The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-03-21
THE WAY OF THE CROSS.


In every Catholic church, during this
holy season of Lent, writes Rev. ]. F.
S. in the Providence Visitor, a beauti-
full and inspiring ceremony may be
witnessed. The faithful are present
in large numbers, and are animated
with ardent devotion. Moving to the
solemn strains of the "Stabat Mater
a procession of the clergy and AGO.
lytes wends its way slowly around
the church, stopping before the pic
tured representations of various
events in the Passion of our Blessed
Lord. At each a meditation is read
setting forth the intensity of our Sa-
viour's suffering and the greatness of
His love for us, with earnest petitions
that Gods mercy and forgiveness
may be bestowed on His people. The
congregation, as it were, accompanies
Jesus Christ on that sorrowful journey
which began at the house of Plate
and ended in the sepulchre where the
lifeless body Of our Redeemer was
laid after He had died for us on the
cross of Calvary.
The whole devotion is replete with
sorrow, with penitential love towards
Him who gave His life for our saliva
ton; and it is, therefore, especially
appropriate for the holy season OF
Lent.
The Origin of the Stations.
In the early days of the Church,
when the spirit of faith was strong
in the souls of Christians, no hard
ship was deemed too great when
spiritual advantages were to be
gained. Vast multitudes of pilgrims
undertook the arduous journey to the
Holy Land, that they might visit the
places that had been hallowed by the
presence of our Blessed Saviour, and
especially those that had been sancti-
fed by His sufferings. Tradition had
preserved a very accurate knowledge
of these localities, and the devout pill
grims were accustomed to make what
we now call the Way of the Cross, at
the places which were the actual
scenes of our Lords Passion.
But Jerusalem became a Moham-
medan city, under the sway of the
Sultans; and even when the perilous
journey had been made, there was al
ways danger from the despotic gov
eminent and from the savage fanati-
cism of the Moslem people. The idea,
therefore, occurred to several devout
persons who had accomplished the
pilgrimage, that it would be we'll to
have some means of performing the
same devotion in a safer way and of
giving it's benefits to those who were
unable to make the journey to Pales-
tine. The Blessed Alvarez, a Domini-
can of Cordova, in Spain, is said to
have constructed several small chap
els, each containing a representation
of some event in our Lords suffer
ings. A similar practice was adopted
about 1850 by the Franciscan Minor
ties, who had been permitted by the
Sultan to take charge of the sepulchre
of our Blessed Lord at Jerusalem
and who erected Stations in many OIL
their European churches, so that al
pilgrims might make the journey in
spirit. 1t was Immediately seen thai
this was a most excellent devotion
we'll adapted to arouse in the hearts
of Christians a fervent spirit of con
triton and love of God; and it wa:
soon approved and recommended b!
the Holy See.
Pope Innocent XII, in 1894, reaftirm
=, ing the decree of his predecessors
declared that the indulgences granted
for visiting certain places in Pales
tine could be gained by all Francis
cans and all affiliated to that Order
by making the Way of the Cross de
voutly. Later, in 1926, Benedict Kill
extended these indulgences to all tn
faithful For some time afterwards
the Franciscan Fathers had the SOL
faculty of erecting Stations Il
churches, but this power is now glvel
to all Bishops, and they may delegat
it to their priests.
What Are the Stations?
It is a common but erroneous behe
that the Stations of the Cross are Tn
mixtures or reliefs or groups OF sta'
uary representing our Saviour on Hi
Journey to Calvary. These are no
the Stations. They are merely aid
TO devotion. The Stations, to whlc
the indulgences are attached, are tn
crosses. which must be of wood, an
80 Generally nlaced over the pie
lures. The latter are not essentia