News
The Stations of the Cross, a Cathedral Lenten Devotion
March 3-April 7, Fridays at 6:00 pm.
From the earliest days, Christians traveled to Jerusalem to see where Jesus walked and taught. Of particular interest were the events recorded in the Gospels of his last hours before the crucifixion. The Stations of the Cross in its present form grew out of later medieval devotion to the passion of Jesus. Medieval Christians were intensely interested in the humanity of Jesus and the details of his life. Their interest came not from intellectual curiosity, but from the dire conditions that followed the disintegration of the Roman Empire. Fratricidal wars, prolonged economic hardship, famine and plague left the peoples of Europe in fear and anxiety, and they sought the help of Jesus Christ.
From the scriptures, they drew solace from Jesus who suffered, died and rose again. Instead of the tools of modern archeology or history-- on which we rely so much today-- they depended for guidance and inspiration on pilgrims and mystics.
Spiritual Pilgrimages and the Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross and other devotions to the passion of Jesus developed in this climate. In the 15th century, spiritual writers in the Lowlands began promoting "spiritual pilgrimages" for those who could not go to the Holy Land. The Carmelite, John Pascha, offers a popular book of meditations to "those that cannot go there in person, but can still make this voyage by the grace of God, through devout and pious meditations. You will find the holy places in this book as if you saw them with your own eyes, as pilgrims saw them, who were there personally." Representations of the Stations of the Cross, varying in number, multiplied throughout Europe to aid those making "spiritual pilgrimage".
The Fourteen Stations in 18th century Europe
Through most of its history, the Stations of the Cross was a fluid devotion that took different forms from place to place. The number of stations and the incidents they commemorate varied. Sometimes they were7, sometimes 12, and yet other times 18. Only in the 18th century did the devotion become fixed to the 14 stations as they are today.
The Franciscans, in fact, played a major role in developing the devotion in the Holy Land, in Europe and in the Americas. By the l9th century, the Stations of the Cross in its present form had spread beyond continental Europe and were a staple in Catholic, churches as well as Anglican and Lutheran churches throughout the world.
