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, Anglicanism, 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 devotions for Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox (but only those of the Western Rite).
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
#Jesus falls the first time
#Jesus meets His Mother
#Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
#Veronica wipes Jesus' face with her veil
#Jesus falls the second time
#Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
#Jesus falls the third time
#Jesus is stripped of His garments
#Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
#Jesus dies on the cross
#Jesus' body is removed from the cross (Pieta)
#Jesus is laid in the tomb
Another version of the Stations of the Cross is the following:
#Jesus institutes the Eucharist
#Jesus prays in Gethsemane
#Jesus before the Sanhedrin
#Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns
#Jesus carries the cross to Calvary
#Jesus falls under the weight of the cross
#Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene
#Jesus meets the pious women of Jerusalem
#Jesus is nailed on the cross
#Jesus promises Heaven to the repentant thief
#Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other
#Jesus dies on the cross
#Jesus is laid in the tomb
#Jesus rises from the dead
The alternate version is widely used in the Philippines, where most of the population is Roman Catholic.
Although not part of the traditional set of Stations, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is now more and more integrated as part of The Way.

Contents

History

Modern Usage

Controversy over the Stations of the Cross in the Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church

See also

Gallery

External links

History

The stations began as an attempt to recreate, or as a substitute for, the devotions in Jerusalem (now the Via Crucis) visiting in turn what were believed to be the original sites of the events. By at least the 15th century the occasional practise of setting up stations in Western Europe was established, although it did not reach the majority of Catholic churches until the 17th century. Anglican examples all post-date the Oxford Movement.

Modern Usage

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.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI approved this set of Stations for meditation: (1) Jesus in the Garden of Olives, (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 the Cyrenean to carry his cross, (9) Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, (10) Jesus is crucified, (11) Jesus promises his kingdom to the good thief, (12) Jesus and his mother and disciple, (13) Jesus dies on the cross, (14) Jesus is laid in the tomb. It is a set noticeably a mix between the traditional set and the alternate set.
The celebration of the Stations of the Cross is especially common on the Fridays of Lent, 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. The Alleluia is also sung; however, that holy word is buried during Lent.
Today, many advocate 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 – the same consideration that causes the three days commencing with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday and concluding with Vespers on the evening of Easter Sunday to be regarded as a liturgical unity, the so-called Holy Tridium, the Easter Tridium or Paschal Triduum. Others have begun the practice of the Via Lucis in Eastertide to meditate on the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord.
Structurally, Mel Gibson's 2004 film, ''The Passion of the Christ'', follows the Stations of the Cross. The fourteenth and last station, the Burial, is not prominently depicted (compared to the other thirteen) but it is implied since the last shot before credit titles is Jesus resurrected and about to leave the tomb.

Controversy over the Stations of the Cross in the Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church

In recent years, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has embarked on a campaign of de-Latinization reforms consisting of the removal of the stations of the cross, the rosary and the monstrance from the liturgy and parishes of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. In response a schismatic group, the Society of Saint Josaphat, abbreviated as the SSJK has formed with a seminary in Lviv, at which currently thirty students reside, and is affiliated with the Society of St. Pius X. Critics claim that the SSJK's liturgical practice favours severely abbreviated services and favours imported Roman devotions over the traditional and authentic practices and devotions of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Proponents counter that these symbols and rituals, borrowed from their Roman Catholic Polish neighbors have been practiced by Ukrainian Greek Catholics for centuries now, and to deny them is to deprive themselves of a part of their sacred heritage.

See also

★ Passion play

★ Poor Man's Bible

★ Sacri Monti

Gallery

Other pictures related to the stations of the cross

External links

★ the Catholic Encyclopedia

★ A list of recent Via Crucis used by The Vatican on Good Fridays..

★ for Kings: a modern Stations of the Cross including The Resurrection

★ Online Stations of the Cross with audio recorded meditations and prayers (mp3)

★ Online Stations of the Cross

★ Esquivel's (Nobel Peace Prize) Stations from Latin America

★ Dom Martin's ''Stations of the Cross'' (1972) in the Bom Jesus Basilica, Old Goa, India

★ 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

★ Carving of Stations of the Cross

★ Web site for European Sacred Mountains, Calvaries and Devotional Complexes

★ Scenes of The Passion Prints by Albrecht Dürer and Adrian Wiszniewski