The Way of the Cross.pdf

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The Way of the Cross, Stations of the Cross and in Latin Via Crucis

The Carrying of the Cross by Hieronymus Bosch


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Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1

Start of Prayer the Way of the Cross ...................................................................................................... 1

First Station. Jesus is condemned to death. ........................................................................................... 1

Second Station. Jesus takes up his Cross. ............................................................................................... 2

Third Station. Jesus falls the first time. ................................................................................................... 2

Fourth Station. Jesus meets his Mother. ................................................................................................ 3

Fifth Station. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry his Cross. ................................................................ 3

Sixth Station. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. ..................................................................................... 4

Seventh Station. Jesus falls the second time. ......................................................................................... 5

Eighth Station. Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem. ....................................................................... 5

Ninth Station. Jesus falls the third time. ................................................................................................. 6

Tenth Station. Jesus is stripped of his garments..................................................................................... 6

Eleventh Station. Jesus is nailed to the Cross. ........................................................................................ 7

Twelfth Station. Jesus dies on the Cross. ................................................................................................ 7

Thirteenth Station. Jesus is taken down from the Cross. ....................................................................... 8

Fourteenth Station. Jesus is laid in the tomb. ........................................................................................ 8Concluding Prayer ................................................................................................................................... 9

The Catholic Encyclopedia ...................................................................................................................... 9


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Introduction

The practice of the Way of the Cross is basically prayer and meditation. It is also called Stations

of the Cross and in Latin Via Crucis.

The prayer is depicting Christ Carrying the Cross to his crucifixion in the final hours (orPassion)

ofJesus before he died. The prayer when prayed in public normally involves the faithful following

the priest for prayer and meditation at each of the 14 representations of the passion of Jesus.

The prayer that follows is a traditional form but there is no official form to the Way of the Cross.

The prayer of the Way of the Cross is also meant for private recitation and meditation.

The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make in spirit, as it were, a pilgrimage to the

chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death, and this has become one of the most popular of

Catholic devotions. It is carried out by passing from Station to Station, with certain prayers at

each and devout meditation on the various incidents in turn. It is very usual, when the devotion is

performed publicly, to sing a stanza of the "Stabat Mater" while passing from one Station to the

next.

A more detailed explanation follows on page 9.

Start of Prayer the Way of the Cross

My Lord and my God, under the loving eyes of our Mother, we are making ready to

accompany you along this path of sorrow, which was the price for our redemption. We

wish to suffer all that You suffered, to offer you our poor, contrite hearts, because you are

innocent, and yet you are going to die for us, who are the only really guilty ones. My

Mother, Virgin of sorrows, help me to relive those bitter hours which your Son wished to

spend on earth, so that we, who were made from a handful of clay, may finally live in

libertatem gloriae filiorum Dei, in the freedom and glory of the children of God.

First Station. Jesus is condemned to death.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. Because by your holy Cross youhave redeemed the world.

Pilate said to them, 'Then what am I todo with Jesus who is called Christ?'They all said, 'Let him be crucified!' Heasked, 'But what harm has he done?'But they shouted all the louder, 'Lethim be crucified!'

(Mt 27:22-23)

Short pause for reflection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Carrying_the_Crosshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_of_Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(Christianity)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(Christianity)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_of_Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Carrying_the_Cross


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Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

Stabat MaterAt the cross her station keeping,Stood the mournful Mother weeping,Close to Jesus to the last.

Second Station. Jesus takes up his Cross.


They then took charge of Jesus, andcarrying his own cross he went out tothe Place of the Skull or, as it is calledin Hebrew, Golgotha.(Jn 19:17)



Stabat MaterThrough her heart, His sorrow sharingAll His bitter anguish bearing,Now at length the sword has passed

Third Station. Jesus falls the first time.



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We had all gone astray like sheep,each taking his own way, and theLord laid on him the iniquity of usall.(Is 53:6)



Stabat MaterO, how sad and sore distressedWas that Mother highly blessedOf the sole-begotten One!

Fourth Station. Jesus meets his Mother.


Simeon blessed them and said toMary his mother, 'Look, he is des-tined for the fall and for the rise ofmany in Israel, destined to be a signthat is opposed, so that the secretthoughts of many may be laid bare.And a sword will pierce your soultoo.'(Lk 2:34-35)



Stabat MaterIs there one who would not weepWhelmed in miseries so deepChrist's dear Mother to Behold?

Fifth Station. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry his Cross.


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In that Mother's pain untold?

Seventh Station. Jesus falls the second time.


Ill-treated and afflicted, he neveropened his mouth, like a lamb led tothe slaughter-house, like a sheepdumb before its shearers he neveropened his mouth.(Is 53:7)



Stabat MaterBruised, derided, cursed, defiled,She beheld her tender child,

All with bloody scourges rent.

Eighth Station. Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem.


Large numbers of people followedhim, and women too, who mournedand lamented for him. But Jesusturned to them and said, 'Daughtersof Jerusalem, do not weep for me;weep rather for yourselves and for

your children. For look, the days arecoming when people will say,"Blessed are those who are barren,the wombs that have never bornechildren, the breasts that have nev-er suckled!" Then they will begin tosay to the mountains, "Fall on us!";to the hills, "Cover us!" For if this iswhat is done to green wood, whatwill be done when the wood is dry?'(Lk 23:27-31)




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Stabat MaterFor the sins of His own nationSaw Him hang in desolationTill His Spirit forth He sent.

Ninth Station. Jesus falls the third time.


He was pierced for our offenses,crushed because of our guilt; thepunishment reconciling us fell onhim, and we have been healed byhis wounds.(Is 53:5)



Stabat MaterO thou Mother! fount of love,Touch my spirit from above.Make my heart with thine accord:

Tenth Station. Jesus is stripped of his garments.


When the soldiers had finished cru-cifying Jesus they took his clothingand divided it into four shares, one

for each soldier. His undergarmentwas seamless, woven in one piecefrom neck to hem; so they said toone another, 'Instead of tearing it,let's throw dice to decide who is tohave it.' In this way the words ofscripture were fulfilled: They dividemy garments among them and castlots for my clothes.(Jn 19:23-24)


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Stabat MaterMake me feel as thou hast felt;

Make my soul to glow and meltWith the love of Christ, my Lord.

Eleventh Station. Jesus is nailed to the Cross.


When they reached the place calledThe Skull, there they crucified himand the two criminals, one on hisright, the other on his left. Jesussaid, 'Father, forgive them; they donot know what they are doing.'(Lk 23:33-34)



Stabat MaterHoly Mother, pierce me through!In my heart, each wound renewOf my Savior crucified.

Twelfth Station. Jesus dies on the Cross.



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It was now about the sixth hour andthe sun's light failed, so that dark-ness came over the whole land untilthe ninth hour. The veil of the Sanc-tuary was torn right down the mid-

dle. Jesus cried out in a loud voicesaying, 'Father, into your hands Icommit my spirit.' With these wordshe breathed his last.(Lk 23, 44-46)



Stabat MaterLet me share with thee His pain,Who for all our sins was slain,Who for me in torments died.

Thirteenth Station. Jesus is taken down from the Cross.


And now a member of the Councilarrived, a good and upright mannamed Joseph. He had not con-sented to what the others hadplanned and carried out. He camefrom Arimathaea, a Jewish town,and he lived in the hope of seeingthe kingdom of God. This man wentto Pilate and asked for the body ofJesus. And he took it down from thecross.(Lk:23,50-53)



Stabat MaterLet me mingle tears with thee,Mourning Him who mourned for me,All the days that I may live.

Fourteenth Station. Jesus is laid in the tomb.


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Joseph took the body, wrapped it ina clean shroud and put it in his ownnew tomb which he had hewn out ofthe rock. He then rolled a largestone across the entrance of thetomb and went away.(Mt 27:59-60)



In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Stabat MaterBy the cross with thee to stay,There with thee to weep and pray,Is all I ask of thee to give

Concluding PrayerAlmighty and eternal God, merciful Father, who hast given to the human race Thybeloved Son as an example of humility, obedience, and patience, to precede uson the way of life, bearing the cross: Graciously grant us that we, inflamed by Hisinfinite love, may take up the sweet yoke of His Gospel together with the mortifi-cation of the cross, following Him as His true disciples, so that we shall one daygloriously rise with Him and joyfully hear the final sentence: "Come, ye blessed ofMy Father, and possess the kingdom which was prepared for you from the be-ginning," where Thou reignest with the Son and the Holy Ghost, and where wehope to reign with Thee, world without end. Amen.

Concluding Prayer by-SaintFrancis of Assisi

The Catholic Encyclopedia

Taken in the former sense, the Stations may be of stone, wood, or metal, sculptured or carved,

or they may be merely paintings or engravings. Some Stations are valuable works of art, as

those, for instance, in Antwerp cathedral, which have been much copied elsewhere. They are

usually ranged at intervals around the walls of a church, though sometimes they are to be found

in the open air, especially on roads leading to a church or shrine. In monasteries they are often

placed in the cloisters. The erection and use of the Stations did not become at all general before

the end of the seventeenth century, but they are now to be found in almost every church.
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintf01.htmhttp://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintf01.htmhttp://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintf01.htmhttp://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintf01.htm


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Formerly their number varied considerably in different places but fourteen are now prescribed by

authority. They are as follows:

1. Christ condemned to death;

2. The cross is laid upon him;

3. His first fall;

4. He meets His Blessed Mother;

5. Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross;

6. Christ's face is wiped by Veronica;

7. His second fall;

8. He meets the women of Jerusalem;

9. His third fall;

10. He is stripped of His garments;

11.His crucifixion;

12. His death on the cross;

13. His body is taken down from the cross; and

14. Laid in the tomb.

The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make in spirit, as it were, a pilgrimage to the

chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death, and this has become one of the most popular of

Catholic devotions. It is carried out by passing from Station to Station, with certain prayers at

each and devout meditation on the various incidents in turn. It is very usual, when the devotion is

performed publicly, to sing a stanza of the "Stabat Mater" while passing from one Station to the

next.

Inasmuch as the Way of the Cross, made in this way, constitutes a miniature pilgrimage to the

holy places at Jerusalem, the origin of the devotion may be traced to the Holy Land. The Via

Dolorosa at Jerusalem (though not called by that name before the sixteenth century) was

reverently marked out from the earliest times and has been the goal of pious pilgrims ever since

the days of Constantine. Tradition asserts that the Blessed Virgin used to visit daily the scenes of

Christ's Passion and St. Jerome speaks of the crowds of pilgrims from all countries who used to

visit the holy places in his day. There is, however, no direct evidence as to the existence of any

set form of the devotion at that early date, and it is noteworthy that St. Sylvia (c. 380) says

nothing about it in her "Peregrinatio ad loca sancta", although she describes minutely every other

religious exercise that she saw practised there. A desire to reproduce the holy places in other

lands, in order to satisfy the devotion of those who were hindered from making the actual

pilgrimage, seems to have manifested itself at quite an early date. At the monastery of San

Stefano at Bologna a group of connected chapels were constructed as early as the fifth century,

by St. Petronius, Bishop of Bologna, which were intended to represent the more important


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shrines of Jerusalem, and in consequence, this monastery became familiarly known as

"Hierusalem". These may perhaps be regarded as the germ from which the Stations afterwards

developed, though it is tolerably certain that nothing that we have before about the fifteenth

century can strictly be called a Way of the Cross in the modern sense. Several travellers, it is

true, who visited the Holy Land during the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, mention a

"Via Sacra", i.e., a settled route along which pilgrims were conducted, but there is nothing in their

accounts to identify this with the Via Crucis, as we understand it, including special stopping-

places with indulgences attached, and such indulgenced Stations must, after all, be considered

to be the true origin of the devotion as now practised. It cannot be said with any certainty when

such indulgences began to be granted, but most probably they may be due to the Franciscans, to

whom in 1342 the guardianship of the holy places was entrusted. Ferraris mentions the following

as Stations to which indulgences were attached: the place where Christ met His Blessed Mother,

where He spoke to the women of Jerusalem, where He met Simon of Cyrene, where the soldierscast lots for His garment, where He was nailed to the cross, Pilate's house, and the Holy

Sepulchre. Analogous to this it may be mentioned that in 1520 Leo X granted an indulgence of a

hundred days to each of a set of sculptured Stations, representing the Seven Dolours of Our

Lady, in the cemetery of the Franciscan Friary at Antwerp, the devotion connected with them

being a very popular one. The earliest use of the word Stations, as applied to the accustomed

halting-places in the Via Sacra at Jerusalem, occurs in the narrative of an English pilgrim, William

Wey, who visited the Holy Land in 1458 and again in 1462, and who describes the manner in

which it was then usual to follow the footsteps of Christ in His sorrowful journey. It seems that upto that time it had been the general practice to commence at Mount Calvary, and proceeding

thence, in the opposite direction to Christ, to work back to Pilate's house. By the early part of the

sixteenth century, however, the more reasonable way of traversing the route, by beginning at

Pilate's house and ending at Mount Calvary, had come to be regarded as more correct, and it

became a special exercise of devotion complete in itself. During the fifteenth and sixteenth

centuries several reproductions of the holy places were set up in different parts of Europe. The

Blessed Alvarez (d. 1420), on his return from the Holy Land, built a series of little chapels at the

Dominican friary of Cordova, in which, after the pattern of separate Stations, were painted the

principal scenes of the Passion. About the same time the Blessed Eustochia, a poor Clare,

constructed a similar set of Stations in her convent at Messina. Others that may be enumerated

were those at Grlitz, erected by G. Emmerich, about 1465, and at Nuremburg, by Ketzel, in

1468. Imitations of these were made at Louvain in 1505 by Peter Sterckx; at St. Getreu in

Bamberg in 1507; at Fribourg and at Rhodes, about the same date, the two latter being in the

commanderies of the Knights of Rhodes. Those at Nuremburg, which were carved by Adam

Krafft, as well as some of the others, consisted of seven Stations, popularly known as "the Seven

Falls", because in each of them Christ was represented either as actually prostrate or as sinking

under the weight of His cross. A famous set of Stations was set up in 1515 by Romanet Bofin at


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shrines within the Holy Sepulchre, which were under the care of the Franciscans, provides none

for the Stations themselves. He explains the reason thus: "it is not permitted to make any halt,

nor to pay veneration to them with uncovered head, nor to make any other demonstration". From

this it would seem that after Jerusalem had passed under the Turkish domination the pious

exercises of the Way of the Cross could be performed far more devoutly at Nuremburg or

Louvain than in Jerusalem itself. It may therefore be conjectured, with extreme probability, that

our present series of Stations, together with the accustomed series of prayers for them, comes to

us, not from Jerusalem, but from some of the imitation Ways of the Cross in different parts of

Europe, and that we owe the propagation of the devotion, as well as the number and selection of

our Stations, much more to the pious ingenuity of certain sixteenth-century devotional writers

than to the actual practice of pilgrims to the holy places.

With regard to the particular subjects which have been retained in our series of Stations, it may

be noted that very few of the medieval accounts make any mention of either the second (Christ

receiving the cross) or the tenth (Christ being stripped of His garments), whilst others which have

since dropped out appear in almost all the early lists. One of the most frequent of these is the

Station formerly made at the remains of the Ecce Homo arch, i.e. the balcony from which these

words were pronounced. Additions and omissions such as these seem to confirm the supposition

that our Stations are derived from pious manuals of devotion rather than from Jerusalem itself.

The three falls of Christ (third, seventh, and ninth Stations) are apparently all that remain of the

Seven Falls, as depicted by Krafft at Nuremburg and his imitators, in all of which Christ was

represented as either falling or actually fallen. In explanations of this it is supposed that the otherfour falls coincided with His meetings with His Mother, Simon of Cyrene, Veronica, and the

women of Jerusalem, and that in these four the mention of the fall has dropped out whilst it

survives in the other three which have nothing else to distinguish them. A few medieval writers

take the meeting with Simon and the women of Jerusalem to have been simultaneous, but the

majority represent them as separate events. The Veronica incident does not occur in many of the

earlier accounts, whilst almost all of those that do mention it place it as having happened just

before reaching Mount Calvary, instead of earlier in the journey as in our present arrangement.

An interesting variation is found in the special set of eleven stations ordered in 1799 for use in

the diocese of Vienne. It is as follows:

1. the Agony in the Garden;

2. the betrayal by Judas;

3. the scourging;

4. the crowning with thorns;

5. Christ condemned to death;

6. He meets Simon of Cyrene;

7. the women of Jerusalem;


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8. He tastes the gall;

9. He is nailed to the cross;

10. His death on the cross; and

11. His body is taken down from the cross.

It will be noticed that only five of these correspond exactly with our Stations. The others, though

comprising the chief events of the Passion, are not strictly incidents of the Via Dolorosa itself.

Another variation that occurs in different churches relates to the side of the church on which the

Stations begin. The Gospel side is perhaps the more usual. In reply to a question the Sacred

Congregation of Indulgences, in 1837, said that, although nothing was ordered on this point,

beginning on the Gospel side seemed to be the more appropriate. In deciding the matter,

however, the arrangement and form of a church may make it more convenient to go the other

way. The position of the figures in the tableaux, too, may sometimes determine the direction ofthe route, for it seems more in accordance with the spirit of the devotion that the procession, in

passing from station to station, should follow Christ rather than meet Him.

The erection of the Stations in churches did not become at all common until towards the end of

the seventeenth century, and the popularity of the practice seems to have been chiefly due to the

indulgences attached. The custom originated with the Franciscans, but its special connection

with that order has now disappeared. It has already been said that numerous indulgences were

formerly attached to the holy places at Jerusalem. Realizing that few persons, comparatively,

were able to gain these by means of a personal pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Innocent XI, in1686, granted to the Franciscans, in answer to their petition, the right to erect the Stations in all

their churches, and declared that all the indulgences that had ever been given for devoutly

visiting the actual scenes of Christ's Passion, could thenceforth be gained by Franciscans and all

others affiliated to their order if they made the Way of the Cross in their own churches in the

accustomed manner. Innocent XII confirmed the privilege in 1694 and Benedict XIII in 1726

extended it to all the faithful. In 1731 Clement XII still further extended it by permitting the

indulgenced Stations to all churches, provided that they were erected by a Franciscan father with

the sanction of the ordinary. At the same time he definitely fixed the number of Stations at

fourteen. Benedict XIV in 1742 exhorted all priests to enrich their churches with so great a

treasure, and there are few churches now without the Stations. In 1857 the bishops of England

received faculties from the Holy See to erect Stations themselves, with the indulgences attached,

wherever there were no Franciscans available, and in 1862 this last restriction was removed and

the bishops were empowered to erect the Stations themselves, either personally or by delegate,

anywhere within their jurisdiction. These faculties are quinquennial. There is some uncertainty as

to what are the precise indulgences belonging to the stations. It is agreed that all that have ever

been granted to the faithful for visiting the holy places in person can now be gained by making

the Via Crucis in any church where the Stations have been erected in due form, but the


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Instructions of the Sacred Congregation, approved by Clement XII in 1731, prohibit priests and

others from specifying what or how many indulgences may be gained. In 1773 Clement XIV

attached the same indulgence, under certain conditions, to crucifixes duly blessed for the

purpose, for the use of the sick, those at sea or in prison, and others lawfully hindered from

making the Stations in a church. The conditions are that, whilst holding the crucifix in their hands,

they must say the "Pater" and "Ave" fourteen times, then the "Pater", "Ave", and "Gloria" five

times, and the same again once each for the pope's intentions. If one person hold the crucifix, a

number present may gain the indulgences provided the other conditions are fulfilled by all. Such

crucifixes cannot be sold, lent, or given away, without losing the indulgence.

The following are the principal regulations universally in force at the present time with regard to

the Stations:

If a pastor or a superior of a convent, hospital, etc., wishes to have the Stations erected in their

places he must ask permission of the bishop. If there are Franciscan Fathers in the same town or

city, their superior must be asked to bless the Stations or delegate some priest either of his own

monastery or a secular priest. If there are no Franciscan Fathers in that place the bishops who

have obtained from the Holy See the extraordinary of Form C can delegate any priest to erect the

Stations. This delegation of a certain priest for the blessing of the Stations must necessarily be

done in writing. The pastor of such a church, or the superior of such a hospital, convent, etc.,

should take care to sign the document the bishop or the superior of the monastery sends, so that

he may thereby express his consent to have the Stations erected in their place, for the bishop's

and the respective pastor's or superior's consent must be had before the Stations are blessed,

otherwise the blessing is null and void;

Pictures or tableaux of the various Stations are not necessary. It is to the cross placed over

them that the indulgence is attached. These crosses must be of wood; no other material will do. If

only painted on the wall the erection is null (Cong. Ind., 1837, 1838, 1845);

If, for restoring the church, for placing them in a more convenient position, or for any other

reasonable cause, the crosses are moved, this may be done without the indulgence being lost

(1845). If any of the crosses, for some reason, have to be replaced, no fresh blessing is required,

unless more than half of them are so replaced (1839).

There should if possible be a separate meditation on each of the fourteen incidents of the Via

Crucis, not a general meditation on the Passion nor on other incidents not included in the

Stations. No particular prayers are ordered;

The distance required between the Stations is not defined. Even when only the clergy move

from one Station to another the faithful can still gain the indulgence without moving;

It is necessary to make all the Stations uninterruptedly (S.C.I., 22 January, 1858). Hearing Mass

or going to Confession or Communion between Stations is not considered an interruption.

According to many the Stations may be made more than once on the same day, the indulgence


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may be gained each time; but this is by no means certain (S.C.I., 10 Sept., 1883). Confession

and Communion on the day of making the Stations are not necessary provided the person

making them is in a state of grace;

Ordinarily the Stations should be erected within a church or public oratory. If the Via Crucis goes

outside, e.g., in a cemetery or cloister, it should if possible begin and end in the church.

In conclusion it may be safely asserted that there is no devotion more richly endowed with

indulgences than the Way of the Cross, and none which enables us more literally to obey Christ's

injunction to take up our cross and follow Him. A perusal of the prayers usually given for this

devotion in any manual will show what abundant spiritual graces, apart from the indulgences,

may be obtained through a right use of them, and the fact that the Stations may be made either

publicly or privately in any church renders the devotion specially suitable for all. One of the most

popularly attended Ways of the Cross at the present day is that in the Colosseum at Rome,

where every Friday the devotion of the Stations is conducted publicly by a Franciscan Father.

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