The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-10-06
STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Imported for use in One of the New York
Episcopal Churches.

| Not little curiosity was excited in
the Custom House yesterday by num-
Der of bulky packages which passed
through free of duty on the affidavit of
Father j. Mckee Brown that they were
works of art for church decorations.
They were fourteen elaborate alto re-
llevos, constituting a complete set OF
the stations of the cross" illustrating
| fourteen significant incidents in the
later life of Christ
| It was not only the exquisite work
manship of the productions which elected
interest; but particularly the fact that
Father Brown is the rector of the Protes-
tant Episcopal church of St. Mary the
| Virgin, in West Forty fifth street, and
| that the stations" will be placed in his
| church.
| All Catholic churchesshave represen-
tations of this bitter period in the life OF
the Saviour. They are part of the Ro-
manist decorations, but there are several
ritualistic OF "high church" Episcopal
edifices which upon their walls bear
pictorial illustrations of the stations. +"
The special significance of the newly
| imported works of art is that they fur-
nish another example of the tendency
toward high church" in Episcopal cir,
cles here. These particular stations"
are among the most expensive ever ac-
quired by any church in America.
The church of st. Mary the Virgin is
known in the ecclesiastical world here
as a leader in the ritualistic wing OF the
denomination, and in taking this step 1t
has led the way for its sister churches In
the "high church, movement.
The stations which it has imported
were made by the same Holland manu-
| factory and in much the same way as
| those in preparation there for st. Pat
rick's Cathedral, the first three of which
have been finished and are now on ex-
hibition at the Worlds Fair.
Expert artists were engaged for several
months in preparing them. The rellets
are made of carton pierre, a stone COM
position, in cream tinting and gold, with
natural landscape background decora-
tions The figures are about three-quar-
| tiers life size and in full relief, so as to
stand completely free.
These are the subjects Jesus con-
demned to death; made to bear the
cross; falling the first time under the
cross: meets His afflicted Mother; Sim
on, the Cyrenian, helping Jesus to carry
the cross; Veronica wiping the face of
Jesus: Jesus falling the second time;
speaking to the daughter of Jerusalem;
falling the third time; stripped of his
garment; nailed to the cross; dying on
the cross; taken from the cross; and
placed in the sepulchre. In the catholic
Litany is written
Amy one who is in state of grace
may gain the many indulgences attached
by the Sovereign Pontiff to the Way OF
the Cross by
MAKING the round of the fourteen
stations; that is, going from one station
to another, when prevented from SO
doing by infirmity or narrowness OF the
place, by making some slight movement
and turning the following stations"
l saw Father Brown in the rectory of
his church, No. 1926 West Forty-fifth
street, last night and asked him whether
his congregation would arise and walk
before each station as it went through
the particular devotion pertaining to 1T.
II cannot say as to whether those Wor-
shipping will leave their pews or not, !"
replied Father Brown. THAT will depend
upon the room in the aisles and the con-
struction of the church. The leader,
whether. priest or layman, will walk
toward the representation at any rate
while the chorus makes responses.
Whether these exer cises will be accom-
panied by music or merely chanted l
have not decided, but I mean to make
the responses by the congregation a
feature. These devotions are set espec-
tally for Fridays in Lent and for Holy
Week.
@Our church is merely going back to
the forms of devotion used in the early
days of it's inception in England. We
are experiencing a reaction from which
we cali the dad days'-the days of the
Georges in England, when heretics spoke
with loud voice in France, England
and here. Tt was then the Episcopal
church was shorn of much of the ritual
istic devotion in its former exercises.
"You can not see Protestant Episcopal
clergymen going about the streets of
their parishes in London on Good Friday
as of old. ,g!r
At various places. they halt and con-
slider the spot station, be it the first
or the fourteenth, and there deliver the
sermonette of that station. This is then
followed by prayer and hymn sung by
the people who have gathered. Our de-
votional manuals or prayer books have
contained these special exercises for a
number of years; but few of our churches
use them"
The stations will be placed in the
church at once; but Father Brown had
not decided on the first day when the
new feature will be introduced in the
services. N. Y. Herald.