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- Station 14
Via Crucis Station 14
Valinhos Sanctuary
The Sacred Way of the Cross
Via Crucis Station 14
JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB
Via Crucis Station 14 brings me to what appears to be the end—burial. Jesus is laid in Joseph of Arimathea's new tomb, a massive stone is rolled across the entrance, and Roman guards are posted to ensure the body stays put. This looks like complete defeat, absolute darkness, final silence. The disciples walk away in grief, believing everything is lost. Yet I'm learning that this tomb is not actually the end but a sacred pause, a Holy Saturday of waiting for Sunday's inevitable dawn. At Valinhos Sanctuary, this final station teaches me the spirituality of waiting in darkness, of trusting when I cannot see, of hoping against all human hope. The followers don't yet know resurrection is coming. They only know loss. But God is working in the darkness of that tomb. What seems like defeat is actually the womb of new creation. Death has never had the final word; it never will.
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Lord Jesus, they lay You in the tomb. The heavy stone seals You in complete darkness. Your friends walk away in sorrow and shock, believing all their hopes died with You. How often do I live as if death and defeat have the final word? How often do I despair when situations seem utterly hopeless, when my prayers seem to bounce off heaven unanswered, when darkness seems permanent and unchangeable? Yet even now, even in this sealed tomb, You are not defeated or passive. You descend to the realm of the dead not as a victim but as a victor. You preach to imprisoned spirits. You shatter hell's gates from the inside. You prepare the greatest reversal in all of history. Teach me to trust in the darkness of my own tombs—those situations where I can see absolutely no way forward. Teach me to wait with hope instead of despair. Teach me that what looks like an ending is so often a new beginning hidden in divine silence, waiting to be revealed in God's perfect timing.
Via Crucis Station 14:
Three Days in Darkness
Friday's defeat, Saturday's waiting, Sunday's victory
It Is Finished
The Day of Defeat
Friday appears to be total defeat. Jesus is dead, buried, sealed in a tomb with Roman guards posted. The disciples scatter in fear and despair. Evil seems triumphant. Death seems to have won. Every hope appears lost. Yet "It is finished" means completion, not failure. The work is done.
Saturday - Holy Waiting
The Day Between
Saturday is the hardest day—the day of not knowing, of sitting with loss, of waiting in darkness. The disciples don't know Sunday is coming. They only know grief. Saturday teaches us to trust when we cannot see, to hope when all evidence suggests hopelessness, to wait on God's timing.
Sunday - He Is Risen
The Day of Victory
Sunday explodes with resurrection power. The stone is rolled away not to let Jesus out but to let witnesses in to see the empty tomb. Death is defeated. Hell is harrowed. Victory is complete. Every Friday has a Sunday coming. Every tomb is temporary. Every darkness yields to light.
Deepen Your Journey
Explore the richness of this station through sacred history, spiritual wisdom, and contemplative practices.
The Fátima Connection
Between the July apparition and the August meeting, the shepherd children experienced their own tomb moment. They were arrested, imprisoned, and threatened by the local administrator who didn't believe their story. Unable to meet Our Lady at Cova da Iria as promised, they must have felt abandoned, confused, afraid.
Yet Our Lady came to find them at Valinhos afterward, meeting them in an unexpected place. The message I take from this: even when I cannot come to God because circumstances prevent it, He comes to me. Even in the tomb of suffering or darkness, God is present and actively working. Fátima promises that the Immaculate Heart will triumph. The tomb is always temporary. Sunday is always coming.
Wisdom from Saints
St. John of the Cross wrote extensively about the "dark night of the soul"—those periods when God seems completely absent. He taught that this is paradoxically when God is doing His closest and most transforming work, purifying the soul in darkness to prepare it for intimate divine union.
St. Teresa of Calcutta lived for decades in spiritual darkness, feeling abandoned by God, yet she continued serving because she had chosen to trust beyond her feelings. St. Thérèse of Lisieux, suffering on her deathbed in darkness of faith, wrote simply: "I believe in Love." St. Paul proclaimed something that anchors me: we know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him.
Contemplative Practice
I'm doing a Holy Saturday Exercise: spending one full day this week practicing "tomb time"—minimal unnecessary speech, complete media silence, just being alone with God in the darkness and unknowing. Resting in not knowing, not solving, not fixing anything. Just trusting.
I'm also doing a Darkness Retreat: sitting in a completely dark room for 20 minutes with no phone, no light, no distractions. What arises in that darkness? I'm practicing Hope in one seemingly impossible situation, praying: "Lord, this looks like a sealed tomb to me. But You specialize in resurrections. I choose to trust that You are working in this darkness." Finally, I'm remembering that the Via Crucis doesn't end at Station 14. After the tomb comes resurrection. After darkness comes light.