Liturgical Moment of the Week: Stations of the Cross

By Fr. Brian+

C.S. Lewis wrote that an object may be used to stimulate or liberate certain activities in the worshiper. That’s how we participate in the Stations of the Cross.  Also referred to as the Way of the Cross, Stations (as I’ll refer to it here) is an act of worship Grace Church provides each Holy Week.

This year, Stations will be on Good Friday, April 18th, at 6 PM.

You can find references to the Stations as early as the second century, but it really began to flourish in the Middle Ages - in places such as Germany and the Netherlands - when Christians visited Jerusalem around the time of Resurrection Day. They got in the habit of tracing the supposed route, or way, of Jesus as he was led from Pilate, outside the city, to the cross on the hill called Golgotha. 

Reading Scripture, they marked out places or stations where something happened - Jesus falling; Jesus seeing his Mother Mary; Simon helping him; being nailed to the cross; being placed in the tomb, and so on. There are 14 such stations that commemorate an action that happened.

It’s a moving experience when we conduct the Stations at Grace. We imagine Jesus’ pain, his perseverance, and his dedication in making the journey to the cross. 

Each step Jesus took was a step closer to our freedom. Each time he fell, he got back up for you.

Going through the Stations gives you perspective, hope, and courage. It brings refreshment to your Holy Week journey and a sense of the holiness of God.

Interestingly, the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church enacts Stations in the Colosseum in Rome each Easter. I found this article from the Vatican insightful: https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/ns_lit_doc_via-crucis_en.html

I hope you can make the Stations of the Cross event this year. Bring a heart of worship and I promise you will return home with a fuller sense of Jesus’ undying love for you.