KatyA

Feb 17 2008, 04:07 PM

So far as I am aware, only one parish in my deanery holds Stations of the Cross devotions weekly during Lent.

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Interestingly, St. Sylvia, in her "Peregrination ad loca sancta" (380), in which she described in great detail various religious practices, did not mention a particular practice or set of prayers for following the stations; however, this omission does not entail that pilgrims did not in fact follow the Way of the Cross.

Actually, the devotion continued to grow in popularity. In the fifth century, an interest developed in the Church to "reproduce" the holy places in other areas so pilgrims who could not actually travel to the Holy Land could do so in a devotional, spiritual way in their hearts. For instance, St. Petronius, Bishop of Bologna, constructed a group of chapels at the monastery of San Stefano, which depicted the more important shrines of the Holy Land, including several of the stations. (The same notion inspired the building of the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, where one can visit and see reproductions of the Bethlehem Chapel, the tomb of our Lord, and other important shrines of the Holy Land.)

In 1342, the Franciscans were appointed as guardians of the shrines of the Holy Land. The faithful received indulgences for praying at the following stations: At Pilate's house, where Christ met His mother, where He spoke to the women, where He met Simon of Cyrene, where the soldiers stripped Him of His garments, where He was nailed to the cross, and at His tomb.

William Wey, an English pilgrim, visited the Holy Land in 1462, and is credited with the term "stations." He described the manner in which a pilgrim followed the steps of Christ. Prior to this time, the path usually followed the reverse course of ours today—moving from Mount Calvary to Pilate's house. At this time, the reverse—going from Pilate's house to Calvary—seems to have taken hold.

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Q: Are wooden crosses on top of depictions/paintings of each Station of the Cross required? These have been removed from our church. -- P.C., Laplace, Louisiana

A: The principal document relating to the external form of the Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, is the Enchiridion of Indulgences, No. 63.

The Church grants a plenary indulgence to a member of the faithful who practices the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross.

In order to obtain this indulgence the exercise must be fulfilled before legitimately erected stations.

For the legitimate erection of the Via Crucis, 14 crosses are needed, to which may be added images or sculptures that represent the station.

According to the most common custom, the pious exercise consists of 14 pious readings to which are added some vocal prayers. However, in order to fulfill the pious exercise all that is required is a meditation on the Lord's passion and death without having to make a particular consideration of each station.

It is necessary to move from one station to the next. But if the stations are done in a large group where moving is difficult, it is sufficient for at least the guide to move from station to station.

The faithful who are legitimately impeded from making the stations may gain the same indulgence by dedicating about 15 minutes to meditating and spiritual reading on the Passion.

Therefore, to answer the specific question at hand: A legitimate Way of the Cross consists of 14 crosses. These may be wooden, stone, metal or some other suitable material. The images are an optional, albeit very useful extra.

The crosses may be relatively small compared to the images or representations, but they should be visible. They may also be located at any suitable place near the images -- above, below, beside or even incorporated within the frame.

Possibly the local parish church could be encouraged to restore the crosses to its Way of the Cross. It could also be a wonderful teaching moment to explain the Church's doctrine on indulgences as well as foment the practice of the Via Crucis.