STATIONS TO EASTER – BY WAY OF THE CROSS
During the Turkish occupation of the Holy Land in the late Middle Ages, when pilgrims were prevented from visiting its sacred site, the custom arose of making replicas of those holy places, where the faithful might come to pray. One of the most popular of these devotions was the “Stations of the Way of the Cross,” which were imitations of the “stations,” or stopping places of prayer on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. By the late sixteenth century the fourteen stations, as we know them today, were erected in almost all Catholic, as well as, some Episcopalian and Lutheran churches.
(1) The First Station-Pilate condemns Jesus to die
Jesus after being scourged and crowned with thorns, was unjustly condemned by Pilate to die on the cross.
(2) The Second Station-Jesus accepts His cross
Jesus walked this road with the cross on His shoulders, thinking of us, and offering to His Father, in our behalf, the death He was about to suffer.
(3) The Third Station-Jesus falls the first time
Loss of blood from the scourging and crowning with thorns had weakened Jesus so that He could hardly walk. The soldiers continued to strike Him cruelly. He fell several times under the heavy cross.
(4) The Fourth Station-Jesus meets His afflicted Mother
Mary, Jesus’ mother, met Him on the way to Calvary.
(5) The Fifth Station-Simon helps carry the cross
At each step Jesus was at the point of expiring. Fearing that He would die on the way, they forced Simon of Cyrene to help carry the cross.
(6) The Sixth Station-Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
His face bathed in sweat and blood, Veronica, a holy woman, wiped it.
(7) The Seventh Station-Jesus falls the second time
The second fall of Jesus under the cross renews the pain.
(8) The Eighth Station-Jesus speaks to the women
Women wept with compassion seeing Jesus so distressed and dripping with blood as He walked along. Jesus said to them, “Weep not so much for me, but rather for your children.”
(no photo) The Ninth Station-Jesus falls the third time
Extremely weak and the cruelty of His executioners was excessive. They tried to hasten His steps though He hardly had strength to move.
(10) The Tenth Station-Jesus is stripped of His garments
Jesus was violently stripped of His clothes by the executioners. The inner garments adhered to His lacerated flesh and the soldiers tore them off so roughly that the skin came with them.
(11) The Eleventh Station-Jesus is nailed to the cross
Throwned down upon the cross, Jesus stretched out His arms and offered to His eternal Father the sacrifice of His life for our salvation. They nailed His hands and feet, and then raising the cross, dropped it into the ground leaving Him to die.
(12) The Twelfth Station-Jesus dies upon the cross
After three hours of agony on the cross Jesus bows His head and dies.
(13) The Thirteenth Station-Jesus is taken down from the cross
He was taken down from the cross by two of His disciples, Joseph and Nicodemus, and placed in the arms of His afflicted Mother. She received Him with unutterable tenderness and pressed Him close to her bosom.
(14) The Fourteenth Station-Jesus is placed in the sepulcher
The disciples carried the body of Jesus to its burial, while His holy Mother went with them and arranged it in the sepulcher with her own hands. They then closed the tomb and all departed.
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