The Stations of the Cross allows us to follow in the final footsteps of Jesus on his way to his crucifixion

By Anna Weaver | Hawaii Catholic Herald

The traditional 14 1) Christ is condemned to death 2) Jesus is made to carry the cross 3) Jesus falls the first time 4) Jesus meets his blessed Mother 5) the cross is laid on Simon of Cyrene 6) Veronica wipes the face of Jesus 7) Jesus falls the second time 8) Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem 9) Jesus falls the third time 10) Jesus is stripped of His garments and receives gall to drink 11) Jesus is nailed to the cross 12) Jesus dies on the cross 13) Jesus is taken down from the cross 14) Jesus is laid in the sepulcher Some churches offer an additional station to reflect on Jesus’ resurrection.

For most of the liturgical year a church’s Stations of the Cross go largely unnoticed. But during Lent, they receive renewed attention, particularly on Fridays when it’s common for parishes to offer this ancient traditional participatory devotion.

The Stations, also known as the Way of the Cross, originated with early Christian pilgrims who traveled to the Holy Land to follow in the final footsteps of Jesus on his way to his crucifixion.

During the Crusades, devotion to the Passion of Christ spread when the crusaders returned home and created small scenes to recreate the places they had visited in Jerusalem. When the Franciscans became guardians of the Holy Land in 1342, they promoted devotion to the Passion and the holy places that, by the 15th century, evolved into the series of shrines or “stations” we are familiar with.

The number of stations was standardized to 14 by Pope Clement XII in 1731. (See sidebar.)

Island Stations

Each parish in the Diocese of Honolulu has its own practice of the stations, though most services involve a priest, deacon or laity leading a walk to each station, usually hung in sequence around the perimeter of the church, with parishioners following along in a booklet.

Sts. Peter and Paul Parish by Ala Moana celebrates the Stations of the Cross at 11:15 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the Fridays of Lent.

Deacon Richard Abel, who leads the 6 p.m. service at Sts. Peter and Paul, says that devotions such as the Stations help Catholics reflect on their Lenten journey. “It never hurts to remind ourselves what Christ went through just so we have an opportunity for salvation,” he said.

St. Catherine School in Kapaa, Kauai, holds student-lead stations each Friday during Lent after morning Mass, in which parishioners are invited to participate.

The school’s Feb. 15 stations were held outdoors, with the school processing from the church to stones marking each Way of the Cross stop around the parish property and back to St. Catherine. Students took turns carrying a wooden cross and reading reflections.

Principal Celina Haigh said she thinks it’s important for the students to experience walking the stations outdoors from time to time rather than just in a church.

“When you’re walking outside and you’re tired and uncomfortable, you can begin to experience what Jesus experienced,” she said. “[The stations] are quite a beautiful and meaningful prayer.”

Holy Ghost Mission in Waiakoa, which is part of the Kula Catholic Community, is a historic church built by Portuguese immigrants in 1895.

“Holy Ghost is really special for the Stations,” said parishioner and parish historian Shirley DePonte.

Both the church’s altar and Stations of the Cross were hand-crafted by famed Austrian woodcarver Ferdinand Stuflesser and shipped to Hawaii at no small cost for the small, working class church community.

Each station description is written in Portuguese. DePonte says that the church, along with the altar and stations, underwent a restoration in 1991, so today the stations gleam in full color probably just as brightly as they did more than a hundred years ago.

Today, because of the uniqueness of the stations, the Kula Catholic Community holds its Lenten Way of the Cross services at Holy Ghost on Friday evenings rather than at the larger parish church of Our Lady Queen of Angels.

Participating in the Stations of the Cross, DePonte says, “just helps bring you into Lent and reminds you of the meaning of the season.”