What Is Meaning of Crown of Thorns?
In the Christian tradition, the Crown of Thorns is one of the sufferings Jesus Christ received during the Passion, or Jesus' suffering before and during the Crucifixion. It is found in three of the four Gospels and in the Catholic tradition is meditated on during the Third Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary.
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Definition
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The Crown of Thorns was a crown woven from thorny branches, most likely from the jujube tree. The crown is pounded into the forehead of Jesus Christ before he is led by Roman soldiers to death by Crucifixion.
The Passion
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The Passion of Jesus Christ refers to his suffering and death. The passion narrative generally begins with the Last Supper, specifically the Agony in the Garden, and ends with the death of Jesus by crucifixion. In the Christian tradition, the suffering and death of Jesus is the atonement for the sins of the world and fulfills the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The basic account of the Passion is that Jesus is betrayed by Judas, one of the 12 Apostles. He is then taken by Jewish leaders to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who then sentences him to death.
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Gospels
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The passion narrative is found in all four of the Canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Crown of Thorns is specifically found in the Gospels of Matthew (Chapter 27, Verse 29), Mark (Chapter 15, Verse 17) and John (Chapter 19, Verse 2). In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus is sentenced to death, handed over to the Roman soldiers, scourged at the pillar then led to his Crucifixion. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is scourged at the pillar, then crowned with thorns. After, this, he is sentenced to death. In each of the accounts, the soldiers mock him, saying "Hail, King of the Jews."
Crown Relics
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Fragments and pieces of the Crown of Thorns are still preserved as relics. Thorns that may be from the crown are located at various churches throughout Europe. Two of the most well known portions of the Crown are found at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris and at the Capella della Spina in Pisa, Italy.
New Station of the Cross
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During the praying of the Rosary, the Third Sorrowful Mystery is the Crowning of Thorns, which was not found in the traditional Stations of the Cross, or Way of the Cross. However, in 1991, Pope John Paul II introduced another form of the Stations that included the Crowning of Thorns as the sixth station.
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