The Stations of the Cross represent fourteen episodes in the last day of Jesus' life. Traditionally eight of the stations are based on events recorded in the Gospels and the remaining six stations are traditional, historic embellishments of the Passion narrtive. When walked as a physical pilgrimage the Stations of the Cross represent the Via Dolorosa, the historic processional route through Jerusalem which Jesus is believed to have taken from the Preatorium to Golgatha. The processional route itself was well established in Jerusalem by the third century and has been maintined by the Franciscan Order on behalf of the Holy See since the twelfth Century.
Through out the centuries Christians have been encouraged to undertake pilgrimages to the Holy Land and specifically to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It has also long been recognised that not everyone is capable of undertaking such a journey. The historic compromise was that because every church stands as the physical representation of the Heavenly Jerusalem, every church can also physically represent the Earthly Jerusalem. In many churches fourteen markers around the building represent the fourteen stations of the cross. In some churches the stations are identified with simple crosses or plaques bearing Roman numerals I – XIV. In other churches the stations are indicated by icons, paintings, wood or stone bas-reliefs or sculptures depicting the events of historic narrative.
Pilgrimages are always personal journeys, but they are taken in community, in public. How can one practice the Stations of the Cross pilgrimage at a time when travel to Jerusalem is not possible, and when local churches are closed? We invite you to create your own Stations of the Cross. We also invite you to share your works with us.
What to do?
Gather art materials that you have at home: pencils and paper, crayons, ink what ever you have at hand will work. Draw with coffee on a napkin, if that is all you have on hand.
The first two stations are posted below
Sit quietly.
Say a prayer or two.
Read the text of the station. (Each day we will post the text of the Station for the day and some visual examples of the station. The visual examples will be provided to help establish the mood, but you are not being asked to copy the presented artworks, but rather to engage with and respond to the narrative.)
Respond to the text from your heart using the materials you have gathered.
When you have finished, sit quietly with the station and say another set of prayers to bring you back to the present.
Jesus is condemNed to death
Station 1
Jesus is condemned to death
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you:
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
let us pray:
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
As soon as it was morning, the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him to Pilate. And they all condemned him and said, “He deserves to die.” When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. Then he handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
Jesus takes up his cross
Station 2
Jesus takes up his Cross
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you:
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, whose beloved Son willingly endured the agony and shame of the cross for our redemption: Give us courage to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Jesus went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Like a lamb he was led to the slaughter; and like a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he opened not his mouth. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
Jesus falls the first time
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you:
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Let us pray.
O God, you know us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped; but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and was born in human likeness. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is the Lord our God.
Jesus meets his afflicted mother
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you:
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Let us pray.
O God, who willed that in the passion of your Son a sword of grief should pierce the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary his mother: Mercifully grant that your Church, having shared with her in his passion, may be made worthy to share in the joys of his resurrection; who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
To what can I liken you, to what can I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What likeness can I use to comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.