Stations of the Cross

Leader:  We adore you, O Christ, and we praise You.
All:  [genuflect] Because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world.

Today is Good Friday, the day on which Christians commemorate the death of Jesus on the cross.  For Catholics, it is the only day of the year on which no Mass is celebrated.  The Church instead holds a liturgy, which includes the following: a reading of Christ's Passion from the Gospel of John, Chapters 18 & 19; general intercessions or prayers for special intentions; the distribution of Communion (from hosts consecrated at Mass on Holy Thursday the previous day), and; veneration of the cross, during which the congregation comes forward to kiss a crucifix at the foot of the altar. Altogether, the service is very somber, with no music, periods of silence, and the priest's wearing of purple or black vestments.  In recognition and with respect for Christ's sacrifice, Good Friday is a day of fast and abstinence.

Many people also pray the Stations of the Cross on every Friday of the year, but especially so on Good Friday.

The Stations originated from pilgrims literally walking the actual way that Jesus followed to Calvary through the streets of the city of Jerusalem.  For those Christians not living in Jerusalem, this journey would be an enormously lengthy and expensive undertaking, and often impossible.  Therefore, such a trip only was within the means of the very wealthy.  Thankfully, over centuries, the practice was brought into every local Catholic Church through the placement of images of each Station along the inside walls, thereby allowing even the most infirmed to accompany Christ and console Him in His sacrifice.

The traditional 14 Stations of the Cross are as follows:

1. Jesus Is Condemned to Death
2. Jesus Accepts the Cross
3. Jesus Falls the First Time
4. Jesus Meets His Mother
5. Simon of Cyrene Carries the Cross
6. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
7. Jesus Falls the Second Time
8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
9. Jesus Falls the Third Time
10. Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
11. The Crucifixion: Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
12. Jesus Dies on the Cross
13. Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross
14. Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb

(Some people also include a fifteenth station of the Resurrection.)

Of the traditional 14 Stations of the Cross, only eight have direct Scriptural references.  In 1991, Blessed Pope John Paul II introduced a Scriptural Way of the Cross on Good Friday, which he celebrated many times at the Colosseum in Rome.  The 14 Scriptural Stations of the Cross are as follows:

1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,
2. Jesus is Betrayed by Judas and Arrested
3. Jesus is Condemned by the Sanhedrin
4. Jesus is Denied by Peter
5. Jesus is Judged by Pilate
6. Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns
7. Jesus Takes Up His Cross
8. Jesus is Helped by Simon to Carry His cross
9. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
10. Jesus is Crucified
11. Jesus Promises His Kingdom to the Repentant Thief
12. Jesus Entrusts Mary and John to Each Other
13. Jesus Dies on the Cross
14. Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

For your reflection today, I am posting still photos from Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, which follows the course of the Stations of the Cross.

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I.  JESUS IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE


II.  JESUS IS BETRAYED BY JUDAS AND ARRESTED

III.  JESUS IS CONDEMNED BY THE SANHEDRIN

IV.  JESUS IS DENIED BY PETER

V.  JESUS IS JUDGED BY PILATE

 

VI.  JESUS IS SCOURGED AND CROWNED WITH THORNS

VII.  JESUS TAKES UP HIS CROSS

 

VIII.  JESUS IS HELPED BY SIMON TO CARRY HIS CROSS

IX.  JESUS MEETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM

X.  JESUS IS CRUCIFIED

 XI.  JESUS PROMISES HIS KINGDOM TO THE REPENTANT THIEF

XII.  JESUS ENTRUSTS MARY AND JOHN TO EACH OTHER

XIII.  JESUS DIES ON THE CROSS

XIV.  JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB

"You think you make sacrifices.  Look at the sacrifice of Calvary, and compare yours with it."
(St. Elizabeth Ann Seton)