Spiritual Perspectives
Stations of the Cross and Devotional Prayer

By Sister Mary Matthias Ward
Special to The Independent

Usually as Ash Wednesday approaches and as I begin to think of Lent and the devotions that usually go with Lent, I think of the Stations of the Cross. Immediately, I think of the most memorable Stations of the Cross I have attended on Good Friday. It was the early 1980s in Harrodsburg, Ky. The town had several different churches and was not a heavily populated Catholic town. Through the ministerial association, the town decided to stage the Way of the Cross through the streets of Harrodsburg.

The Way of the Cross began on the steps of the Courthouse and went down the main street, which the police had blocked of. Different stations were enacted in front of the churches. Always I remember the Fourth Station... Jesus meets his Mother. They met in the middle of Main Street. I can still see the glistening tears as they shone in Mary's eyes. I can still hear the profanity from the local bar as we progressed along. The 14th Station the last one was enacted at St. Andrew Catholic Church. We entered and listened to a profound reading: I was there... the story of the man who hammered the nails into Jesus' hands. This was read by the local Baptist Minister. Listening and hearing the driven nails was an experience imprinted on my mind forever.

Mel Gibson's structurally correct 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ follows the Stations of the Cross and has indeed made much of society more familiar with the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Of all the pious exercises connected with the veneration of the cross, none is more popular among the faithful than the Way of the Cross.

Historically, devotion to the Way of the Cross became very popular in the Middle Ages. The piety of the day focused on the suffering Christ. It tended to be morose. Jesus, battered and bloodied, seemed to hold center stage. The devotions centered on the wounds, the blood, the falls and the last words.

Having a deep desire to join in these devotions, many of the wealthy joined in spiritual pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Wanting to share this experience with others, the pilgrims brought back "parts of Palestine," also replicas of the sacred sites. Over time in re-creating the sacred way the stops may have been from five to 42.

When the Franciscans gained custody of the sacred sites of Jerusalem in 1343, they began to promote devotion to the passion. And for many, many years, only the Franciscans could erect the Stations of the Cross. In other words... at that time, if we at Sacred Heart Retreat Center wanted the Stations of the Cross in our chapel, we would have asked the Franciscans to erect them. Then the indulgences connected with the Way of the Cross would have been valid.

Many of the traditional incidents portrayed are not scriptural. Thus today we find many different ways of praying the prayers. We have Stations of John XXIII, Stations of John Paul II and Stations of Benedict XVI. Many persons have written the stations focused at a particular group, such as children. Other versions have been composed by those who have devotions to Mary and those greatly concerned with justice issues.

From early church history even to the present, the purpose of the Stations of the Cross has remained the same to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer to the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death.

The Stations are usually a series of 14 sculptures depicting: 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, Jesus is nailed to the cross, Jesus dies on the cross, Jesus' body removed from the cross, Jesus laid in the tomb. Jesus rises from the dead is sometimes used by groups. It is not a traditional one, but finalizes Good Friday.

In the Catholic churches throughout the Diocese of Gallup on the Friday nights of Lent, you probably could stop in and find people walking the way of the cross. On Good Friday, throughout the state of New Mexico, people will be walking miles in memory of the death of Jesus Christ.

You are invited to stop by Sacred Heart Retreat Center and walk the Stations outside, to the left of the labyrinth... or you may walk them inside the Chapel. I encourage you during Lent, if you are Christian, to make the time to walk and to reflect upon the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

Sister Mary Matthias Ward is the director of the Sacred Heart Retreat Center. She can be contacted at smmward@cnetco.com.

This column is the result of a desire by community members, representing different faith communities, to share their ideas about bringing a spiritual perspective into our daily lives and community issues.

For information about contributing a guest column, contact Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola at the Independent: (505) 863-8611, ext. 218 or lizreligion01@yahoo.com.