Stations of the Cross, how to

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I am in RCIA. One of the helpers there suggested Stations of the Cross, and a little booklet called Everybody’s Way of the Cross, which has simple meditations for each station. I was just wondering, are there certain prayers you pray at each station, or is it just that you do a meditation from various books at each station? Is there a link to a how to for those of us who have never seen it done before?
 
Every parish should have the stations. You follow them in succession while meditating on the prayers. Here is an audio version :

m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoIUsTetlL0

Retreat centers also have the stations, I have seen them at Catholic summer camps. You can also just do the prayers where ever you are. There are certain graces/indulgences I believe for praying the stations. In olden days it was called praying the way of the cross.
 
Jennifer132 said:
I am in RCIA. One of the helpers there suggested Stations of the Cross, and a little booklet called Everybody’s Way of the Cross, which has simple meditations for each station. I was just wondering, are there certain prayers you pray at each station, or is it just that you do a meditation from various books at each station? Is there a link to a how to for those of us who have never seen it done before?
Click to expand...

Traditional Stations Of The Cross​


  1. *]Jesus is condemned to death
    *]Jesus carries his cross
    *]Jesus falls the first time
    *]Jesus meets his mother
    *]Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross
    *]Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
    *]Jesus falls the second time
    *]Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
    *]Jesus falls the third time
    *]Jesus is stripped of his garments
    *]Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
    *]Jesus dies on the cross
    *]Jesus is taken down from the cross (Deposition or Lamentation)
    *]Jesus is laid in the tomb.
    *]Jesus rises from the dead

    The Seven Dolors or the Seven Sorrows includes four of the Stations of the Cross and three other times:

    1. *]The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35)
      *]The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13)
      *]The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:43-45)
      *]Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary
      *]Jesus Dies on the Cross (John 19:25)
      *]Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in Her Arms (Matthew 27:57-59)
      *]The Body of Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb (John 19:40-42)

      1991 Scriptural Stations Of The Cross​


      1. *]Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
        *]Jesus, Betrayed by Judas, is Arrested
        *]Jesus is Condemned by the Sanhedrin
        *]Jesus is Denied by Peter
        *]Jesus is Judged by Pilate
        *]Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns
        *]Jesus Bears the Cross
        *]Jesus is Helped by Simon the Cyrenian to Carry the Cross
        *]Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
        *]Jesus is Crucified
        *]Jesus Promises His Kingdom to the Good Thief
        *]Jesus Speaks to His Mother and the Disciple
        *]Jesus Dies on the Cross
        *]Jesus is Placed in the Tomb

        New Way of the Cross from the Philippines​


        1. *]The Last Supper
          *]The Agony in the Garden
          *]Jesus before the Sanhedrin
          *]The Scourging and Crowning with Thorns
          *]Jesus Receives the Cross
          *]Jesus Falls under the Weight of the Cross
          *]Jesus is Helped by Simon of Cyrene
          *]Jesus Meets the Pious Women of Jerusalem
          *]Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross
          *]Jesus and the Repentant Thief
          *]Mary and John at the Foot of the Cross
          *]Jesus Dies on the Cross
          *]Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
          *]Jesus Rises from Death
 
Jennifer132 said:
I am in RCIA. One of the helpers there suggested Stations of the Cross, and a little booklet called Everybody’s Way of the Cross, which has simple meditations for each station. I was just wondering, are there certain prayers you pray at each station, or is it just that you do a meditation from various books at each station? Is there a link to a how to for those of us who have never seen it done before?
Click to expand...
This is from the Enchiridion of Indulgences, which is from the Holy See and articulates what is to be done for various pious exercises of the spiritual life. These guidelines might be helpful to show you that there are broad latitudes regarding this devotion

There are various formulas found in various Catholic prayer books but, ultimately, you may choose to do this devotion in other ways, as articulated in the parts I have bolded.
63. Exercise of the Way of the Cross (Viae Crucis exercitium)

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful, who make the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross.

In the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross we recall anew the sufferings, which the divine Redeemer endured, while going from the praetorium of Pilate, where he was condemned to death, to the mount of Calvary, where he died on the cross for our salvation.

The gaining of the plenary indulgence is regulated by the following norms: ;
  1. The pious exercise must be made before stations of the Way of the Cross legitimately erected.
  2. For the erection of the Way of the Cross fourteen crosses are required, to which it is customary to add fourteen pictures or images, which represent the stations of Jerusalem.
  3. According to the more common practice, the pious exercise consists of fourteen pious readings, to which some vocal prayers are added. However, nothing more is required than a pious meditation on the Passion and Death of the Lord, which need not be a particular consideration of the individual mysteries of the stations.
  4. A movement from one station to the next is required.
But if the pious exercise is made publicly and if it is not possible for all taking part to go in an orderly way from station to station, it suffices if at least the one conducting the exercise goes from station to station, the others remaining in their place.

Those who are “impeded” can gain the same indulgence, if they spend at least one half an hour in pious reading and meditation on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ.*

For those belonging to Oriental rites, amongst whom this pious exercise is not practiced, the respective Patriarchs can determine some other pious exercise in memory of the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ for the gaining of this indulgence.
*This is changed in the 4th edition of the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, which I don’t have available in English translation. I use it in Latin, personally. The grant there reads:
5. Legitime impediti eamdem indulgentiam acquirere poterunt, si piae lectioni et meditationi Passionis et Mortis Domini nostri Iesu Christi saltem per aliquod tempus, e.g. per horae quadrantem, incubuerint.
In sum: The grant now for those who are impeded from making this pious exercise in a church or oratory does not specify 30 minutes, as in the 3rd edition cited above; rather, it is for some period of time, for example 15 minutes.
 
Here you will find a set of meditations and prayers from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops which are a scriptural Way of the Cross

usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/stations-of-the-cross/scriptural-stations-of-the-cross.cfm

Here you will find meditations and prayers written by the late Mother Angelica, foundress of the EWTN Catholic Television Network

ewtn.com/Devotionals/Stations/face.htm

Here are meditations and prayers that were composed by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger just weeks before he was elected to succeed to Pope John Paul II as Pope Benedict XVI.

adoremus.org/Ratzinger_Stations.html

As I said, there are many texts available. One find particular sets one finds meaningful and enriching and use those or one may do them according to one’s own personal reflection and prayer.

As for the actual locomotion, one prays before each station. Depending upon where they are placed in the church, this may mean moving from station to station down the side aisles or up and down the central aisle. I am of an age now that I use the pews as a brace or else sit in the pew as I make the meditation. The norm is to stand.

As they are typically placed, you will have walked in a loop round the inside of the church as they are placed in sequential order (1-14 or 1-15) along the length wise aisles of the nave, sometimes also needing to place two or more along the back wall near the narthex/vestibule.

One often genuflects at each station saying the aspiration “We adore You [Thee], O Christ, and we praise You [bless Thee]…for by Your [Thy] Holy Cross You have [Thou hast] redeemed the world”…this is a traditional custom but it is not required. Obviously, one may say it in modern or, as bracketed, the older English, as your tastes prefer.
 
Vico said:
Code: 
Traditional

Stations Of The Cross​


  1. *]Jesus is condemned to death
    *]Jesus carries his cross
    *]Jesus falls the first time
    *]Jesus meets his mother
    *]Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross
    *]Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
    *]Jesus falls the second time
    *]Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
    *]Jesus falls the third time
    *]Jesus is stripped of his garments
    *]Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
    *]Jesus dies on the cross
    *]Jesus is taken down from the cross (Deposition or Lamentation)
    *]Jesus is laid in the tomb.
    *]-]Jesus rises from the dead/-]
Click to expand...

  1. Traditionally, there are Fourteen, not fifteen, Stations of the Cross. In recent time it has become not uncommon to “add” a fifteenth station, as some sort of attempt to be less gloomy (I presume :twocents: ).
    (Though none is included in any of the formulae suggested by [user]Don Ruggero[/user])

    A very traditional Way of the Cross is attributed to St Alphonsus Liguori.

    tee
 
tee_eff_em said:
Traditionally, there are Fourteen, not fifteen, Stations of the Cross. In recent time it has become not uncommon to “add” a fifteenth station, as some sort of attempt to be less gloomy (I presume :twocents: ).
(Though none is included in any of the formulae suggested by [user]Don Ruggero[/user])

A very traditional Way of the Cross is attributed to St Alphonsus Liguori.

tee
Click to expand...
Also there have been variations in the first station:
1a. Jesus takes leave of his Mother
1b. The Washing of the Feet
1c. The Agony in Gethsemane
1d. Jesus in the Praetorium of Pilate

Yes, the Resurrection meditation (as done by St. Pope John Paul II, Good Friday 2000) is really part of station XIV, shown below:

Very soon this tomb will become the first proclamation of praise and exaltation of the Son of God in the glory of the Father.
“He was crucified, died and was buried,. . . on the third day he rose from the dead”.
Once the lifeless body of Jesus is laid in the tomb, at the foot of Golgotha, the Church begins the vigil of Holy Saturday.
In the depths of her heart, Mary stores and ponders the Passion of her Son;
the women agree to meet on the morning of the day after the Sabbath, in order to anoint Christ’s body with aromatic ointments;
the disciples gather in the seclusion of the Upper Room, waiting for the Sabbath to pass.
This vigil will end with the meeting at the tomb, the empty tomb of the Saviour.
Then the tomb, the silent witness of the Resurrection, will speak.
The stone rolled back, the inner chamber empty, the cloths on the ground,
this will be what John sees when he comes to the tomb with Peter:

“He saw and he believed” (Jn 20:8).
And with him the Church believed,
and from that moment she never grows weary of communicating to the world this fundamental truth of her faith:
“Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20).
The empty tomb is the sign of the definitive victory
of truth over falsehood,
of good over evil,
of mercy over sin,
of life over death.
The empty tomb is the sign of the hope which “does not deceive” (Rom 5:5).
“[Our] hope is full of immortality” (cf. Wis 3:4).

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
you were drawn by the Father
from the darkness of death
to the light of a new life in glory.
Grant that the sign of the empty tomb
may speak to us and to future generations
and become a wellspring of living faith,
generous love,
and unshakeable hope.
To you, O Jesus, whose presence, hidden and victorious,
fills the history of the world,
be honour and glory for ever and ever.

R. Amen.
 
Jennifer132 said:
I am in RCIA. One of the helpers there suggested Stations of the Cross, and a little booklet called Everybody’s Way of the Cross, which has simple meditations for each station. I was just wondering, are there certain prayers you pray at each station, or is it just that you do a meditation from various books at each station? Is there a link to a how to for those of us who have never seen it done before?
Click to expand...
Some Catholic traditions can be overwhelming when everyone chimes in. Read the bolded response from Don Ruggero in post #4. Like Don says, in post #5, there are locomotions to follow (simply walking from station to station in order, if your able) and meditation, that doesn’t need to be from a book, on each station.

I perfer to let the Holy Spirit speak to me in mediation rather than read meditations from a book.
 
OP here: so from what I’m gathering there are no official prayers attached to the Stations-they can said in a variety of ways and consist of meditations for each station and prayers from whatever resource you are using at the time?

If I want to do them at home, must I move from station to station, or can I just put the images in a book (like a photo book and go from page to page? We do have them at church, but we are rural, and I could not do them daily if I had to go there to do them.
 
Jennifer132 said:
OP here: so from what I’m gathering there are no official prayers attached to the Stations-they can said in a variety of ways and consist of meditations for each station and prayers from whatever resource you are using at the time?
Click to expand...
You are correct. There are no official prayers attached to the Stations. You are free to use those created by others, choosing what is most meaningful to you. Or to simply reflect and pray from your own thoughts.

Having done the Way of the Cross for so many years – it is a beloved devotion of mine – I seldom use the writings of others at this point. I just walk the way with the Lord. I have the writings I have read over the many years at hand in my head and in my memory and in my heart…they come easily now. When one is new to the devotion, the structure and the writings of others can be a tremendous help, assuredly.

As I quoted from the Enchiridion, the essence of the devotion is the contemplation of the Lord’s passion and death. You do not even have to contemplate the aspect depicted in the Station as you move from Station to Station, as the directive I quoted above states.

As but one example, you could walk the Way of the Cross, stopping at each station, as you internally consider the Lord’s journey from, let us say, the Last Supper to the Garden of Gethsemani, His agony and arrest there, to the house of Caiaphas, to the Praetorium and His encounters with Pilate as well as His scoring scourging, crowning with thorns, and condemnation, then the road to Calvary He walked, His Crucifixion, death, burial and, if you choose, His Resurrection.
If I want to do them at home, must I move from station to station, or can I just put the images in a book (like a photo book and go from page to page? We do have them at church, but we are rural, and I could not do them daily if I had to go there to do them.
Click to expand...
No. In your home, you won’t have stations that have been erected by ecclesiastical authority with which to go from one to the other. You would be using the provision for those “impeded” as I posted above. You can certainly do what you suggest and put images in a book that you use, precisely as you propose.

As the Enchiridion says, you can do pious readings and meditations…you can use at home one of the sets of prayers you find, for example; you could look at images of the Passion or pictures of the stations you have in mind as an aid as you think about the Lord in His Passion and reflect upon it. You could also read the Passion account in one of the Gospels, letting your pauses to consider what you read constitute a “station”.

It is worth saying that the Way of the Cross is a devotion which allows those around the world to take a sort of virtual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There, along the route from the Praetorium to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, are “stations,” places associated in one way or another with the events of the journey of Jesus to Calvary and to the tomb, that pilgrims can visit. Most, of course, can not go to Jerusalem and so this devotion came into being.

These sacred places/locations are represented in our churches by these miniature stations, typically affixed to the wall, so that one can reproduce in a symbolic way the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and walking in the footsteps of Our Lord.

The devotion, for those who cannot get to where stations are erected, has been made even simpler so that they can complete this spiritual exercise in their homes or hospital rooms or military barrack.

As I wrote in the post above, the new edition of the Enchiridion does not offer a set period of time now for those wishing to do this devotion when they cannot get to a church, chapel or oratory. It suggests 15 minutes as reasonable. If you can do more, that is great but you can adjust the time to what is possible.

I remember the days, decades ago, when the sick and others who were impeded would receive a specially blessed crucifix. This was in the days of reserved blessings and not all of us who were priests had the faculty to give all blessings. With this specially blessed crucifix, the faithful could complete the Way of the Cross devotion by praying 14 Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Bes (one for each station), add five more of each (one for each of the Five Wounds) and lastly add one more of each for intentions of the Pope. I still have a couple of those crucifixes, after all these decades.

When the Enchiridion was issued after Vatican II, there was a desire to move away from the need for specially blessed objects, as it over-emphasised the objects of piety in a way that could be unhealthy; the emphasis was instead on the person and their prayer and devotion rather than the need to possess some object to accomplish the devotion. Which is why now the impeded can complete the devotion without recourse to anything more than their prayer and meditation…without need for images or objects of piety – although, certainly, they can use pictures or a Crucifix if that helps with their prayer and their meditation.

Does this help?
 
Don_Ruggero said:
This is from the Enchiridion of Indulgences, which is from the Holy See and articulates what is to be done for various pious exercises of the spiritual life. These guidelines might be helpful to show you that there are broad latitudes regarding this devotion

There are various formulas found in various Catholic prayer books but, ultimately, you may choose to do this devotion in other ways, as articulated in the parts I have bolded.
63. Exercise of the Way of the Cross (Viae Crucis exercitium)

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful, who make the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross.

In the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross we recall anew the sufferings, which the divine Redeemer endured, while going from the praetorium of Pilate, where he was condemned to death, to the mount of Calvary, where he died on the cross for our salvation.

The gaining of the plenary indulgence is regulated by the following norms: ;
  1. The pious exercise must be made before stations of the Way of the Cross legitimately erected.
  2. For the erection of the Way of the Cross fourteen crosses are required, to which it is customary to add fourteen pictures or images, which represent the stations of Jerusalem.
  3. According to the more common practice, the pious exercise consists of fourteen pious readings, to which some vocal prayers are added. However, nothing more is required than a pious meditation on the Passion and Death of the Lord, which need not be a particular consideration of the individual mysteries of the stations.
  4. A movement from one station to the next is required.
But if the pious exercise is made publicly and if it is not possible for all taking part to go in an orderly way from station to station, it suffices if at least the one conducting the exercise goes from station to station, the others remaining in their place.

Those who are “impeded” can gain the same indulgence, if they spend at least one half an hour in pious reading and meditation on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ.*

For those belonging to Oriental rites, amongst whom this pious exercise is not practiced, the respective Patriarchs can determine some other pious exercise in memory of the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ for the gaining of this indulgence.
*This is changed in the 4th edition of the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, which I don’t have available in English translation. I use it in Latin, personally. The grant there reads:
5. Legitime impediti eamdem indulgentiam acquirere poterunt, si piae lectioni et meditationi Passionis et Mortis Domini nostri Iesu Christi saltem per aliquod tempus, e.g. per horae quadrantem, incubuerint.
In sum: The grant now for those who are impeded from making this pious exercise in a church or oratory does not specify 30 minutes, as in the 3rd edition cited above; rather, it is for some period of time, for example 15 minutes.
Click to expand...
Since the third edition was superseded by the fourth edition in 1999, as you mention, which entirely replaces it, I am posting the current concession 13:

13 - In Memory of the Passion and Death of the Lord.

**A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who
  1. devoutly assist at the adoration of the Cross in the solemn liturgical action of Good Friday; or
  2. personally make the pious Way of the Cross, or devoutly unite themselves to the way of the Cross while it is being led by the Supreme Pontiff and broadcast live on television or radio.**
    In the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross, we recall anew the sufferings which our divine Redeemer endured while going from the praetorium of Pilate, where he was condemned to death, to Mount Calvary, where he died on the cross for our salvation.
Regarding the acquisition of the plenary indulgence, the following is prescribed:
  1. ]The pious exercise must be made before stations of the Way of the Cross legitimately erected.]To erect the Way of the Cross, fourteen crosses are needed, to which it is necessary to attach a picture or image representing the fourteen stations of Jerusalem.]According to common custom, the pious exercise consists of fourteen devotional readings, to which some vocal prayers are added. To make the Way of the Cross, however, it is sufficient to meditate devoutly on the Lord’s Passion and Death, and therefore reflection on the particular mysteries of the individual stations is not necessary.]Progression from one station to the next is required. If the pious exercise is made publicly, and moving from station to station by all participants is not possible without inconvenience, it is sufficient that at least the one conducting the Way of the Cross progress from station to station, while the others remain in their place.]Those legitimately impeded can acquire the same indulgence, if they spend some time, e.g., at least a quarter of an hour, in reading and meditation on the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.]Equivalent to the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross, even with regard to obtaining the indulgence, are other pious exercises, approved by competent authority, which call to mind the memory of hte Passion and Death of our Lord, likewise with the prescribed fourteen stations.*]For those belonging to the Eastern Churches, where this pious exercise may not exist, the indulgence can be acquired by means of some other pious exercise in memory of the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ, accordingly as each patriarch has established for his own faithful.
 
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