Stations with lay readers

[CyrilSebastian]

I attended a Stations of the Cross service which included the local priest and two lay readers. The priest would announce the title of each Station and declare, “We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.”
The two readers alternated the Scripture readings usually read by the priest.
Father read the other priestly prayers and all the parts assigned in the Fifteenth Station.
Have you attended such a Stations service?

 

[peter26]

In my parish, Father took the stations the first week and then various laymen each took a turn in leading it in full. I took the second week and sung the Stabat Mater in Latin.

 

[pianistclare]

We ave 5 Deacons.
They each are taking a week.

 

[7_Sorrows]

our priest attended the first Stations of the Cross and the deacons did the following Fridays except last night a deacon did not show up so a parishoner led the Stations.

 

[commenter]

I attended a Stations of the Cross service which included the local priest and two lay readers. The priest would announce the title of each Station and declare, “We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You.”
The two readers alternated the Scripture readings usually read by the priest.
Father read the other priestly prayers and all the parts assigned in the** Fifteenth Station. **
Have you attended such a Stations service?

Yes.
The part I have a problem with is the so-called Fifteenth Station. This is like playing Christmas music all through Advent.

I have heard the justification. Supposedly the 14 Stations are meaningless unless understood in the context of the Resurrection. But I think anyone who goes to Stations is aware of the Resurrection. The reality is that we can focus on the 14 Stations without repeating the Resurrection every week, just as we can focus on Easter without repeating the 14 Stations on Easter Sunday.

There is a time for weddings, and a time for funerals. There is a time for rejoicing and time for weeping. A time for supper, and a time for dessert. A time for Lent. The Bible, and the Church before political correctness, had it right. Ask the pastor to scrap the booklets with the 15th Station, or else maybe have something else inserted over it in the meantime. Next time, go back to the real thing when you order booklets.

 

[tawny]

Our Priests lead the Stations at Noon & in the evening.

 

[powerofk]

Yes.
The part I have a problem with is the so-called Fifteenth Station. This is like playing Christmas music all through Advent.

I have heard the justification. Supposedly the 14 Stations are meaningless unless understood in the context of the Resurrection. But I think anyone who goes to Stations is aware of the Resurrection. The reality is that we can focus on the 14 Stations without repeating the Resurrection every week, just as we can focus on Easter without repeating the 14 Stations on Easter Sunday.

There is a time for weddings, and a time for funerals. There is a time for rejoicing and time for weeping. A time for supper, and a time for dessert. A time for Lent. The Bible, and the Church before political correctness, had it right. Ask the pastor to scrap the booklets with the 15th Station, or else maybe have something else inserted over it in the meantime. Next time, go back to the real thing when you order booklets.

Here’s the thing. The Stations of the Cross are a private devotion. Even though they are often prayed in groups with several people, one can easily pray the Stations individually. In fact, the Stations can be prayed at any day or time of the year, and the person praying the Stations can receive a plenary indulgence each day he/she prays the Stations as long as the standard requirements are met (Communion day of, Confession within 7 days either before or after, state of grace, no attachment to any sin - even venial sins, and prayers said for the intentions of the Pope).

It is true that the traditional stations do not include the Resurrection, but adding the Resurrection as a 15th Station does not take away from the seriousness of the other stations. Still though, IIRC, the Resurrection as a 15th station was added primarily for children - as a teaching tool, to help them tie Easter together with Lent. Children need help to understand that Jesus died for us, but then He rose from the dead. Having the 15th station for them helps cement this. And of course, without the Resurrection, the Passion and Crucifixion would have been meaningless anyway.

Besides, there are two different sets of 14 stations - St. Francis of Assisi’s fourteen stations (the traditional set), and Pope St. John Paul II’s fourteen stations (which only includes events mentioned in the gospels).

 

[TruthSeeker319]

Last Friday, our Deacon lead the stations, but since our parish is very bilingual (English and Spanish), he would lead one station in English, and a lay woman would lead the next station in Spanish. It was great hearing an entire roomful of people praying the same prayers in different languages.

 

[CB_Catholic]

In our parish Stations are led by the Deacons and the Lay Leaders of Prayer. Since I am a LLP, I usually do one of the weeks. It differs from parish to parish.

 

[commenter]

It is true that the traditional stations do not include the Resurrection, but adding the Resurrection as a 15th Station does not take away from the seriousness of the other stations. Still though, IIRC, the Resurrection as a 15th station was added primarily for children - as a teaching tool, to help them tie Easter together with Lent. Children need help to understand that Jesus died for us, but then He rose from the dead. Having the 15th station for them helps cement this. And of course, without the Resurrection, the Passion and Crucifixion would have been meaningless anyway.

Besides, there are two different sets of 14 stations - St. Francis of Assisi’s fourteen stations (the traditional set), and Pope St. John Paul II’s fourteen stations (which only includes events mentioned in the gospels).

This is from a priest at a college, not referring specifically to the Stations of the Cross, but I think relevant:
“One of my students is convinced that the death of Jesus on the Cross is not a sacrifice because He didn’t stay dead. This is a strange new way of picturing what we are celebrating this week, and I don’t think it is from the good spirit. I think it may be related to a larger picture, the old heresy of docetism, which said that Jesus only appeared to suffer but did not do so in reality because of His divinity.”

I think we underestimate children. They are able to celebrate Advent, without Christmas music yet. They are able to handle the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, just the Sorrowful Mysteries today. The other mysteries another day. They are able to handle crucifixes, which have been taken down in many Catholic schools and parishes, or replaced by unrealistic “resurrection crucifixes”. I wonder if the student that priest referred to grew up in a liberal parish.

St. JP II would have been aware of the 15th station innovation because it was around for a few decades when he adjusted the Stations. He did not see the need to add a resurrection station. You can’t fully celebrate Easter if you have been nibbling a little on chocolate eggs during Lent.

 

[peter26]

We do not use a 15th station in my parish. We are using a new booklet written by the bishop with the traditional 14 stations.

Lay Leaders of Prayer

Incidentally, I have never heard this term before.

 

[CyrilSebastian]

In our parish Stations are led by the Deacons and the Lay Leaders of Prayer. Since I am a LLP, I usually do one of the weeks. It differs from parish to parish.

For any LAY PERSON to lead the Stations, is it not a religious requirement that they be LEADERS OF PRAYER?

 

[powerofk]

For any LAY PERSON to lead the Stations, is it not a religious requirement that they be LEADERS OF PRAYER?

Again, the Stations are a private devotion. As the Eucharist is not being confected, and it is not a celebration of a sacrament, there does not need to be a clerical leader. Anyone can lead the Stations. And, yes, a lay person leading the Stations in a group setting (as it is perfectly fine if the Stations are prayed individually) would technically be a “Leader of Prayer”, but I guess at CB Catholic’s parish, they have people who have signed up to be “official” prayer leaders as a ministry. Apparently, these people could be called on to be able to help lead any non-Sacramental communal prayer. As an aside, though it’s been several years since I’ve been able to attend the Stations at my home parish, I remember when I was doing my undergrad work at Michigan Tech University, my pastor would ask one person to carry the cross, and ask up to 14 people to individually lead each station. He’d do the same thing (but only asking 5 people) with the rosary.

And as an aside to commenter, since the Stations are a private devotion, and can be prayed every day of the year (including during Easter season!), having the Resurrection as a 15th station may very well be appropriate for use outside of Lent (and especially during Easter).

 

[commenter]

Again, the Stations are a private devotion. As the Eucharist is not being confected, and it is not a celebration of a sacrament, there does not need to be a clerical leader. Anyone can lead the Stations. And, yes, a lay person leading the Stations in a group setting (as it is perfectly fine if the Stations are prayed individually) would technically be a “Leader of Prayer”, but I guess at CB Catholic’s parish, they have people who have signed up to be “official” prayer leaders as a ministry. Apparently, these people could be called on to be able to help lead any non-Sacramental communal prayer. As an aside, though it’s been several years since I’ve been able to attend the Stations at my home parish, I remember when I was doing my undergrad work at Michigan Tech University, my pastor would ask one person to carry the cross, and ask up to 14 people to individually lead each station. He’d do the same thing (but only asking 5 people) with the rosary.

And as an aside to commenter, since the Stations are a private devotion, and can be prayed every day of the year (including during Easter season!), having the Resurrection as a 15th station may very well be appropriate for use outside of Lent (and especially during Easter).

Thanks for the aside. I agree.
I belong to a suburban parish, but volunteer at a mission in the inner city. On Good Fridays we have teams from the Mission taking turns carrying the cross for each “station” outside, at designated points on the sidewalk, with 50 to 100 people. At each station we have a reading of the traditional station, with prayers and singing. This is a physically dangerous neighborhood, with brutal poverty, and we make it partway down a few streets.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Yes.
The part I have a problem with is the so-called Fifteenth Station. This is like playing Christmas music all through Advent.

I have heard the justification. Supposedly the 14 Stations are meaningless unless understood in the context of the Resurrection. But I think anyone who goes to Stations is aware of the Resurrection. The reality is that we can focus on the 14 Stations without repeating the Resurrection every week, just as we can focus on Easter without repeating the 14 Stations on Easter Sunday.

There is a time for weddings, and a time for funerals. There is a time for rejoicing and time for weeping. A time for supper, and a time for dessert. A time for Lent. The Bible, and the Church before political correctness, had it right. Ask the pastor to scrap the booklets with the 15th Station, or else maybe have something else inserted over it in the meantime. Next time, go back to the real thing when you order booklets.

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html

The Holy See’s 2001 “Directory for Popular Piety" specifically includes the Via Crucis among the pious practices in Nos. 131-135 and addresses that it is laudable to have a 15th station commemorating the Resurrection.
*
“131. Of all the pious exercises connected with the veneration of the Cross, none is more popular among the faithful than the Via Crucis. Through this pious exercise, the faithful movingly follow the final earthly journey of Christ: from the Mount of Olives, where the Lord, ‘in a small estate called Gethsemane’ (Mark 14:32), was taken by anguish (cf. Luke 22:44), to Calvary where he was crucified between two thieves (cf. Luke 23:33), to the garden where he was placed in freshly hewn tomb (John 19:40-42).

“The love of the Christian faithful for this devotion is amply attested by the numerous Via Crucis erected in so many churches, shrines, cloisters, in the countryside, and on mountain pathways where the various stations are very evocative.

“132. The Via Crucis is a synthesis of various devotions that have arisen since the high middle ages: the pilgrimage to the Holy Land during which the faithful devoutly visit the places associated with the Lord’s Passion; devotion to the three falls of Christ under the weight of the Cross; devotion to ‘the dolorous journey of Christ’ which consisted in processing from one church to another in memory of Christ’s Passion; devotion to the stations of Christ, those places where Christ stopped on his journey to Calvary because obliged to do so by his executioners or exhausted by fatigue, or because moved by compassion to dialogue with those who were present at his Passion.

“In its present form, the Via Crucis, widely promoted by St. Leonardo da Porto Maurizio (+1751), was approved by the Apostolic See and indulgenced, consists of fourteen stations since the middle of seventeenth century.

“133. The Via Crucis is a journey made in the Holy Spirit, that divine fire which burned in the heart of Jesus (cf. Luke 12:49-50) and brought him to Calvary. This is a journey well esteemed by the Church since it has retained a living memory of the words and gestures of the final earthly days of her Spouse and Lord.

“In the Via Crucis, various strands of Christian piety coalesce: the idea of life being a journey or pilgrimage; as a passage from earthly exile to our true home in Heaven; the deep desire to be conformed to the Passion of Christ; the demands of following Christ, which imply that his disciples must follow behind the Master, daily carrying their own crosses (cf. Luke 9:23).

“The Via Crucis is a particularly apt pious exercise for Lent.

“134. The following may prove useful suggestions for a fruitful celebration of the Via Crucis:

“– the traditional form of the Via Crucis, with its fourteen stations, is to be retained as the typical form of this pious exercise; from time to time, however, **as the occasion warrants, one or other of the traditional stations might possibly be substituted with a reflection on some other aspects of the Gospel account of the journey to Calvary which are traditionally included in the Stations of the Cross;

“– alternative forms of the Via Crucis have been approved by Apostolic See or publicly used by the Roman Pontiff: these can be regarded as genuine forms of the devotion and may be used as occasion might warrant;

“– the Via Crucis is a pious devotion connected with the Passion of Christ; it should conclude, however, in such fashion as to leave the faithful with a sense of expectation of the resurrection in faith and hope; following the example of the Via Crucis in Jerusalem which ends with a station at the Anastasis, the celebration could end with a commemoration of the Lord’s resurrection.**

“135. Innumerable texts exist for the celebration of the Via Crucis. Many of them were compiled by pastors who were sincerely interested in this pious exercise and convinced of its spiritual effectiveness. Texts have also been provided by lay authors who were known for their exemplary piety, holiness of life, doctrine and literary qualities.

“Bearing in mind whatever instructions might have been established by the bishops in the matter, the choice of texts for the Via Crucis should take account of the condition of those participating in its celebration and the wise pastoral principle of integrating renewal and continuity. It is always preferable to choose texts resonant with the biblical narrative and written in a clear simple style.

“The Via Crucis in which hymns, silence, procession and reflective pauses are wisely integrated in a balanced manner, contribute significantly to obtaining the spiritual fruits of the pious exercise."*
Thus, it is the mind both of the Church in Jerusalem and of the Holy See that the Stations of the Cross can commemorate the Resurrection.

 

[commenter]

“– the traditional form of the Via Crucis, with its fourteen stations, is to be retained as the typical form of this pious exercise; from time to time, however, **as the occasion warrants, one or other of the traditional stations might possibly be substituted with a reflection on some other aspects of the Gospel account of the journey to Calvary which are traditionally included in the Stations of the Cross;

“– alternative forms of the Via Crucis have been approved by Apostolic See or publicly used by the Roman Pontiff: these can be regarded as genuine forms of the devotion and may be used as occasion might warrant;

“– the Via Crucis is a pious devotion connected with the Passion of Christ; it should conclude, however, in such fashion as to leave the faithful with a sense of expectation of the resurrection in faith and hope; following the example of the Via Crucis in Jerusalem which ends with a station at the Anastasis, the celebration could end with a commemoration of the Lord’s resurrection.**

“Bearing in mind whatever instructions might have been established by the bishops in the matter,** the choice of texts for the Via Crucis should take account of the condition of those participating in its celebration and the wise pastoral principle of integrating renewal and continuity**. It is always preferable to choose texts resonant with the biblical narrative and written in a clear simple style.

“The Via Crucis in which hymns, silence, procession and reflective pauses are wisely integrated in a balanced manner, contribute significantly to obtaining the spiritual fruits of the pious exercise."[/INDENT]

Thus, it is the mind both of the Church in Jerusalem and of the Holy See that the Stations of the Cross can commemorate the Resurrection.
There needs to be flexibility and pastoral balance. Vatican statements consider that there have been times and countries where there has been extreme focus on the Crucifixion, and neglectful of the Resurrection, where people are very mindful of mortification of the flesh but forgetful of other things. Wise pastoral response considers what local excesses need to be balanced out, what forgotten things need reminding.

 

[CB_Catholic]

For any LAY PERSON to lead the Stations, is it not a religious requirement that they be LEADERS OF PRAYER?

No, because the Stations of the Cross are not liturgical, they are, as has been said, devotional. Lay Leaders of Prayer in my Diocese (not just parish) are able to lead liturgical prayer services, as well as devotional prayers.

LLP is a commissioned position by the Diocese. There is formal training and the term is 3 years, after which re-commissioning is necessary. We wear albs when leading liturgical prayer. We take this role very seriously and I feel honored that God called me to serve Him in the parish in this manner.