Stations of the Cross
The
Stations of the Cross (or
Way of the Cross; in
Latin,
Via Crucis; also called the
Via Dolorosa or
Way of Sorrows, or simply,
The Way) refers to the depiction of the final hours (or
Passion) of
Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition exists in
Roman Catholicism,
Anglican, and
Lutheranism. It may be done at any time, but is most commonly done during the Season of
Lent, especially on
Good Friday and on Friday evenings during Lent.
The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer to the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death, and this has become one of the most popular of Catholic devotions.
The
Stations themselves are usually a series of 14 pictures or sculptures depicting the following scenes:#Jesus is condemned to death#Jesus receives the cross#The first fall#Jesus meets
His Mother#
Simon of Cyrene carries the cross#
Veronica wipes Jesus' face with her veil#The second fall#Jesus meets the women of
Jerusalem#The third fall#Jesus is stripped of His garments#
Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross#Jesus dies on the cross#Jesus' body removed from the cross (Pieta)#Jesus is laid in the tomb
|
The Stone of the Anointing, believed to be the place where Jesus' body was prepared for burial. It is the 13th Station of the Cross. |
The
Stations of the Cross are images of stories about the
Passion and death of
Jesus Christ. Most of the stories which make up the Stations were drawn from
Scripture, and others, such as
Saint Veronica wiping the face of Jesus, were taken from tradition. The route traditionally held to have been taken by Jesus to his death at
Calvary (Golgotha) in
Jerusalem is called the
Via Dolorosa or the Sorrowful Way. A very early tradition developed in the
Holy Land to follow the Via Dolorosa, stopping and contemplating the events of Christ's Passion at sites or Stations where tradition held that they took place. European Christians on
Pilgrimage to the Holy Lands brought back the custom of remembering the Passion through various devotions as early as the 4th century.
Some trace the history of these devotions to the
Blessed Virgin Mary who may have visited the locations of the Passion in Jerusalem after the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but most trace the beginning of the specific devotion to Saint
Francis of Assisi or his followers in the thirteenth century during the peak of
Franciscan devotion to the crucified Jesus. During times when the
Muslim occupation of the Holy Lands made Christian
pilgrimage especially difficult or dangerous, the Stations were erected in the local churches as a way of bringing Jerusalem to the people. The number and names of the Stations changed radically at various times in the history of the devotion. In medieval versions, the number of Stations varied from 11 to 39.
The term
Stations was first applied to these devotions by the English pilgrim, William Wey in 1428, by which time they were already widespread and popular throughout all of Europe. In 1505, Peter Sterchx of Flanders published the highly influential work called
Cruysgang ("Way of the Cross"), a guide book to the Stations that did much to develop the devotions as we know them today. The first twelve Stations were placed in their current order by a Dutch writer, Adrichomius in 1584 in,
Via Crucis, Way of the Cross.
Pope Clement XII fixed the official number at 14, which was confirmed in 1742 by
Pope Benedict XIV, and which is still the most common number.
Prayer of St. Francis to the Crucified Jesus:Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, while before Thy face I humbly kneel; and with burning soul pray and beseech Thee to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, true contrition for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment. While with great love and tender pity I contemplate Thy five wounds, pondering over them within me, calling to mind the words which David, Thy prophet, said of Thee, my Jesus: "They have pierced My hands and My feet; they have numbered all My bones."Pope John Paul II led an annual public
prayer of the Stations of the Cross at the Roman
Colosseum on Good Friday. Originally, the Pope himself carried the cross from station to station, but in his last years, he presided over the celebration from a stage on the
Palatine Hill, while others carried the cross. Just days prior to his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II observed the Stations of the Cross from his private chapel in the
Vatican.
Each year a different person is invited to write the meditation texts for the Stations. Past composers of the Papal Stations include several non-Catholics. In many years, the Stations meditated have not corresponded to the traditional list given above, which led some to speculate that the Pope would change the list. However, the Holy Father himself wrote the texts for the
Jubilee year 2000 and used the traditional Stations.
Pope John Paul II created a version in which all of the Stations were taken from Scripture. In this version, the Stations are: (1) The Agony in the Garden; (2) Jesus' betrayal and arrest; (3) He is condemned by the Sanhedrin; (4) Denied by Peter; (5) Condemned to death by Pilate; (6) Scourged and crowned with thorns; (7) He is made to carry his cross; (8) Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus; (9) Jesus meets with the women of Jerusalem; (10) He is crucified; (11) He promises paradise to the thief; (12) He speaks to John and Mary; (13) He dies; (14) He is laid in the tomb.
Prayer of the Stations of the Cross is connected with a plenary
indulgence according to the normal conditions of the Church. To achieve the indulgence, the person praying must walk from station to station, meditating on the Passion. There is no requirement that this meditation be of a certain duration, use specific prayers, or indeed, that the meditation correspond to the stations that are depicted. A validly erected set of the Stations of the Cross should be blessed by a Franciscan, and should include a wooden cross at each station. (Images are optional.) The same indulgence is available to those unable to visit the stations by meditating for 30 minutes on the Passion.
The celebration of the Stations of the Cross is especially common on the
Fridays of
Lent, and especially Good Friday. Community celebrations are usually accompanied by various songs and prayers. Particularly common as musical accompaniment is the
sequence Stabat Mater Dolorosa. At the end of each station, the
Adoramus Te is sometimes sung.
Many advocate today the addition of a 15th station, depicting Christ's
Resurrection, because without his rising from the dead he would not have accomplished the salvation that, Christians believe, was his mission â€" the same consideration that causes the three days commencing with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Maunday Thursday and concluding with Vespers on the evening of Easter Sunday to be regarded as a liturgical unity, the so-called Holy Triduum or Paschal
Triduum. Others have begun the practice of the
Via Lucis in
Eastertide to meditate on the Resurrection and
Ascension of the Lord.
*
Passion play*
The Passion of the Christ*
Poor Man's BibleImage:Stations_of_the_Cross_Crucifix.jpg|Stations of the Cross CrucifixImage:Crucifixion from the Stations of the Cross.jpg|From The Cloisters in New York City. *
Way of the Cross from the Catholic Encyclopedia*
Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday 2005, Introduction, and
Meditations and prayers by Cardinal
Josef Ratzinger.
*
for Kings: a modern Stations of the Cross including The Resurrection*
Online Stations of the Cross*
Esquivel's (Nobel Peace Prize) Stations from Latin America*
Alternate Stations of the Cross as celebrated by Pope John Paul II on Good Friday 1991*
Stations of the Cross from the perspective of the Blessed Virgin Mary
