The Stations of the Cross began quite naturally in the days of the Apostles, just after the Crucifixion.  You can imagine John or one of the others saying; “It’s quiet outside – anyone want to go over that journey with me?”  And perhaps half a dozen would say: “Yes, I would like to come with you.”  So together they would start out from Pilate’s Court and make their way along that ‘Road’ – which soon became known as The Via Dolorosa –The Way of Sorrows.  Every now and then they would stop and John would say: “This is where He fell”; “this is where His Mother met Him”; “it was here by this gate that He spoke to some people who were weeping”.  Then they would all stand still on that very spot and think and pray.  Then they would walk on, pausing here and there, until they arrived at Calvary.  The Way of the Cross took hold of people’s hearts – it brought them very near to the sufferings of their Lord.

Today, many churches have a set of fourteen plaques representing the events that took place on that Journey.  During Lent we go over this Journey together in much the same way as the Apostles did in those early days.

What have we come for?

We have come to ponder and to pray.  The word ‘station’ means a place to stop, to stand still.  The Stations of the Cross are places along the road where we can enter and accept a mystery we might otherwise be too busy, angry, or discouraged to consider.

The Way if the Cross is a special kind of prayer.  It is a drama.  Drama is not an artificial thing; a play is not a diversion from real life.  A good play is more real than anything we are used to calling real.  Drama turns life inside out to show us what it means.  The walking and waiting that this prayer involves are part of the prayer, for they are part of the play.