Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested; fresco painting Cappella Scrovegni
(Arena Chapel), Padova  by Giotto di Bondone 1266-1337 courtesy Wikimedia                             

                            STATIONS OF THE CROSS                                   
ALSO KNOWN AS "THE WAY OF THE CROSS 

The Stations of the cross are a Catholic devotion commenorating the stops along the Via Dolorosa (Latin for "way of sorrow"), Jesus' journey of about a mile from Pilate's court, the praetorium, to Calvary and the tomb. Legend has it that Mary often retraced the sorrowful way her son made on Good Friday. At each station there is an image depicting scenes from the Good Friday journey Jesus made, and the person or group "making" the stations stops at each one and prays and meditates briefly on each incident of the passion.  

In today's church there are usually 14 stations. Depictions of these stations are most frequently found mounted on the walls below small crosses. They usually are arranged at intervals around the walls of the church. The Stations may be of stone, wood, or metal, sculpted or carved, or painting or engravings. In Saint Turibius Chapel at the Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio, the Stations are stone tiles set into the floor. Sometimes the Stations are found outdoors, especially on roads leading to a church or shrine. At Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Picayune, Mississippi, there is a special Prayer Garden next to the church with Stations of the Cross. In the eighteenth century Pope Benedict XIV (1740-58) declared the Colosseum (Rome) sanctified by the blood of early Christian martyrs and added Stations of the Cross to the arena. One of the most popularly attended Ways of the Cross presently is in the Colosseum, where every Friday the devotion of the Stations is conducted publicly by a Franciscan Father, and each Good Friday the Pope leads a torch lit Way of the Cross procession around the amphitheatre.

From an early date pilgrims to the Holy Land would follow in the footsteps of Jesus on his way to Calvary. In the later Middle Ages, generally the 1200s and 1300s, Christians found practicing and passing on their faith extremely difficult. A variety of expressions of prayer and faith such as the rosary (Dominicans) were developed. The Franciscan Order assumed guardianship of Jerusalem's Catholic shrines in 1335, and established a fixed route for pilgrims to follow between the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the house of Pilate. In the fifteenth century, the direction that pilgrims traveled between these two sites was reversed so that they could literally follow in the footsteps of Christ toward Calvary. Outdoor replicas of the Via Dolorosa began to appear in Europe (first in Germany) in the late fifteenth century. An Italian Franciscan, Saint Leonard of Port Maurice (+1751) undertook a campaign in 1712 to erect Stations of the Cross in every parish church. By his death in1751, Father Leonard had blessed over 570 newly erected Stations of the Cross, and was responsible for influencing erecting several thousand others across Italy.*

The Stations of the Cross was and is a devotion serving as both a prayer and a sort of catechism about the sufferings of Christ. It also enables those, then and now, who could not afford the rigors and expense of a long pilgrimage to the Holy Land to participate in the Passion of Jesus in their own parish churches and villages. The Stations of the Cross have evolved over the years---at one time they numbered 43. The 14 stations as we know them today stabilized under the reign of Pope Clement XII (1731) and are prescribed by that authority.

The technique used to made the Stations of the Cross for Our Lady of Peace Church is an ancient form of art found to be very prevalent in Poland and neighboring countries, called "incrustation." By American or English terms could be translated to "in-laids." The wood itself is solid white maple, used for its hardness, yet very workable. Many natural wood stains are then applied after the art work is completed: copper, bronze, brass and aluminum are worked into the wood by hand. Each line is first engraved then the metal is pounded into these lines. The colors are painted in, which is normally called polychromed. These are then sanded many times to darken or lighten as desired. The final state is to hand rub with various grades of sandpaper and steel wool, until both wood and metal is polished. Three coats of wax are then applied, both hot and cold and again rubbed. This technique is also found to be done with appliques of gold leaf and platinum foil. Work somewhat similar to this was highly developed by Greek artisans in the prime of Byzantine arts and can often be found in many art museums of the world. Due to the very nature of the work, each piece is an original and impossible to duplicate exactly.

Through the Stations of the Cross, Catholics believe they can take that walk, a spiritual pilgrimage, with Jesus. It allows them to reflect on his sacrifice, repent for their sins and prepare for the life to come. It may be done at any time, but is most commonly done during the Season of Lent, especially on Good Friday.

	Station One Jesus is condemned to death. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that every one who believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life."    (John 3:16)
Station Two                 Jesus carries his cross. "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)
	Station Three                    Jesus falls for the first time. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaish 53:6)
Station Four                 Jesus meets his mother. "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow..."           (Lamentations 1:12)
	Station Five                 Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross. "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."  (Matthew 25:40)
Station Six              Veronica wipes the face  of Jesus. "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father."             (John 14:9)
	Station Seven              Jesus falls a second time. "Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."    (Matthew 11:28)
Station Eight                Jesus meets the women  of Jerusalem. "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children."  (Luke 23:28)
	Station Nine                 Jesus falls a third time. "For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."   (Luke 14:11)
Station Ten                  Jesus is stripped of his garments. "...none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."  (Luke 14:33)
	Station Eleven             Jesus is nailed to the cross.  "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me."   (John 6:38)
Station Twelve            Jesus dies on the cross. "And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death---even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:7-8)
	Station Thirteen          Jesus is taken down    from the cross. "Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?"   (Luke 24:26)
Station Fourteen        Jesus is placed in the tomb. "...unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."   (John 12:24)