Good Friday: "Parce Domine!"

Today we went to the Lourdes Shrine in Euclid, Ohio--one of the holiest and most beautiful places in Euclid and Greater Cleveland.The shrine features a replica of the grotto at Lourdes, France. It was built from Euclid Bluestone, quarried by early Euclidians, Irish, Slovenian, Czech, Hungarians, and others at the Euclid Creek quarry a mile or so away.

Linda and I lit candles for our family, then did the Stations of the Cross. Many people, ranging from little kids to old codgers, were on the beautiful wooded hillside path of the stations.

I thought of the old Latin chant we would sing over and over during Lent: "Parce, Domine! Parce Populo Tuo: Ne in Aeternum Irascaris Nobis." --"Spare, O lord! Spare your people! Be not forever angry with your people!" I can hear the tune in my head. I chanted it a thousand times as a child at St, William's Church in Euclid. I still chant it.

Top: the replica grotto, built of Euclid Bluestone. Middle: one of the stations on the wooded hillside. Bottom: Station XII, the Crucifixion.