How does stations of the cross work

Let us pray for those who do not have faith in Christ. Let us pray for those who may be losing the faith they had in their life.

We can offer to pray for others, to listen, to share ocur witness of faith. We can offer by our actions and deeds to give witness to Christ in our world. We can be support, to provide a safe space for tears and fears to be shared. Jesus falls yet again, the third time.

Jesus uses all his strength to complete the way of the cross. We recognize the discouragement and exhaustion in friends and family in health crisis.

They too may fall with discouragement and the weight of the cross they carry. Let us pray for those currently who may be falling, who may be discouraged.

We pray for those who care for and journey with them, when they fall. We can offer a word of care, a word of support, a word of recognition for all they have endured as well as all that they continue to experience. Letting go of this world may be frightening and hold anxiety. Letting go of hopes and dreams for the future can be filled with so many various emotions.

Let us pray for those with new diagnosis in their health and for those approaching their final hours and days, for all who care and love them in endless ways. We can offer to listen as St. The final moments have arrived. The wounds Jesus has endured are physical as well as emotional and spiritual. These wounds will become the signs of life totally given for us all. Let us pray for all who are near their the end of their life here on earth, for their families and friends.

We pray for all who care for the sick and dying. We pray for those whose lives on earth are nearing the end. We can offer our care. We pray, we listen, we love without end. Jesus has hung on the cross for three hours of incredible pain and suffering.

Mary, his mother, Mary Magdalene and John hold vigil. Jesus speaks his final words and dies. We see their life end and our pain of loss may intensify. It is final.

Let us pray for all who have died. Let us prayer for their families and friends. We pray for all who care for the bereaved. We can offer to help carry the load in these days of deep pain and sadness. We begin a new journey of caring for the bereaved. Mary holds Jesus close. She is filled with sorrow. We too, may find ourselves filled with sorrow. Those final moments with our loved ones as they pass from our arms to the arms of Jesus are so precious. Let us pray for all who are embracing the reality of a death.

We pray for all who are experiencing the loss of a beloved by their death. We pray for those who are grieving and those who have died. We can offer to listen, to share memories, to hold space for another as we support them in their experience of grief. Of the fourteen stations, eight are preserved in Christian scripture, and six are preserved in Christian memory. For my church, I created twelve Stations of the Cross , which you can download and use.

To use the Stations of the Cross, post them at intervals inside a church or other building—or if the weather is nice, post them outdoors.

Now you just go for a nice walk, taking the stations in order. As you come to each one, stop, pray read the scriptures, pray the prayers, and contemplate the situation before moving on. As you walk from one to the next, your walking becomes a devotional act, because you are walking with Jesus as He walks to Calvary.

Here is a list of the Stations of the Cross that have been customary since the 19th century. If you have seen the movie The Passion of the Christ , you will recognize it as the framework from the script, as some of the events in the film correspond to Stations of the Cross that do not appear in Scripture.

Pilate found himself in a bind. He had to choose between what was politically expedient and what was right, so he did what was politically expedient and had Jesus crucified. It was Roman practice to scourge, whip, and insult a capital prisoner, then make him carry the crossbeam of the cross to the site of the crucifixion.

On the way, they made a public spectacle of the prisoner and encouraged the crowds to insult him. There is no scriptural reference that I can find that says directly that Jesus stumbled, but the fact that the soldiers had another man carry His cross for Him strongly implies it.

There is no scriptural reference of Jesus encountering His mother along the way to the site of the crucifixion, but it is very likely that it happened. There isn't a standard prayer for each station, but you can find many examples in guides or talk to your priest about example prayers.

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We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Related Articles. Method 1. Focus on Jesus' being condemned to death. In this first station, reflect on the moment Jesus is sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate. Jesus doesn't try to defend himself, even though he didn't commit the crimes.

Think of Jesus receiving the cross. In the second station, Jesus begins to carry the cross. In some traditions, he carries the whole cross, while in others, it's just the transverse beam. According to tradition, he has already been whipped, so the burden of the cross increases that pain. Fall under the cross with Jesus. The third station follows Christ as he takes his first fall. Though he is tired and wounded, he still gets back up and moves forward towards his Crucifixion.

He fell, and with strength of will, got back up. Pray on Mary, the mother of Jesus. In this station, the fourth one, Jesus meets his mother along the road. She is distraught at what her son is suffering, covered in blood and carrying a heavy burden, yet she can't lift it from him. Lift the cross with Simon the Cyrenian. In the fifth station, Jesus faints from exhaustion and pain.

Worried that Jesus might not make to the final crucifixion, the guards compel Simon to help him carry the cross. In the process, Simon becomes a follower of Christ. Attend to Jesus with Veronica. The religious context is that today Jesus wants to use any means available to move my heart to know his love for me.

These exercises can allow me to imaginatively visualize the "meaning" of his passion and death. The point of this exercise is to lead us to gratitude. It will also lead us into a sense of solidarity with all our brothers and sisters. In our busy, high tech lives we can easily get out of touch with the terrible suffering of real people in our world.

Journeying with Jesus in the Stations, allows us to imagine his entry into the experience of those who are tortured, unjustly accused or victimized, sitting on death row, carrying impossible burdens, facing terminal illnesses, or simply fatigued with life.

How to: Just go from one station to another. When "arriving" at a station, begin by looking carefully at the image itself. Click on the image there to enlarge the photo. See who is in the scene.