(Death, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell)
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
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The Stations of the Cross
Click here for Medical Aspects of the Crucifixion
First Station
Jesus Is Condemned To Death
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus, after having been blasphemed, mocked, and scourged, is dragged before
Pilate and unjustly condemned to die with disgrace on the Cross.
My loving Jesus, it was my sins, not Pilate, that condemned You to die. Grant
that I may detest them with all my heart, and by the merits of this sorrowful
journey obtain Your mercy and pardon to assist my soul on its journey towards
eternity.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Second Station
Jesus Takes Up His Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus accepts His cross, the instrument that He will use to redeem the world. As
He carries the heavy cross on His bruised shoulders He thinks of me, and offers
His pending death to His Father for my sins, so that I may live.
My most beloved Jesus, grant me by the virtue of Your Cross to embrace with
meekness and cheerful submission all the tribulations You have destined for me
until my death. By the merits of the pain You suffered in carrying Your Cross
give me the necessary help to be ever ready to take up my cross and follow You
with perfect patience and resignation.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Third Station
Jesus Falls For The First Time
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus slowly sets forth on His way to Calvary, bowed down under the weight of
His Cross. The soldiers strike Him, and the crowds mock and insult Him. His
flesh is torn by the scourges, and on His head is a crown of thorns. Through His
many wounds He has lost a great quantity of blood. He is so weak He can scarcely
walk, yet He has to carry this great load. Finally, His strength fails him, and
He falls to the ground.
O Jesus, it was for me that You bore the heavy burden of the Cross. By the
merits of this first fall, may I be saved from the misfortune of falling into
mortal sin.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Fourth Station
Jesus Meets His Mother
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus, still burdened with His Cross, and wounded even more by His fall, meets
His Mother. A sword of anguish pierces those hearts that love each other so
tenderly.
My sweet Jesus, by the compassion which You did feel for Your most holy Mother
at this meeting, have compassion on me and grant me the grace of a truly devoted
love for Her. O Mary, my Queen, overwhelmed with sorrow, intercede for me, that,
through the sufferings endured by Your Son, I may obtain a continual and tender
remembrance of the Passion of Jesus.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Fifth Station
Simon Of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus' strength is failing, and the executioners fear Jesus will die on the way
instead of on the Cross. They seize Simon of Cyrene and compel him to carry the
Cross for Jesus. Simon realizes what he is asked to do, and it changes his
heart. The Cross becomes for Simon a privilege and a joy.
My most beloved Jesus, it is my privilege also to carry whatever crosses You
desire to send me. I will not refuse them. I accept them, embrace them, and
rejoice that I may be counted worthy to suffer for Your Name's sake. I unite
them to Your death. You died for love of me, I will die for love of You. Help me
by Your grace.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Sixth Station
Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus, proceeding on His way, is covered with sweat and blood. His face, once
beautiful, has now lost all its beauty. It is disfigured by wounds and blood. A
holy woman named Veronica, moved with compassion, approaches and wipes His face
with her veil. Jesus, as a reward for her piety, leaves the impression of His
Sacred Countenance imprinted upon it.
My Jesus, at my Baptism my soul was also beautiful, but my sins have since
disfigured it. By Your Passion, O Jesus, restore it to its former beauty. May
the contemplation of Your sufferings move me with the greatest compassion, make
me hate my sins, and kindle in my heart a more fervent love for You. Imprint
Your image in my mind so that I may never forget what my sins have done to You.
Guide me, that I may one day be transformed into Your likeness.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Seventh Station
Jesus Falls The Second Time
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
At every step the pain of His wounds and the loss of blood increase. His
strength fails Him a second time, and Jesus falls to the ground.
My Jesus, it was the burden of my sins that caused You to fall again. So many
times You have pardoned me, but I am weak, and so many times I have fallen again
and begun again to offend You. By the merits of this second fall, help me to
persevere in Your grace until my death. May I always commend myself to You in
all temptations which assail me.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Eighth Station
Jesus Speaks to the Women of Jerusalem
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus walks on, streaming with blood. Some holy women in the crowd see Him and
are so touched with sympathy and compassion that they openly weep for Him.
Jesus, knowing the things that are to happen to Jerusalem because of her
rejection of Him, turns to them and says: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for
me, but for yourselves and for your children."
My Jesus, I weep bitterly for the offenses I have committed against You. I weep
because of the pains they have deserved, but most of all because they caused
You, because of Your great love for me, to have to die for me. Teach me to be
truly sorry for my sins, so that I may escape those dreadful judgements prepared
for all who reject or neglect You in this life.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Ninth Station
Jesus Falls The Third Time
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus is now almost at the summit of Calvary. His weakness is extreme. The
excessively brutal solders, anxious to crucify Him, cruelly try to hasten His
steps, but He can scarcely move, and Jesus falls a third time.
O Lord Jesus, by the merits of this third most painful fall, pardon my frequent
relapses into sin and give me the strength I need to conquer all human respect
and all my wicked passions. Imprint the thought of all Your sufferings firmly in
my mind so that I may hate my sins more and more.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Tenth Station
Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Jesus, now at Calvary, is violently stripped by His executioners. His inner
garments adhere to His torn flesh, and they are dragged off so roughly that the
skin is pulled off with them.
My innocent Jesus, You endured this shame for my most shameful deeds. By the
merits of the torment You felt, help me to strip myself of all false shame,
conceit, pride, and all affection of the things of earth, so that I may place
all my love in You. Help me to humble myself voluntarily in this life, that I
may escape everlasting punishment in the life to come.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Eleventh Station
Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
The executioners lay the Cross on the ground, and Jesus is stretched upon it. He
extends His hands willingly, offering to His Eternal Father the sacrifice of His
life for our salvation. He is fastened to the Cross with nails, and then He and
the Cross are raised up for all to see.
My suffering Jesus, what my sins have done to You! Nail my heart to Your feet,
that it may be united to You until my death so that I will never offend You
again.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Twelth Station
Jesus Dies
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
For three excruciating hours Jesus hangs on the Cross. His blood runs in streams
down His torn body. Finally, after all He had set out to do has been
accomplished, He abandons Himself to the weight of His body, bows His head, and
dies.
My dying Jesus, I devoutly kiss the honoured Cross on which You died for love of
me. My sins have merited for me a miserable death, but Your death is my hope. By
the merits of Your death help me to live only for You. And when I die, help me
to die embracing Your feet and burning for love for You.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Thirteenth Station
Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take Jesus' body down from the cross and place
it in His mother's arms. With unspeakable tenderness she receives the lifeless
body of her Divine Son, and with boundless grief presses it to her bosom.
O Mother of Sorrow, give me a share in your most holy sorrow in the suffering of
your Son, that I may fully realize what my sins have caused. Accept me as your
servant, pray for me, and have compassion on my infirmities. Jesus, my Redeemer,
You have died for love of me. In Your mercy permit me to love You, for I wish
only You, nothing more.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Fourteenth Station
Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
The lifeless body of Jesus is carried by his disciples to the tomb. Mary, His
most holy mother, arranges it with overwhelming sorrow. Then they all withdraw,
and the tomb is sealed.
My buried Jesus, devoutly I kiss the stone that encloses You. But death could
not hold You. I, too, will descend into the grave when You will it. My sinful
body will return to the dust from which it came. In Your great mercy, receive my
immortal soul, so that on the last day I may rise in glory with You and join You
in Your kingdom where I may love You and praise You forever.
My beloved Jesus, I love You above all things. I am truly sorry for having
offended You, and I repent with my whole heart. May I never offend You again.
Grant that I may never cease to love You, and do with me as You will.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for
us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
"He is Risen"
THE HISTORICAL AND TRANSCENDENT EVENT
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
639 The mystery of Christ's resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness. In about A.D. 56 St. Paul could already write to the Corinthians: "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. . ."The Apostle speaks here of the living tradition of the Resurrection which he had learned after his conversion at the gates of Damascus.
The empty tomb
640 "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." The first element we encounter in the framework of the Easter events is the empty tomb. In itself it is not a direct proof of Resurrection; the absence of Christ's body from the tomb could be explained otherwise. Nonetheless the empty tomb was still an essential sign for all. Its discovery by the disciples was the first step toward recognizing the very fact of the Resurrection. This was the case, first with the holy women, and then with Peter. The disciple "whom Jesus loved" affirmed that when he entered the empty tomb and discovered "the linen cloths lying there", "he saw and believed". This suggests that he realized from the empty tomb's condition that the absence of Jesus' body could not have been of human doing and that Jesus had not simply returned to earthly life as had been the case with Lazarus.
The appearances of the Risen One
641 Mary Magdalene and the holy women who came to finish anointing the body of Jesus, which had been buried in haste because the Sabbath began on the evening of Good Friday, were the first to encounter the Risen One. Thus the women were the first messengers of Christ's Resurrection for the apostles themselves. They were the next to whom Jesus appears: first Peter, then the Twelve. Peter had been called to strengthen the faith of his brothers, and so sees the Risen One before them; it is on the basis of his testimony that the community exclaims: "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"
642 Everything that happened during those Paschal days involves each of the apostles - and Peter in particular - in the building of the new era begun on Easter morning. As witnesses of the Risen One, they remain the foundation stones of his Church. The faith of the first community of believers is based on the witness of concrete men known to the Christians and for the most part still living among them. Peter and the Twelve are the primary "witnesses to his Resurrection", but they are not the only ones - Paul speaks clearly of more than five hundred persons to whom Jesus appeared on a single occasion and also of James and of all the apostles.
643 Given all these testimonies, Christ's Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowledge it as an historical fact. It is clear from the facts that the disciples' faith was drastically put to the test by their master's Passion and death on the cross, which he had foretold. The shock provoked by the Passion was so great that at least some of the disciples did not at once believe in the news of the Resurrection. Far from showing us a community seized by a mystical exaltation, the Gospels present us with disciples demoralized ("looking sad") and frightened. For they had not believed the holy women returning from the tomb and had regarded their words as an "idle tale". When Jesus reveals himself to the Eleven on Easter evening, "he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen."
644 Even when faced with the reality of the risen Jesus the disciples are still doubtful, so impossible did the thing seem: they thought they were seeing a ghost. "In their joy they were still disbelieving and still wondering." Thomas will also experience the test of doubt and St. Matthew relates that during the risen Lord's last appearance in Galilee "some doubted." Therefore the hypothesis that the Resurrection was produced by the apostles' faith (or credulity) will not hold up. On the contrary their faith in the Resurrection was born, under the action of divine grace, from their direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus.
The condition of Christ's risen humanity
645 By means of touch and the sharing of a meal, the risen Jesus establishes direct contact with his disciples. He invites them in this way to recognize that he is not a ghost and above all to verify that the risen body in which he appears to them is the same body that had been tortured and crucified, for it still bears the traces of his Passion. Yet at the same time this authentic, real body possesses the new properties of a glorious body: not limited by space and time but able to be present how and when he wills; for Christ's humanity can no longer be confined to earth, and belongs henceforth only to the Father's divine realm. For this reason too the risen Jesus enjoys the sovereign freedom of appearing as he wishes: in the guise of a gardener or in other forms familiar to his disciples, precisely to awaken their faith.
646 Christ's Resurrection was not a return to earthly life, as was the case with the raisings from the dead that he had performed before Easter: Jairus' daughter, the young man of Naim, Lazarus. These actions were miraculous events, but the persons miraculously raised returned by Jesus' power to ordinary earthly life. At some particular moment they would die again. Christ's Resurrection is essentially different. In his risen body he passes from the state of death to another life beyond time and space. At Jesus' Resurrection his body is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit: he shares the divine life in his glorious state, so that St. Paul can say that Christ is "the man of heaven".
The Resurrection as transcendent event
647 O truly blessed Night, sings the Exultet of the Easter Vigil, which alone deserved to know the time and the hour when Christ rose from the realm of the dead! But no one was an eyewitness to Christ's Resurrection and no evangelist describes it. No one can say how it came about physically. Still less was its innermost essence, his passing over to another life, perceptible to the senses. Although the Resurrection was an historical event that could be verified by the sign of the empty tomb and by the reality of the apostles' encounters with the risen Christ, still it remains at the very heart of the mystery of faith as something that transcends and surpasses history. This is why the risen Christ does not reveal himself to the world, but to his disciples, "to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people."
II. THE RESURRECTION - A WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY
648 Christ's Resurrection is an object of faith in that it is a transcendent intervention of God himself in creation and history. In it the three divine persons act together as one, and manifest their own proper characteristics. The Father's power "raised up" Christ his Son and by doing so perfectly introduced his Son's humanity, including his body, into the Trinity. Jesus is conclusively revealed as "Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his Resurrection from the dead". St. Paul insists on the manifestation of God's power through the working of the Spirit who gave life to Jesus' dead humanity and called it to the glorious state of Lordship.
649 As for the Son, he effects his own Resurrection by virtue of his divine power. Jesus announces that the Son of man will have to suffer much, die, and then rise. Elsewhere he affirms explicitly: "I lay down my life, that I may take it again. . . I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." "We believe that Jesus died and rose again."
650 The Fathers contemplate the Resurrection from the perspective of the divine person of Christ who remained united to his soul and body, even when these were separated from each other by death: "By the unity of the divine nature, which remains present in each of the two components of man, these are reunited. For as death is produced by the separation of the human components, so Resurrection is achieved by the union of the two."
III. THE MEANING AND SAVING SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESURRECTION
651 "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." The Resurrection above all constitutes the confirmation of all Christ's works and teachings. All truths, even those most inaccessible to human reason, find their justification if Christ by his Resurrection has given the definitive proof of his divine authority, which he had promised.
652 Christ's Resurrection is the fulfillment of the promises both of the Old Testament and of Jesus himself during his earthly life.522 The phrase "in accordance with the Scriptures" indicates that Christ's Resurrection fulfilled these predictions.
653 The truth of Jesus' divinity is confirmed by his Resurrection. He had said: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he." The Resurrection of the crucified one shows that he was truly "I AM", the Son of God and God himself. So St. Paul could declare to the Jews: "What God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you.'" Christ's Resurrection is closely linked to the Incarnation of God's Son, and is its fulfillment in accordance with God's eternal plan.
654 The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God's grace, "so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace. It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ's brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren." We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection.
655 Finally, Christ's Resurrection - and the risen Christ himself is the principle and source of our future resurrection: "Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. . . For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." The risen Christ lives in the hearts of his faithful while they await that fulfillment . In Christ, Christians "have tasted. . . the powers of the age to come" and their lives are swept up by Christ into the heart of divine life, so that they may "live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."