Stations of the Cross

[keri6789]

I’ve read the Stations of the Cross but am still a little confused. When do you do them?? And how? This is my first Easter season with the Catholic religion and I am going thru RCIA so I can’t wait for Easter so I can take my 1st communion as a Catholic and I want to get everything out of the whole experience that I can. Any other suggestions that can help me out during Easter season are very much welcome!

 

[puzzleannie]

the Way of the Cross is a traditional Lenten devotion, and perfect for preparing mind and heart to contemplate Christ’s saving action. The devotion may be prayed at any time of the year, with a devotional guide in private, or at a Church or shrine that has physical “stations” – pictures or sculptures depticting the events of Jesus passion, suffering and death. Some shrines have outdoor stations with a prayer path that make an excellent way to pray this devotion.

Your preparation for Easter sacraments will intensify in Lent and no doubt this and other penitential practices of Lent will be introduced in your RCIA class.

A good place to begin is reading and mediating with any of the Gospel accounts of the Passion, since the purpose of the devotion is to call to mind the Gospel and meditate upon it.

 

[jrabs]

While Easter is the perfect time for the Stations, any time is good. When you visit your church, you can do the stations after mass, before mass, Adoration, or when you make a quiet visit to church.

If you are an able bodied person, you should be moving along with the stations, praying and contemplating at each - meaning not staying in your pew and simply reflecting on the stations in your mind. You should be moving from one to the next.

 

[Serene]

I love saying the Stations of the Cross and know that you enjoy them as well. There is a pamplet you can buy “St. Faustin’s Way of the Cross” (meditations and prayers based on Holy Scrpture and St. Faustin’s Diary). It follows the same Stations that are on the plaques in church. You can also purchase “The Chaplet of the way of the Cross”. It should come with instructions. Pope John Paul II’s Stations of the Cross are a little different and they are as follows:
The First Station: Jesus’ agony in the garden
The Second Station: Jesus is betrayed by Judas and is arrested
The Third Station: Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin
The Fourth Station: Jesus is denied by Peter
The Fifth Station: Jesus is condemned by Pontius Pilate
The Sixth Station: Jesus is scourged and crowned with throns
The Seventh Station: Jesus is made to carry the cross
The Eighth Station: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross
The Ninth Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
The Tenth Station: Jesus is nailed to the Cross
The Eleventh Station: Jesus promises paradise to the repentant thief
The Twelfth Station: Jesus speaks to John and Mary from the Cross
The Thirteenth Station: Jesus dies on the Cross
The Fourteenth Station: Jesus is laid in the tomb

I don’t know if you have seen the movie “The Passion of Christ” if not you should really see it. When I said the Stations of the Cross or the Sorrowful Mystries of the Blessed Rosary before I saw the movie; I truly did not understand everything Our Savior went through for us. I have a much deeper understanding of His suffering now although, I am sure that it still does not come close to the suffering He did for us.

 

[water]

Normally, we pray the Station of the Cross on Friday. However, most of the days through out the year, you can mediate on that too.

It is very hepful.