The Stations of the Cross are a Catholic devotion which commemorates the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each of the fourteen stations represents an event which occurred during Jesus' Passion and death at Calvary on Good Friday.
The Stations were originally performed many centuries ago by Christian pilgrims who visited the Holy Land and the sites of Jesus' Passion. Promotion of the devotion to the Stations began in earnest with the Franciscans, who were given custody of the Holy Places in the Holy Land in the 1300s. Countless Catholics have all enriched their spiritual lives with this powerful devotion.
The Stations of the Cross, also called The Way of the Cross, is a devotion to the passion of Christ consisting of prayers and meditations on fourteen occurrences that were experienced by Christ on His way to the crucifixion. During the time of the crusades (1095-1270), it became popular for pilgrims in the Holy Land to walk in the footsteps of Jesus to Calvary. After the Moslems recaptured the Holy Land pilgrimages were too dangerous. As a result, the Stations of the Cross became a popular substitute pilgrimage throughout Europe. The Stations represented critical events from Scripture or tradition of Jesus' journey to Calvary. Originally done only outdoors, the Stations were allowed inside churches in the mid-18th century. Eventually fixed at fourteen, the Stations soon became a familiar feature in all Catholic churches. The devotion may be conducted personally by the faithful, making their way from one station to another and saying the prayers, or by having an officiating celebrant move from cross to cross while the faithful make the responses. The stations themselves must consist of, at the very least, fourteen wooden crosses, pictures alone do not suffice, and they must be blessed by someone with the authority to erect stations.
Origins of the Stations: 4th Century Jerusalem
The devotion originated in the late 4th century when pilgrims flocked to the Holy Land from all parts of the world to visit the land of Jesus. Heading the list of places they visited was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which had been built by the Emperor Constantine in 335 AD atop Calvary and the tomb of Jesus.
Processions of pilgrims to this church were common. Egeria, a woman from Gaul who traveled to the Holy Land in the 4th century, recalls in her diary how she joined Christians from all parts of the Roman world walking westward on Holy Thursday from the garden of Gethsemane to the church of the Holy Sepulcher, where they celebrated Jesus' death and resurrection.
Starting point, here you can offer a cadles and prayers to the Blessed Mary, in preparation for the Station of the cross.
FIRST STATION
Jesus is Condemned to Death
(John 3:16, Isaiah 53:7, John 18:33-John 19:1-16)
SECOND STATION
Jesus is Made to Bear His Cross
(Isaiah 53:4-6, Matthew 27:31, Luke 9:23)
THIRD STATION
Jesus Falls for the First Time
(Isaiah 53:6)
Procession of the sorrowful mother
FOURTH STATION
Jesus Meets His Mother
(John 19:25-27, John 16:22)
FIFTH STATION
Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
(Matthew 27:30-32, Matthew 25:40, Galatians 6:2)
Virgin of Manaoag
Origin
The patron of Manaoag is covered with mystical enchantment as her loving, compassionate face. People say that the town itself is named after the Virginís call, and so coining the term ìtaoagî, as to call, was named to the town.
Story has it that one day, the mysterious voice of the Virgin Lady is heard calling by a young man and looked around. With his awe and amazement, he fell on his knees as he saw the Lady in brilliant light, holding a rosary on her right hand, and on the left, a child, standing on a cloud atop a tree.
He told the people about the apparition, and soon, to exactly the same spot, a church was built, thus earning the name ìManaoagî.
History
It is the year of 1926, April 21st, the image was crowned by the Papal Nuncio, and on the Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1951.
In 1976, Manaoag received a flock of devotees who are expected to be an addition to the large number of believers of the Virgin Lady in her Golden Jubilee celebration.
SIXTH STATION
Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
(Isaiah 52:14, John 14:9)
SEVENTH STATION
Jesus Falls a Second Time
(Hebrews 4:15)
EIGHTH STATION
Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
(Luke 23:27-31, John 15:6)
NINTH STATION
Jesus Falls the Third Time
(Philippians 2:5-7, Luke 14:11)
TENTH STATION
Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
(John 19:23-25, Luke 14:33)
ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
(Psalm 22:17-18, Zechariah 12:10, Luke 23:33)
TWELFTH STATION
Jesus Dies on the Cross
(Luke 23:46, John 19:30, Philippians 2:8-9)
THIRTEENTH STATION
Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross
(Luke 23:50-53, John 19:31-37, Luke 24:26)
FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus is Laid in His Tomb
(Luke 23:50-56, John 19:38-42, John 12:24-25, Romans 6:10-11)
Fifteenth Station:
Jesus raised from the dead
Personal Reflection:
Have you ever taken time to thank God for your life, for some of the good things you have been able to do, for some of the people in your life, or for some of the good things that people have done for you? When you get up in the morning, do you say “Thanks” to God for your life and for the wonderful things you can see, hear, feel, taste, or smell?
How does your heart look when your heart is full of thanks? Take time to show your thankful heart to Jesus, and let Jesus let his love touch you.
Sixteenth Station
Jesus is risen
With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation. Isaiah 12 v 3
POV -Point of View:
On Good Friday it must have seemed like sin, evil, and death had the last word. It must have seemed like evil triumphed and good was defeated. It must have seemed like this Jesus of Nazareth, in whom so many people placed such great faith and hope, was just another charismatic, well-meaning, but ultimately misguided would-be Messiah.
But then Easter Sunday happened. God the Father overturned the world’s verdict against Jesus by raising him from the dead, thereby securing for us the victory over evil, sin, and death that we celebrate every Easter.
As we reflect on what God has done for us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, may our Easter celebration capture at least a little of that exuberance:)
