Prayer ...
The Stations of the Cross
You can find the 14 Stations of the Cross along the walls of the Nave of a Roman Catholic church or chapel. They commemorate the various stations on the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrow) in Jerusalem along which Jesus walked from the point where he was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate to his crucifixion and then his burial. At St. Basil’s the stations are placed along the east and west walls of the Nave.
The stations represent the following stories from the Gospels.
- Jesus is condemned to death
- Jesus takes up his cross
- Jesus falls for the first time
- Jesus meets his mother
- Simon helps Jesus carry the cross
- Veronica wipes Jesus’ face
- Jesus falls for the second time
- The women of Jerusalem weep for Jesus
- Jesus falls for the third time
- Jesus is stripped of his garments
- Jesus is nailed to the cross
- Jesus dies on the cross
- Jesus is removed from the cross
- Jesus is placed in the tomb
You can pray the Stations of the Cross on your own as a personal devotion or you can pray them as part of a group. If you would like to pray the Stations of the Cross on your own the Sunday Missal, published by Novalis, has a guide near the back.
Praying the Stations of the Cross is often one of the special things that people do to mark the season of Lent. In this case the prayer is slightly more elaborate with a prayer leader and spoken responses from the people in the group.






