The Meaning of the Cross - Fr. John Anthony Boughton CFR

The Cross is 33 meters high, (representing the years of the earthly life of Our Lord Jesus Christ) and 13 meters wide. The Cross has in it's center a “Cross of Light” – reminiscent of Christ, Light of the World.

At the foot of the Cross is an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, 12 meters high (representing December 12, her feast day as Empress of the Americas) Our Lady of Guadalupe also appears as the woman of the Apocalypse Chapter 12 The cross is made of a layer of Aluminum and Zinc called Softwave, the material was manufactured in Chile, the Virgin of Guadalupe is made of fiberglass and covered with Gelco (material used by boats in the stern), this type of structure is the first of its kind, and the only located at the highest altitude in all of America at 1,350 meters above sea level.

Why the title of the Cross of Peace and why the different elements in it?

"Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, I do not give it to you as the world gives it. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid." (Jn 14:27). We live in a world with little peace. This Cross is a striking image, that all who see it in the will see the reality that only in Christ do we find the means for peace.

The Cross and Peace:

Col 1, 19-22”. For in Him all the fullness of God might reside, and through him reconcile all things to himself, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the Blood of His Cross:” Peace and reconciliation are one. The peace of Christ realized on the Cross defeats the forces of darkness and sin that divide the hearts of men between themselves and God. “And you, who were once strangers and enemies in your mind, doing evil deeds, now He has reconciled you in his Body of Flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and blameless before him.”

The Cross and the Light:

John 9:5 “. I am the light of the world” Christ is “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn 1:5). Our age is an age of visual images. The Cross of Light is a reminder to all who see that in Christ there is hope in these dark times.

The Cross, and the Resurrection:

Station 15 of the Cross is the Resurrection. In the Marian Way of the Cross it is represented by the Cross of Peace, which is the Cross without the corpus. The Cross, reconciliation and peace: "Peace be with you."

"As the Father sent me, so I send you." Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, forgive them they remain, that you retain them, they remain retained. “” (Jn 20,21-23).

The sacrament of Reconciliation is a direct fruit of the Cross and the Resurrection. Through Her, Jesus gives us peace, by reconciling us with Him and with each other. The Maria Queen of Peace chapel will offer a place to celebrate the Eucharist and confessions will be made available to pilgrims who come to climb the Marian Way of the Cross.

 

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