During the Lenten season parishes across the state meditate upon the suffering and death of Jesus Christ through the “Way of the Cross”. The object of the Stations is to help the faithfuls to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ’s sufferings and death. It has become one of the most popular devotions for many Christians, especially among Catholics.
The devotion is often performed in a spirit of reparation for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during His Passion The devotion may be conducted personally by the faithfuls, making their way from one station to another and saying the prayers, or by having a priest move from cross to cross while the faithful make the responses. The Stations of the Cross originated in pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
A desire to reproduce the holy places in other lands seems to have manifested itself at quite an early date. From the earliest of days, followers of Jesus told the story of his passion, death and resurrection. When pilgrims came to see Jerusalem, they were anxious to see the sites where it is often performed in a spirit of reparation for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during His Passion and death. These sites become important holy connections with Jesus. Eventually, following in the footsteps of the Lord, along the way of the cross, became a part of the pilgrimage visit.
The stations, as we know them today, came about when it was no longer easy or even possible to visit the holy sites. In the 1500’s, villages all over Europe people started creating “replicas” of the way of the cross, with small shrines commemorating the places along the route in Jerusalem. Eventually, these shrines became the set of 14 stations we now know and were placed in almost every Catholic Church in the world.
One of the common struggles in life is to realize that we are not alone. The Good News is that Jesus entered into our life’s experience completely – even suffering and death – and that he fell into the hands of a Loving God, who raised him from death to life. We can have complete hope that suffering and death have no complete hold on us. We all share eternal life with him, if we can fall into the hands of the same Loving God. And, along the way, we are not alone. Jesus is with as one who knows our suffering, and the death we face. That can be deeply consoling. So it is essential to try the stations, and experience the consolation the Way of the cross has to offer.
Pope Francis said that only by walking the Way of the Cross can they discover the “Way of the Light”. It must be said that he most important reason for reviving the practice of making the Stations of the Cross is that it is a powerful way to contemplate, and enter into, the mystery of Jesus’s gift of himself to us. It takes the reflection on the passion and makes it an imaginative exercise. It involves senses, experience and emotions. To the extent that one comes to experience the love of Jesus Christ and a sense of deep gratitude. The gratitude leads to real generosity and a desire to love as we have been loved.
