STATIONS OF THE CROSS

The Stations of the Cross, also known as "The Way of the Cross" is a devotion performed by meditating on the Passion and Sufferings of Christ.  The 14 Stations can be either a series of simple wooden crosses or scenes depicting the way.  Normally you will find them mounted on the interior walls of a church, although they may be erected anywhere; e.g., outside along a pathway.  The pictures or representations depict various scenes from Christ's Via Crucis; Are aids to devotion on the traditional Stations.  In the Denver, Colorado, area there is a wonderful series placed on a pathway to the top of a mountain at Mother Cabrini Shrine where they lead you to a garden of the 10 commandments overlooking the eastern plains of Colorado.  Many shrines have erected them as a mediation you can follow on their grounds.  Another wonderful series can be found at The Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa. 

The person making the Way of the Cross passes before each Station, or stopping point, and pauses at each for a brief meditation on the theme.  Most Catholic Churches, during Lent will have a Friday prayer service on the Stations of the Cross.  When the Stations are said in a group, only the leader has to pass from Station to Station.  Prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father is required for gaining the indulgence granted for the Stations.

Anyone who is unable to make the Stations in the ordinary manner, either impeded from visiting a church, or a place where the Stations are, can still practice the devotion by meditating on the sufferings of Christ; Praying the Our Father, Hail Mary and the Glory for each Station and 5 times in commemoration of the wounds of Christ; and praying for the intentions of the pope.  This practice has involved the use of a "Stations Crucifix".

Recently there has been a development in this devotion to a greater awareness of the relationship of the Passion to the Resurrection-Ascension of Christ.  In some circles this trend has led to an erection of a 15th -- unofficial -- Station.  This Resurrection and Ascension Station has led to an extension of the whole customary thrust of the devotion.

The Stations originated, remotely, from the practice of Holy Land pilgrims who visited the actual scenes of incidents in the Passion of Christ.  Representation elsewhere of at least some of these scenes were known as early as the fifth century.  Later, the Stations evolved in connection with and as a consequence of strong devotion to the Passion in the 12th & 13th centuries.   Franciscans, who were give custody of the Holy Places in 1342, promoted the devotion widely; one of them, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, became known as the greatest preacher of the Way of the Cross in the 18th century.  The general features of the devotion were fixed by Pope Clement XII in 1731.

A plenary indulgence is gained, once a day, for making the Way of the Cross. But it is only necessary for a person to move from one Station to the next and "nothing more is required than a pious meditation on the Passion and Death of the Lord, which need not be a particular consideration of the individual mysteries of the Stations."