Praying the Stations of the Cross on the Fridays of Lent is a good way for all Christians to reflect on the mysteries of Jesus’ Passion and Death as well as a good way to consider the lengths that God would go to save His people. The tradition is said to have started with Mary visiting the sites where Her Son suffered and died. Once Christianity could be practiced openly and legally after the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., those sites soon became a popular pilgrimage destination, and offered people the opportunity to walk the Via Dolorosa (Sorrowful Way) or the Way of the Cross. The term “Stations” only began to be used much later and is credited to William Wey, who visited the Holy Land in 1462, at a time when the devotion was gaining in popularity.

The devotion grew throughout the centuries. By the fifth century, reproductions of some of the holy sites were made so that more people could participate in honoring Christ in this fashion. Through the years, it would not only be the distance of travel that made it difficult for pilgrims to visit the Holy Land personally, but also whether or not the current ruling country in control of those sites was accepting of Christian pilgrims. From the 1400s to the 1700s, devotion to the Stations of the Cross grew largely to the efforts of the Franciscan order who had been entrusted to the care of the Holy Land. In 1686, Pope Innocent XI allowed the Franciscans to erect Stations of the Cross in all of their churches, with Pope Benedict XIII extending this privilege to all the faithful in 1726. By 1731 the number of individual Stations ranged from 5 to 37. Standardization of the Stations to 14 was accomplished by Pope Clement XII which provided a welcome adjustment that allowed representations of Jesus’ Passion to be added to all Catholic Churches from then on.

The prayers that accompany the Stations continue to vary. There are many popular texts that can be used, often having different Scriptural passages to aid reflection on each Station. But whether using a standard set of prayers in a group setting, or simply spending time alone quietly considering each Station, it’s a wonderful spiritual practice and especially appropriate for Lent.[1] St. Joseph’s offers a communal Stations of the Cross devotion every Friday evening of Lent beginning at 7:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome!

Have a blessed week!

[1] Taken and adapted from a description of the Stations of the Cross by Fr. Nick Kastenholz, March 10, 2019.