Here you will find a service written by Thomas L. Weitzel for moving through the Stations of the Cross. This is, of course, an adaptation for those who can not physically go somewhere and walk the stations. At the bottom of each page, there is a link that will take you to the next station (on the bottom right of the screen) and a link to take you back to the previous station (on the bottom left of the screen). There are a leader and congregation part, however you can be both the leader and participant or as a family or group pick a person to read the leader parts. Use this resource as you see fit for your devotional enrichment.
You are free to use this resource as you see fit. It was constructed for your devotional use as you see fit. I do not own any of the content, nor did I create any of the content, I merely put it here for your use.
May you be blessed by this.
INTRODUCTION
The Stations of the Cross combine art, sculpture, and movement to recreate Christ’s walk to Calvary within the walls of the church, allowing the faithful to make a “pilgrimage to Jerusalem” and be drawn closer to the Christ who walked there.
The stations tradition developed during the time of the Crusades (12-13th cent.). Their number and subject matter have varied widely, from as many as 30 to as few as five. The 14 of current practice first appeared in the 16th century and were fixed in 1731 by Pope Clement XII, consisting of nine gospel scenes and five scenes from popular tradition.
While many have found the stations from tradition questionable, I have chosen to include them all. These stations are like parables with a message, much as Jesus taught in parables. The falls of Christ (stations 3, 7, 9) while not scriptural, could well have occurred in fact, given his all night interrogation, scourgings and loss of blood. Theologically, the falls witness to the weight of our sin which crushed Christ. Jesus’ encounter with Mary on the road to Calvary (station 4) simply expands on the same encounter at the crucifixion as recorded in John’s gospel.
The woman wiping Jesus’ face (station 6) likely derives from the veil with Christ’s image (i.e., vera icon, true image, hence the name Veronica) which has been kept in the Vatican since the 8th century. Without debating the veil’s authenticity, the station teaches that the true image of Christ occurs in our loving one another. To illustrate this, I have retitled the station and included the story of Jesus’ anointing by the woman of Bethany which begins the Passion narrative in all four gospels. The five stations from tradition may be omitted if desired.
The Stations of the Cross are intended to be a devotion that is prayed and walked by one or more persons, traditionally on Fridays, and especially during Lent. The stations themselves may be as simple as black paper crosses and Roman numerals along the walls of the nave, or as elaborate as the great artistic renderings available in church supply catalogs.
(Taken from liturgybytlw.com/ by Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel)
aSacredRebel 