no neutral words – there are good and blessing words and there are words used by the evil spirit – bad words or bad, derisive meaning,” says crossroad project manager Gunta Ziemele.

Bishops and clergymen of various Christian denominations will participate in the ecumenical crossroad, Aleksandra Špitzberga and Kaspars Ezeriņš will take care of the musical performance of the event. At each stop, fragments of the holy scriptures will be heard, in some places there will be reflections, people’s testimonies, songs, prayers for healing. There will also be times when all participants in the prayer will be invited to active participation.

Way of the cross. Photo: Zane Bitere/LETA