What would Fridays during Lent be without - Stations of the Cross - a prayerful Journey of thirty minutes or so in which we are led through the meditation of the Stations Jesus endured on His Journey. The practice of Stations origins vary depending on who you ask. Originally when people came to realize who Jesus was - The Son of God - The God who came to Earth - the Author of Life - only then - did people wish to pay respect to Him - what He did - what He experienced. In the very early days - people travelled to the Holy Land - to visit - see - the significant places where Jesus walked - ministered. Specific sites were visited - Calvary - Pilate's House - a few others. Eventually - The Via Dolorosa - the path that the Roman soldiers would have taken Jesus from Pilate's to the place of Crucifixion. Starting at the Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - a distance of about two thousand feet - with nine specific stations - stopping places - with five additional stations inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Via Dolorosa is not one specific street - rather a route involving multiple streets as it winds through Jerusalem. I can personally share - walking the Via Dolorosa - on three different pilgrimages - is a very - spiritual - emotional - experience. When it became apparent to Church leaders - the majority of Christians would never be able to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem - the concept of building Stations in places other than Jerusalem developed. Over the years the numbers have varied - finally being set by Pope Benedict XIV in 1742 at fourteen when he exhorted all priests to erect Stations in parish churches and grounds- in order that all the faithful could experience walking the Stations. More recently Saint Pope John Paul II rewrote some of the Station prayers and added a fifteenth Station.
It does not matter if one walks the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem - the route has been modified over the years - or if one prays the Stations hanging in their parish church. What is important is that one acknowledges - meditates - prays the Stations - as a spiritual exercise to draw them deeper into the mystery of Faith. Stations may be prayed any day - week of the year - not just during Lent. It is there for the faithful to take advantage of - to help - bring Jesus closer to their - mind - heart.
Deacon Dale
