Just a suggestion, and perhaps it’s not timely, since Lent is more than half-way over. But perhaps this will be helpful to some.
You might want to call the parish and ask about Stations, especially if there is a parish school. At our parish, Stations are done twice a day on Friday, and they are usually quite simple and poignant.
But at least one of the Fridays is used by the parish school to present “Living Stations of the Cross.”
It’s very pretty and touching.
But it’s also absolutely packed, crammed-full, standing room only, a bigger crowd than the Christmas program, with parents and their cameras.
As a pianist for many children’s choirs and children’s groups, I absolutely love children’s programs.
But I have to admit that this did not sit well with me several years ago when I first attended, and I apologize for my close-mindedness. But I feel that it’s one thing to celebrate and take pictures of a joyous occasion like Jesus’ birth at Christmas time–a little rowdiness seems quite appropriate!
But it just didn’t seem appropriate to me to have such a jolly crowd on hand for the journey of the Lord Jesus to the cross, and to see cameras popping every few seconds.
Of course, I could be judging out of ignorance. I last attended these living stations several years ago. It could well be that since the pastor is different now than when I first saw this, perhaps changes have been made, and parents and relatives have been sternly forbidden to bring in cameras, including cell phone cameras, and sternly reminded to remember the solemn occasion and sit or stand quietly throughout the presentation…
I know that if I were directing the Living Stations with children, I would probably do a dress rehearsal somewhere other than the nave, and I would ask the parents and grandparents to please come to that rehearsal to take pictures, so that the solemnity of the actual presentation in the nave could be preserved.
Anyway, this is why I suggest calling a parish before attending. There could be something unusual with a particular presentation of the Stations of the Cross, something unique to that parish, and it would be good to know this before walking into it.
