From the earliest days of the Church, faithful Christians have made trips to the Holy Land to follow the footsteps of Jesus on the actual path to his Crucifixion where He gave his life for our salvation.
These pious people would stop along the way to say specific prayers and devotions at spots where specific events had occurred as Jesus carried his Cross to Jerusalem to die.
Pilgrimages to the Holy Land could take years and proved to be expensive and even dangerous. They were not possible for everyone so some Catholics created stations outside their own churches based on Sacred Scripture and Apostolic Tradition.
Eventually, the stations were moved inside. Only a simple cross is necessary to mark each station. Any additional images, figures, or other artwork is optional.
When each station is announced, the traditional response is, “We adore you O Christ and we bless You. For by your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.” Additional prayers, hymns, or Scripture verses may also be recited or sung.
The 14 Stations of the Cross are also known as the Way of the Cross or the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrows.
Stations of the Cross can be prayed at any time, but they are traditionally prayed as a penance on the Fridays during Lent, especially on Good Friday.
Remembering Jesus’ last day as a man on Earth:
Significant events during Jesus’ Passion and Death:
The soldiers led Him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed Him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on Him. They began to salute Him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon Him. They knelt before Him in homage. And when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the purple cloak, dressed Him in his own clothes, and led Him out to crucify Him.
Mark 15: 16-20
Spiritually accompanying Jesus on the way to Jerusalem:
Just as it happened in the time of Jesus:
The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy Name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of love for men, He allowed to be pierced by our sins. Christian prayer loves to follow the Way of the Cross in the Savior’s steps. The stations from the Praetorium to Golgotha and the tomb trace the way of Jesus, who by his holy Cross has redeemed the world.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 2669
Meditating on the suffering of Jesus and his great love:
The Stations of the Cross is a prayer:
A revelation of love:
When we make the Way of the Cross from one station to the next, in spirit we are always at the spot where this journey had its “historical” place: where it took place along the streets of Jerusalem, from the Praetorium of Pilate to the hill of Golgotha, or Calvary, outside the city walls. And so today too we have been, in spirit in the City of the “Great King”, who, as a sign of his kingship chose the Crown of Thorns instead of a royal crown, and the Cross instead of a throne.
Pope John Paul II, Address at Completion of the Stations of the Cross, 13 April 1979
Recognizing that all of life is a pilgrimage:
Expressing our faith in a physical way:
There are different ways of praying the Stations of the Cross:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Like unlocking a door from the inside:
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