Stations of the Cross

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That’s one possibility, although I’m more used to the Franciscan stations. Also, I prefer to use both visual images and written meditations. I have also used the mp3 stations from Rosary Army while driving or doing other work that prevented me from reading. These are based on the Scriptural stations from Pope John Paul II that you referenced above.
 
regression said:
Hi, just wondering if anyone prays the Stations of the Cross privately in your home? If so, how do you do it? Would you read the following:

usccb.org/nab/stations.htm
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I’ve read the web page, and I have heard of these before. It’s an alternate version of the Stations.

A little history to put things into perspective.

The stations began as early as Apostolic times, when people would walk the route which Christ walked through Jerusalem, meditating at the places where significant events of the Passion occured. This practice grew and developed over time. It became a very popular form of prayer for pilgrims visiting Jerusalem. When the Moslems invaded Jerusalem and began the persecution of Christianity, it became more and more difficult and outright dangerous for people to make the journey from Europe to walk the Stations, and the custom developed of putting images of the events/places in their own local churches.

Eventually, the custom developed of the 14 “standard” stations which we have today. Of course it’s obvious that the Passion was more than just what we see in these 14 Stations, and the version done by Pope John Paul II incorporates those other events (like the Agony in the Garden, and Christ speaking to Mary and John from the cross).

The 14 Stations which we have now became more or less the norm by sometime in the 18th century. One of the popes at that time in fact made these the standard (although the details escape me at the moment).

While we have a traditional, somewhat “standard” way of praying the Stations, there is no right or wrong way to do so. However, we have to keep in mind 2 principles. The first is that the Stations are a meditation on the Passion itself–the suffering which Christ endured (not the Resurrection, or other events of His time on earth), and that they are a meditation on Christ, not a meditation on ourselves and our own lives (of course, we relate our lives to that of Christ). I’ve seen so-called Stations which speak more about modern-day issues and have little to say about Christ’s Passion–these I do not recommend.

We may pray the Stations anytime and anyplace (although I would discourage doing so during Pascaltide for obvious reasons). They can be done privately, or as a group or a parish liturgical event.

If you would like to pray them at home I would recommend getting a booklet so that you have the images of the Passion for visual meditation and the accompanying prayers on the same page. The version by St Alphonsus Liguori is the most popular (and with good reason). Of course, if the version you found online speaks to you, by all means you can do that.
 
Thanks to both of you for your replies. I did find some on the web with images, so I will use those.
 
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