St Veronica & the Falls Of Jesus Removed From Way of Sorrows

[Balance]

Those are just attached comments from people who responded to the article, and have nothing to do with the article itself. Why even bother to post them?

Because you posted a link to them. Any part of any link posted would be up for discussion wouldn’t it. Because you didn’t really give us any of your own thoughts in your OP, I picked up on what stood out for me.

And because I disagreed with them, and with the tone of your post, and with the second post.

 

[dulcissima]

I think I will always use the traditional stations of the cross. St. Veronica has always been a big inspiration to me, and I can’t tell you how many times I have prayed after confession and thought about Jesus falling under the weight of the cross.

 

[paramedicgirl]

Because you posted a link to them. Any part of any link posted would be up for discussion wouldn’t it. Because you didn’t really give us any of your own thoughts in your OP, I picked up on what stood out for me.

And because I disagreed with them, and with the tone of your post, and with the second post.

Actually, Balance, let’s have some balance here. The comments are extraneous to the article, and I wasn’t able to delete them. They are not relevant to this discussion, because those people are not here to discuss or defend their comments.

I am sorry if you don’t like the tone of my first post. It seems pretty innocuous to me. You seem to be out for an argument and I’m not playing your game.

 

[Balance]

Actually, Balance, let’s have some balance here. The comments are extraneous to the article, and I wasn’t able to delete them. They are not relevant to this discussion, because those people are not here to discuss or defend their comments.

Neither is the Pope, or the writer of The Times article, or Monsignor Ravasi.

 

[tcraig]

From Amy Welborn’s blog Open Book:

The particular structure of the Stations used last night were first used in 1991 by Pope John Paul II and were used 1994, 1995, 1997, in 2002 and 2004 as well.

And I’d say that the existence of JPII’s Biblical stations has not exactly been a state secret over the past 16 years, either. There are several published versions of them, you know.

Not that John Paul II Biblical Stations of the Cross were uncontroversial - not quite as upsetting to some as the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, but still, there were (as there are bound to be) naysayers.

So for the major Vatican writer of a major international paper to frame this story in this way, claiming that this is a) new and something b) Benedict did when c) he neither framed the structure of these Stations or even wrote the meditations…is amazingly irresponsible. Amazing, as such things always are, but not surprising.

It’s possible - at least it seems to me - that Pope Benedict was using these particular Stations as a way to pay homage to our previous, much-loved pontiff.

 

[nice]

WHAT!! Thats like changing the Rosary! Thats - Thats like changing the Mass! O wait …

 

[TNT]

What’s the history of the Stations of the Cross, the Way of the Cross?
How did it develop over 2000 years to how we know it today?
What different forms has this devotion taken over that time?

The point being this: the devotion didn’t fall from the sky, written on a stone tablet, and now the Vatican is changing it willy-nilly… which is what you seem to be suggesting.

No one said will-nilly. Revolutionaries ALWAYS have a serious reason.
To wit:
To destroy a Religion, you must first sever its traditions.

 

[TNT]

…
Which is the most pious form of the Way of the Cross? The one that they used in the fourth century? In the tenth? In the sixteenth? The one many Catholics use in the Phillipines, or the one Catholics in the States use; the one with fourteen Stations or the one with fifteen; the way a person prays on their own or the one a group of people prays?

Answer:
“the one Catholics in the States use; the one with fourteen Stations…”
and:
“the one a group of people prays”.

I FINALLY got 100% on a quiz.

 

[TNT]

I was hearing about this back in 1999 - I think it’s been in the works for quite a while. I was under the impression that Pope John Paul II had initiated a “bible only” Stations of the Cross at one point, although I never did see any details on that.

“the Bible Only, and ONLY the Bible!”

I heard that somewhere…

 

[childofmary1143]

“the Bible Only, and ONLY the Bible!”

I heard that somewhere…

This is what disturbs me most of all. It seems to be ignoring Sacred Tradition and that is what separates us from the Protestants

 

[JKirkLVNV]

Is the Pope changing the way the CHURCH prays the stations of the Cross or was this simply a change in the stations that he lead the prayers for on this past Good Friday?

I don’t think we should panic if it’s the latter.

 

[TNT]

Even a quick internet search shows how the Way of the Cross has developed or changed over the years:

newadvent.org/cathen/15569a.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stations_of_the_Cross

A very simple way this is shown is in how we can see that many churches in recent times add a fifteenth Station - the Resurrection - to the fourteen.

I like that…adding the RESURRECTION to the Way of Sorrows… Yes indeed.
Keep stirrin them metaphors.

 

[childofmary1143]

Is the Pope changing the way the CHURCH prays the stations of the Cross or was this simply a change in the stations that he lead the prayers for on this past Good Friday?

I don’t think we should panic if it’s the latter.

That is an excellent question JKirk. But I wonder though, if everybody sees that the Pope is doing those Stations of the Cross, if they will not follow him too in that. One wonders if the churches that do have the traditional Way of the Cross, if they will replace those with the new ones?

 

[maryalene]

I don’t think this is unheard of. JP II had a “Mary’s Way of the Cross” that our local retreat house uses. Although I dearly love our previous Pontiff, I am not real fond of it. I would assume that these new stations will be picked up by some people and churches but the majority will stick to the traditional stations.

 

[paramedicgirl]

Answer:
“the one Catholics in the States use; the one with fourteen Stations…”
and:
“the one a group of people prays”.

I FINALLY got 100% on a quiz.

There’ll be more quizzes later, though.

 

[paramedicgirl]

Is the Pope changing the way the CHURCH prays the stations of the Cross or was this simply a change in the stations that he lead the prayers for on this past Good Friday?

I don’t think we should panic if it’s the latter.

The article is a little unclear on that. I was wondering that, too.

 

[paramedicgirl]

That is an excellent question JKirk. But I wonder though, if everybody sees that the Pope is doing those Stations of the Cross, if they will not follow him too in that. One wonders if the churches that do have the traditional Way of the Cross, if they will replace those with the new ones?

My thoughts as well.

 

[Jennifer_J]

Lots of anger in this thread for no apparent reason. These same types of meditations have been around for awhile (1991 and perhaps even before?) and no one has insisted that they change the devotion on a wide scale before, why would that change now? This is much ado about nothing, since it’s been done before without any calamity, weakening of the faith or anything else.

Jennifer

 

[Genesis315]

Here’s a good history of the Stations including examples of different methods the Church has used.

newadvent.org/cathen/15569a.htm

Likewise, I always find it interesting that “traditionalists” get soooo up in arms about the Luminous mysteries. Anyone who has read St. Pius X’s encyclical and syllabus condemning the errors of modernism (and is familiar with certain neo-Modernist errors concerning the Church and the Kingdom of God) will see that the Luminous mysteries are each direct counters to the chief modernist errors.

 

[JKirkLVNV]

I think most parishes are not going to ditch the stations that they have (they aren’t cheap) everytime a preacher to the papal household or a retreat master, etc., offers a particular emphasis that might differ from the standard form. I don’t think we have to worry about St. Veroncia.