The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-04-21

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Virgin herself was the first one to
visit the Sacred Way which Our Lord
went on His journey to death. She
revealed to st. Bridget that after the
Ascension of her Son into Heaven she
constantly visited the places where
Jesus had suffered. The example of
| the Mother of God was initiated by
the Apostles and Disciples OF Jesus
as well as by the primitive Christians
! of Jerusalem.
In this way certain definite places
assumed special sacredness in the
minds of the early followers of Jesus,
| and with the growth of Christianity
and its extension to Gentle and Euro
| pean nations, this reverence for the
| places associated with our Lords
| Passion increased in course of time
until it found its loudest and most en-
phatic expression in the great West
crn movement known as the Crusades
Gradually as time went on and the
Saracens had again obtained posses
sion Of the Holy Land, the access to
the Holy Places became more difficult
owing to Mohammedan fanaticiSm
Therefore, some of those who had
personally visited the Sacred Shrines,
and others who had an ardent deyo-
ton to the memory of Our Lords
| SutferlngS, began to set up what might
be called monuments of the Sorrow
full Journey in religious houses or
in parishes. In many instances they
consisted only of pillars or crosses
erected at a traditional distance from
each other, in others little chapClS or
OratOriCS denoted some special myS-
terry Of the Passion. Sometimes these
were erected within a large church or
conyentual enclosure very much like
side-chapels. At other times they
were erected outside and apart in the
open grounds or along the way lead
ing up to some church on hill. The
number of Stations varies; in some
instances we find seven or ten, Or
even sixteen Stations. 1t was Pope
Clement XII. who, in 1871, fixed the
number definitely at fourteen.
| 1t is impossible to say with Ger
tainty who in the very first instance
introduced the practice of the Stations
| Of the Passion. We find them such
as described attached TO Dominican
and to Carmelite as well as to Fran
| ciScan foundations. But it is quite
certain that the intimate intercourse
of the Franciscan Fathers with the
! Holy Places, as their accredited Gus
| tOdians, led them to early take the
most prominent part in the develop
ment of this devotion. 1t is beyond
! doubt that it was entirely they who
won for the devotion its worldwide
popularity. Indeed, for long time
the devotion Of the Stations CT the
| Cross in its present form was eXclu.
! sively restricted to Franciscan
churches. 1t was only in 1871 that
leave was given by Pope Clement XII
TO have Stations erected in all
churches and chapels, and even then
the faculty of erection was still re-
stricted to the Franciscan order.
The greatest propagation of the de-
votion of the Way of the Cross that
ever lived was the Franciscan Saint,
Leonard of Port Maurice. This won
derful man erected personally as many
as 572 sets of Stations in the course
of his missionary labors. He obtained
leave from Pope Benedict XIV to eS-
tablish the Stations of the Cross in
the world famed Coliseum in Rome
during the jubilee Of 1850. He also
established in Rome a special con
| fraternity, the members of which I'M
| dertook to assemble in the Coliseum
every Sunday and Friday for the pub
lie performance of the Way of the
Cross. From that time may be said
| to date the universal popularity in
which the Stations in their present
and approved form have ever been
| held.