The devotion known as Stations of the Cross, sometimes known as the Way of the Cross, is thought to have begun in the fourth century in Jerusalem, as pilgrims sought to be close to the places where Jesus walked. The number of stations, or places where Jesus paused on his way to be crucified, has varied with tradition and time. Monks and nuns who visited the Holy Land took the idea of the Way of the Cross back to their monasteries, and so, by the 16th century, a number of monasteries and convents had small artistic representations of the Stations of the Cross in their chapels. Prayers and devotions would be said at each representation and this practice eventually spread to churches. The number of stations, which at first varied widely, finally became fixed at fourteen. Of these, eight are based directly on events recorded in the Gospels. The remaining six (stations three, four, six, seven, nine and thirteen).
This Lent, as many Christians attempt to give up particular things, I invite you to consider as well whether there might be something to “take up” rather than “give up.”
On Fridays in Lent we will observe Stations of the Cross. The service takes about 45 minutes as we move through the church in prayer, with silence and with song. Each week, in the concluding prayers before the altar we will give thanks to God that by Christ’s death, “he has recalled us to life.” Properly understood and observed, Lent calls and recalls us to new life in Christ, that he may live more vibrantly in us and that we may offer that life to all the world.
