Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross - An Ancient Devotion throughout Lent
Join us in the church as we gather each Tuesday at 6:00 pm throughout Lent to pray the Stations of the Cross!

What are the Stations of the Cross?

The devotion known as the Stations of the Cross is an adaptation of an ancient custom widely observed by pilgrims to Jerusalem: the offering of prayer at a series of places in that city traditionally associated with our Lord’s passion and death. The number of stations, which at first varied widely, finally became fixed at fourteen. Of these, eight are based directly on events recorded in the Gospels. The remaining six (numbers 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 13) are based on inferences from the Gospel account or from pious legend. 

Traditionally, the stations are made before a series of plain wooden crosses placed along the walls of the church or in some other convenient place. With each cross there is sometimes associated a pictorial representation of the event being commemorated. The hymn Stabat Mater (“At the cross her station keeping”) has frequently been associated with this service but is not an integral part of it. Selected stanzas of this hymn may appropriately be sung at the entrance of the ministers, and (after the opening devotions before the Altar) as the procession approaches the first station.