Monday, April 6, 2020

Passion Sunday/Holy Week: "The Christ" in Javier

Our latest contribution on art works depicting the scenes from the Scriptures in the Liturgy


This impressive Christ on the Cross, carved in walnut, presides since the 13th Century the interior of the family chapel of the castle of Javier (Spain). Jesus’s head is leaning to his right, His eyes are closed in death, but on his lips there is a slight smile. He has accomplished His mission, saving us by His sacrifice.

The young Francisco de Jasso y Aspilcueta (1506-1552) – known to us as St Francis Xavier, one of the patrons of the Richmond Church – used to worship with his devout mother in front of this Crucifix while his father and his elder brothers were fighting to save the Kingdom of Navarra. It is said that when Francis was agonising in the far away island of Shangchuan, waiting for a boat to take him to China, the Christ in Javier was sweating blood.

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