or Viacrusis as has been the tradition in our fair city by the Sacred Heart Parish.

One can hardly miss the iron crosses that stand on the fringes of the property of the church, crosses that were procured and donated by this reporter and Mr. Hassen Moses’ Welding classes at CC Winn High School in the early part of this century (2001) and still stand proudly in the courtyard.

While the main action of the play itself consists of our Lord being horrifically beaten, mutilated, tortured, impaled and finally executed, it stands as a vivid reminder of the sacrifice Jesus had to endure while on this earth in biblical times.

This year, Jesus will be portrayed by Ethan Martinez, a CC Winn 10th grader who has been given the honor of being the lead actor in this year’s Villacrusis.

Rolita Martinez will portray Mary, Jesus Vasquez will be Pontius Pilate, Hector Tovar will be Simon the Cyrenean and the rest of the Sacred Heart Youth Group led by Youth Coordinator Lupita Tovar will round off the cast from Mary Magdalene (Jacky Velasquez) to John (Joe Garza), Barrabas (Santiago Garcia), Judas Iscariot, the two thieves (Santiago Garcia & Christian Esquivel) as well as Jessica Esquivel (Pueblo Malo Lider), Briana & Ariana Soto (Lloronas), Kiana Martinez (La Veronica), Ximene Velasquez, Kiana Diaz, Aimee Hernandez, Jackie Ramos, Julieta Hernandez, April Martinez and Elani De Hoyos (Servants), Adriana Perez, Destinee Lopez, Esmeralda Vasquez, Evelyn Garza, Elena Hernandez, Reina DeLos Santos, Naty Lopez, Tati Adan and Christina Gonzalez (Citizens) and Rey Esquivel, Jacob Salinas, Jose Anzuares, Osiel Zamora, Orlando Ortiz, Jose Solid, Le Roy Valdez and RJ Martinez (Soldiers).

We reached out to Father Lawrence maria Soosai, OMI about the symbolism and significance of this event should mean to our youth and he had the following to say, “First of all this week is Holy Week. Sunday we started with Palm Sunday where Jesus entered Jerusalem City and on Holy Thursday, we are going to celebrate The Last Supper and the institution of The Holy Eucharist, the institution of The Holy Art of Priesthood and The Commandment of Jesus which is for us to love one another. He showed his unconditional love by dying on the cross, so by enacting the Viacrusis, The Stations of The Cross, our youth members will be learning The Commandment of Jesus to love one another, that it is not about themselves, but it is loving others, showing the love of Jesus through their lives.”

“On Holy Saturday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and Sunday morning Easter Sunday,” continued Father Lawrence, “No matter what their role is, it will be instilled in their hearts and mind that the Love of Jesus is always their guiding principle they need to follow throughout their lives.”

The procession will commence at the Williams and Travis Street intersection on Friday at2:00 PM and will make its way to the church. The church will also hold the Adoration of the Cross and Communion Service around 3:00 PM after the Viacrusis. The parish will meditate on The LastSeven Words of Jesus, give condolences to The Virgin Mary and pray The Rosary of The Seven Sorrows at 7:00 PM. A Vigil Mass will be held on Saturday at8:30 PM. When asked about the tragic accident in Paris, the burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral, Father Lawrence said he was there not too long ago, and while sad about what’s transpired, he feels it will show the resilience of our church, “It is like any church, it is a symbol or sign of our faith, especially Notre Dame. Last year in July I was there. I celebrated mass with a group of people from Eagle Pass behind the main altar. It is sad because it is the universal Catholic Church, the church as one. Catholic means ‘universal’ so when something goes wrong it always affects us. It was built in the early 12th Century, it is magnificent and it is an island, it is a symbol of Paris and it is historical for the Catholic Church. When something goes wrong like this, we feel it has happened to our own family because it belongs to the Catholic Family.

Already people are pledging to help rebuild it. We are proud of this because everyone is called upon as a part of the church. Many families become a parish, many parishes become a Diocese and many Diocese become the church.”

A.D. Ibarra

-Eagle Pass, Texas