Stations of the Cross-I'm so disappointed

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Ok…I am so disappointed. I haven’t been to the Stations of the Cross in over 10 years. So here I am looking forward to Lent because I loved the Stations of the Cross when I was in elementary school (a Catholic school). I guess now every church has a different version of the Stations of the Cross. So far the two that I went don’t have the St Augustinian one. The first church I went to they sang an old gospel song…which is beautiful but not appropriate I think (that’s just my opinion) and just reflections, the prayers after each station…The Our Father, The Hail Mary & Glory Be and that beautiful song were all omitted. However we all did the genuflection and said the other prayer…We Adore Thee O Christ and we Praise Thee… So I figure I’ll go to another parish last night, we said the prayers The Our Father, The Hail Mary & The Glory Be…but we were pretty much on our own for the genuflection…The other thing that really bothered me was that the meditations were Jesus talking to us and using the phrase “the other Me” meaning us. That just struck me as New Age and it was approved with the Nihil Obstat and really bore no resemblence at all to the Stations of the Cross.
Ok…I just needed to lament a bit.
 
I was in a church today with particularly lovely stations. I had my little book “The Way of the Cross” composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori and so, all alone, I prayed them. It was different than the usual experience with a priest leading and others being there, but was very satisfying none the less, going from station to station and having Jesus, Mary, and even the tormentor’s of Christ, relate just to “me.”

"At the cross her station keeping
Stood the mournful Mother weeping
Close to Jesus to the last . . . "
 
Lainey63 said:
…The other thing that really bothered me was that the meditations were Jesus talking to us and using the phrase “the other Me” meaning us. That just struck me as New Age…
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I think they were probably using Everyman’s Way of the Cross, which does use the phrase “my other self” quite a bit. It is not new age, it is just a literary device intended to help the reader apply the Stations to the circumstances of his own life. Not unlike asking oneself “what would Jesus do”, and using the Stations as the basis for answering the question. It’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s nothing to be afraid of.
 
at our parish we have been doing the children’s stations of the cross followed by benediction it’s been so wonderful to have benediction as the last time it was available was 9 years ago
 
Lainey63 said:
Ok…I am so disappointed. …Ok…I just needed to lament a bit.
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May I advise you to take this journey by yourself. Find a book or pampflet that you are comfortable with and meditate on the Station of the Crosee Christ alone. This might help you find the peace that you are seeking.
 
Does anyone know if St Liguori’s “Way of the Cross” is available online somewhere? 🙂
 
I obviously did not proof read what I wrote. What I meant to say was. Follow the
Stations of the Cross with Christ alone.

There is much comfort in this beautiful devotion.
 
There are many versions of the Stations. The most popular version is the one written by St. Alphonsus Ligouri. The oldest is the one written by St. Francis which is really not the stations that we know, but a living stations of the cross. If you saw WYD in Sydney, they used a modern version of St. Francis’ version.

I believe that St. Alphonsus was the first to put them on paper, though the tradition was around since the Middle Ages and every city did them differently. Don’t get upset if you see the variety. It was very common in the Church.

If you go to a Franciscan friary you will find that we have published and we use five different versions, four are Franciscan versions and the Ligourian version.

I can see where some people feel more comfortable with the version that they grew up with. It’s understandable.

Fraternally,

JR 🙂
 
I understand your being disappointed. Last year I went to a local parish and they did the JPII version; just not what I’m used to. There were like about three people there and the rest of the parish was over having a fish and chips dinner in the parish center, which I found very distasteful. They could’ve done the dinner afterwards, you know?

This year I went to the trad chapel, a little further off *but so worth it *and I’m going there again next Friday, if at all possible.
 
Tan books also carries the Ligorian stations that were commonly prayed prior to 1967. We use this version in our SSPX chapel where stations are prayed nightly during Lent except for Sundays.

A couple of years ago my wife and I attended stations at a Diocesan church while visiting Annapolis. We were both fairly shocked by the book being used. There were few Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Be’s. But rather, a psalm verse was recited at each station and the contemplation (including the re-written verses of the Stabat Mater) focused more on man’s trials and sufferings than those of Christ and included a 15th station of the Resurrection.

That was enough for me to avoid the Stations in the “Ordinary Rite”.
 
The booklet that we used this past weekend said that there is no required prayer form in practicing the Stations of the Cross. All that is required is that you move from station to station, if possible, and meditate on the meaning of the station.

That congregation (which is my old downtown parish) says the Stations in two languages, alternating Italian and English. This is fine for those of us who understand Italian but may be a stumbling block for others who speak only one of the two languages. Also, since that church was formerly a Protestant church, it is not possible to move from station to station as they are all side by each on the same wall.
 
So far the two that I went don’t have the St Augustinian one.

The Stations of the Cross were unknown in the time of St. Augustine. What do you mean “St. Augustinian one”?

The first church I went to they sang an old gospel song…which is beautiful but not appropriate I think (that’s just my opinion) and just reflections, the prayers after each station…

What old gospel song? If it’s “Were You There when They Crucified My Lord,” why would it not be appropriate.

The Our Father, The Hail Mary & Glory Be and that beautiful song were all omitted.

What beautiful song?

The Stations of the Cross has never been a fixed liturgical service like the Mass, Office, and such are. It has always consisted of “prayers and reflections” about the Passion of Christ. That’s the gist of the devotion.
 
Cluny said:
So far the two that I went don’t have the St Augustinian one.

The Stations of the Cross were unknown in the time of St. Augustine. What do you mean “St. Augustinian one”?

The first church I went to they sang an old gospel song…which is beautiful but not appropriate I think (that’s just my opinion) and just reflections, the prayers after each station…

What old gospel song? If it’s “Were You There when They Crucified My Lord,” why would it not be appropriate.

The Our Father, The Hail Mary & Glory Be and that beautiful song were all omitted.

What beautiful song?

The Stations of the Cross has never been a fixed liturgical service like the Mass, Office, and such are. It has always consisted of “prayers and reflections” about the Passion of Christ. That’s the gist of the devotion.
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Someone pretty much hit it on the head…when they said sometimes we just get attached to the way something was done when we were younger…you don’t have to pick everything apart…jeezzzzz louise:rolleyes: I’m not trying to start any trouble here if ya know what I mean.
 
Lainey63 said:
Someone pretty much hit it on the head…when they said sometimes we just get attached to the way something was done when we were younger…you don’t have to pick everything apart…jeezzzzz louise:rolleyes: I’m not trying to start any trouble here if ya know what I mean.
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The stations of the cross, like the Christmas stable, were made popular by St. Francis of Assisi. There was never any rubric for the Stations. It is not liturgy or a liturgical action. They can be said in any way as long as one meditates on each of the stations.

Francis added the prayer “We adore you Oh Christ and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.” But that was an addition by our holy father, not a formal rubric. The earliest version in the Franciscan archives do not have the Ave Maria or the Gloria. These prayers did exist at the time, but were not in popular use. They became very popular with the introduction of the rosary years later.

The stations were very simple. You approached each station, you had a meditation either read from scripture or spoken by someone and you said the “Adoramus te”

There were so many versions on this theme that Alphonsus Ligouri wrote a form for his parishioners and later his diocese so that everyone was on the same sheet of music. This is the form that many people remember.

The stations as Francis promoted them were not prayed inside a Church. They were living stations, much as the ones that Pope John Paul II reintroduced to World Youth Days.

The same goes for the Christmas pageant at mass. There was no stable in the churches. They had the Christmas crib long before Francis. He introduced the whole pageant in a dramatic form. Later the pageant was replaced by the full Christmas manger with all the statues etc. The original was a simple crib with Mary, Joseph and the infant.

You can say any form of the stations or create your own as long as you have the 14 stations. In the 20th century the Franciscans added a 15th station, the Resurrection. This too is optional, though it is used in Franciscan parishes and other communities.

Br. Edwin Dortzwiller, OFM Cap.wrote about 12 different forms for the Stations of the Cross between 1970 and 1982. They are still circulating today.

Rest comfortably. You can be very flexible with the stations as long as you meditate on the Paschal mystery.

Fraternally,

JR 🙂
 
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