Archive
Week of 03/09/08
Week of 03/09/08
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What Are the Stations of the Cross?
A devotion that is practiced in Catholic
parishes, especially during the penitential
season of Lent, is the Stations of the Cross.
The Stations of the Cross are a means to help
the faithful to make, in spirit, a pilgrimage to
the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and
death; from Pontius Pilate's house to Christ's
tomb.
Today, there are fourteen traditional scenes
that make up the Stations of the Cross: Pilate
condemns Christ to death; Jesus carries the
cross; the first fall; Jesus meets His Blessed
Mother; Simon of Cyrene helps to carry the
A devotion that is practiced in Catholic
parishes, especially during the penitential
season of Lent, is the Stations of the Cross.
The Stations of the Cross are a means to help
the faithful to make, in spirit, a pilgrimage to
the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and
death; from Pontius Pilate's house to Christ's
tomb.
Today, there are fourteen traditional scenes
that make up the Stations of the Cross: Pilate
condemns Christ to death; Jesus carries the
cross; the first fall; Jesus meets His Blessed
Mother; Simon of Cyrene helps to carry the
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cross; Veronica wipes the face of Jesus; the second fall; Jesus speaks to the
women of Jerusalem; the third fall; Jesus is stripped of His garments; Jesus is
nailed to the cross; Jesus dies on the cross; Jesus is taken down from the cross;
and Jesus is laid in the tomb.
This devotion has evolved over time. Tradition holds that our Blessed Mother
visited daily the scenes of our Lord's passion. After Constantine legalized
Christianity in the year 312, this pathway was marked with its important
stations.
In 1342, the Franciscans were appointed as guardians of the shrines of the Holy
Land. The faithful received indulgences for praying at the following stations: At
Pilate's house, where Christ met His mother, where He spoke to the women,
where He met Simon of Cyrene, where the soldiers stripped Him of His
garments, where He was nailed to the cross, and at His tomb.
women of Jerusalem; the third fall; Jesus is stripped of His garments; Jesus is
nailed to the cross; Jesus dies on the cross; Jesus is taken down from the cross;
and Jesus is laid in the tomb.
This devotion has evolved over time. Tradition holds that our Blessed Mother
visited daily the scenes of our Lord's passion. After Constantine legalized
Christianity in the year 312, this pathway was marked with its important
stations.
In 1342, the Franciscans were appointed as guardians of the shrines of the Holy
Land. The faithful received indulgences for praying at the following stations: At
Pilate's house, where Christ met His mother, where He spoke to the women,
where He met Simon of Cyrene, where the soldiers stripped Him of His
garments, where He was nailed to the cross, and at His tomb.
Ninth Station: Jesus Falls the Third Time
When the Muslim Turks blocked the access
to the Holy Land, reproductions of the
stations were erected at popular spiritual
centers, including the Dominican Friary at
Cordova and Poor Clare Convent of Messina
(early 1400s), Nuremberg (1468), Louvain
(1505), Bamberg, Fribourg and Rhodes
(1507) and Antwerp (1520).
Because of the Turkish domination of
Jerusalem, the pious exercises of the Way of
the Cross could be performed far more
devoutly at Nuremburg or Louvain than in
Jerusalem itself. The devotion, which grew
in Europe for the Stations, gave us our
present series of Stations with the
accustomed series of prayers for them.
to the Holy Land, reproductions of the
stations were erected at popular spiritual
centers, including the Dominican Friary at
Cordova and Poor Clare Convent of Messina
(early 1400s), Nuremberg (1468), Louvain
(1505), Bamberg, Fribourg and Rhodes
(1507) and Antwerp (1520).
Because of the Turkish domination of
Jerusalem, the pious exercises of the Way of
the Cross could be performed far more
devoutly at Nuremburg or Louvain than in
Jerusalem itself. The devotion, which grew
in Europe for the Stations, gave us our
present series of Stations with the
accustomed series of prayers for them.
Twelfth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross.
In 1686, Pope Innocent XI, realizing that few people could travel to the Holy
Land due to the Muslim oppression, granted the right to erect stations in all of
their churches and that the same indulgences would be given to the Franciscans
and those affiliated with them for practicing the devotion as if on an actual
pilgrimage. Pope Benedict XIII extended these indulgences to all of the faithful
in 1726.
Five years later, Pope Clement XII permitted stations to be created in all
churches and fixed the number at fourteen. In 1742, Pope Benedict XIV
exhorted all priests to enrich their churches with the Way of the Cross, which
must include fourteen crosses and are usually accompanied with pictures or
images of each particular station.
Pope John Paul II proposed a new set of 14 Stations in 1991. To pray these
Stations visit US Catholic Bishops. Also, there are a special set of the Stations
called Mary's Way of the Cross, which is another form of this devotion. Also
you can pray the Scriptural Way of the Cross with meditations by St.
Alphonsus Liguori.
You may also choose to visit the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, where one
may see reproductions of the Bethlehem Chapel, the tomb of our Lord, and other
important shrines of the Holy Land.
Further history about the Stations of the Cross can be found at http://www.
newadvent.org/cathen/15569a.htm