Stations of the Cross

What is this? Isn’t this just an old fashioned thing left over from a former time when people had more time to devote to going to a church building to pray? This is one of the misconceptions we have about praying the Stations of the Cross during Lent or for that matter anytime during the year.

The Stations can be prayed anytime and anywhere. Yes, it is easier to do this in a church building where you can follow the stations and pray at each one. Although, if you have a prayer book for the Stations of the Cross or have them memorized you can pray them anytime and anywhere.

The Stations of the Cross take us through the last several hours of Jesus’ life before his crucifixion, the crucifixion itself and his being placed in the tomb. There are many times during our lives that the journey we are on may parallel those steps. We may have traveled the journey of an illness either our own or that of a loved one. Or we may have seen up close and even personal the loss of a home due to fire, flood or storm. All of these are our own journeys to Calvary and then beyond.

If you have a chance during Lent to attend the Stations of the Cross prayer on Friday afternoons at St. Olaf beginning at 4:00 PM make the effort to do so. This time may be inconvenient and if it is check around to see if other parishes in the area offer them at different time. Or, you may want to check out the Lent resources that are on the table outside the door to the parish library there are several Stations prayer books you could check out so you can pray them at your convenience at home