Friday Stations of the Cross - Via Crucis

Christ paid a debt he didn’t owe
Because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay

Stations of the Cross
Via Crucis

Via Dolorosa

On Friday during Lent it is customary to pray the Stations of the Cross. Sometimes this is done in community, other times privately. Some Friday’s time may permit reflection on only a few Stations, other Friday’s all fourteen.

Our lives are filled with difficult and challenging situations, praying the Stations is an opportunity to unite our problems with Christ knowing that we are never alone. The Lord wants to take care of us and guide us, “even when I walk through a dark valley, I fear no harm for you are at my side.” (Psalm 23:4)

Through His Incarnation Christ united His life to ours and is present with us in every moment. But He is with us differently than our loved ones, who are with us from the “outside,” struggling to understand, give advice or console. Jesus is with us from the “inside,” dwelling within our heart, His life united to ours forever. Our friends and family will leave at the end of the day going back to their homes and own personal struggles, but Jesus never leaves, He is one with our worries, difficulties, illnesses, and sorrows. He is the Sinless Suffering Servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) whose voluntary suffering atones for our sins. He knows well how to suffer, and it is precisely because He carried His Cross and suffered that the Lord fully understands what we go through daily.

The Stations are not strictly scriptural. We cannot reconstruct every detail of Christ’s journey from the courtyard of Pilate to the tomb where His body was laid. The traditional fourteen stations prayed, depict the challenges and difficulties Our sinless Lord carried for us, while imitating for us how we are to respond in times of difficulty, knowing that He is always present on our journey through all our joys and sorrows.

Pray the Stations of the Cross meditating on the Virtues along the Via Dolorosa

Pray the Stations of the Cross meditating on Religious Art accompanied to the Chant of the Stabat Mater

Pray the Stations of the Cross with meditations

Pray the Stations of the Cross with the art of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel Carmel California

For items related to the Stations of the Cross
please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures

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Sources
Catholic Encyclopedia: Way of the Cross http://www.newadvent.org/
John 19, Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23