Walking
with Jesus through the Stations of the Cross
By
Cardinal Justin Rigali
An image of intimacy
One of the beautiful images of human intimacy that we can contemplate
is the concept of walking with someone in friendship and love. Many
of you spend some time at the Shore during the summer and perhaps you
walk along the Boardwalk. If you observe those around you, you will
see many beautiful images by watching those who walk with one another:
young couples in the freshness of their love, the laughter of friends
walking side by side, older couples who have borne the heat and burden
of the day and who continue to love and support one another, and perhaps
someone who is not physically walking but using a wheelchair for mobility
and enjoying the same opportunity in a different way. All of these images
are a great tribute to the marvel of the human person and his or her
capacity for friendship and love. We are made in such a way that we
do not have to walk the journey of life alone, but in the company of
friends and family with whom we can have a relationship of intimacy
and mutual support.
This concept of a journey taken together is also found in the Gospels.
We all know the story of our Lord meeting His disciples on the road
to Emmaus and walking with them in such intimacy that they later said
to each other: “Were not our hearts burning within us as he spoke
to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32).
Our Lord also tells us that He is “the way, the truth and the
life” (John 14:6), and one of the ways in which we can translate
verse two of the fifth chapter of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians
is: “walk in love,” using this image once again.
Jesus Himself made a journey for our salvation. This journey was His
walk to His saving Death while carrying His Cross. During the liturgical
season of Lent, we reflect upon our own journey of life, which should
have as its map the words and example of Jesus. We ask Him in prayer
and song during this season to allow us to walk with Him as true cooperators
in the work of our own salvation. We do this by practicing a greater
spirit of prayer and reflection, self-denial and almsgiving. There is
another way in which we can walk with Jesus on His journey, which is
familiar to many Catholics, especially in the Lenten Season: the Stations
of the Cross. Let us look at this means of increased intimacy with our
Lord and His saving Death this week.
Origin of this devotion
In the year 313, the Roman Emperor Constantine ended the persecution
of Christians and made Christianity the religion of the Empire. With
this freedom came the desire of Christians to visit the places where
Jesus carried out the work of our salvation. Pilgrimages to what came
to be known as the Holy Land became very popular. Saint Jerome (ca.
347-420) relates that many pilgrims were already making this journey
in his time. One of the goals of these pilgrimages was to walk in the
footsteps of Jesus, recalling the events that the Gospels and tradition
relate as occurring on His journey to Calvary. Markers came to be placed
at the sites of these events. It became natural to pause at these places
and recall with faith and love the saving work of our Redemption and
all that Jesus suffered for us on that journey to His Death, which brought
about our salvation.
As the known world expanded and as travel became more difficult because
of wars and unsettled conditions, the opportunity for all Christians
to make this pilgrimage became more and more rare. However, the desire
to walk that road with Jesus, and reflect on what the cost of our salvation
was, remained with Christians long after it became difficult for all
actually to visit the places where these events occurred. Gradually,
over the centuries, the custom grew up whereby “stations”
were erected in Church buildings and public places. These stations at
first varied in number and included many more than our present fourteen
scenes connected with the Passion. Images were often added at each station
so that the individual could be aided in reflecting on the events that
led Jesus to the Cross. This journey and what it cost Jesus and our
desire to walk with Him in intimacy come to mind when we read the words
of Isaiah: “Yet it was our infirmities he bore, our sufferings
that he endured. Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole.
We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the
Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6).
The Stations of the Cross, as we know them today, are made up of fourteen
events that occurred on the road to Calvary. This number was settled
upon by Pope Clement XII in 1731. They are generally placed in such
a way that we need to make a little journey ourselves as we go from
Station to Station. However, those who are prevented from doing so,
especially the sick, can reflect on each Station without going to an
actual site in a church where the Stations have been erected, and still
gain the indulgence attached to this practice. Often, in a parish setting,
for practical reasons the faithful remain in their places but the priest
or deacon and the servers often walk around the Stations representing
all the faithful. Certainly it is possible to reflect on these fourteen
events using our own thoughts. We can think of the scene represented
at each Station and then draw some lesson for our own Christian lives.
It has also become popular to use booklets, which give us a form of
reflection on each event to help us meditate properly. There are many
of these but one of the most beloved and most famous are those reflections
on the Stations written by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori (1696-1787). Saint
Alphonsus, who was a civil lawyer, founder of a religious congregation,
moral theologian, doctor of the Church and author of many books and
hymns was still able to write, with great simplicity and love, these
reflections which have become dear to so many Catholics for so long.
Our local celebrations of the Stations of the Cross
It is interesting to note that our beautiful Cathedral Basilica of Saints
Peter and Paul, as far as we know, never had images of the Stations
of the Cross! It was a great joy recently to be able to have magnificent
images of the fourteen Stations of the Cross erected in the Cathedral.
Although so many say that they look as though they have always been
there, the fact is that they were taken from the former Saint Boniface
Church in Philadelphia. It is touching to call to mind that these images,
which were looked upon reverently by so many people for so long, will
continue to lift up the minds and hearts of the faithful who visit our
Cathedral and seek to walk with Jesus on His journey to Calvary and
on their journey of the Christian life.
In your own parishes, no doubt, you have wonderful images of the Stations
of the Cross. Be sure to look at them more closely next time you are
in your parish church. Look at the Lenten schedule that your parish
offers and try to “make the Stations,” as we say, during
this season of Lent. For those of you who are sick or homebound, you
bring a special grace to your praying of the Stations because you are
already sharing in the suffering of Jesus in a more intimate way. He
is your companion, just as you are His as you seek to do His will in
the midst of your suffering just as He did the will of His Father.
Stations of the Cross on Good Friday at Saint Charles Seminary
Recently, we began a new tradition in our Archdiocese. In imitation
of our Holy Father, who walks and prays the Stations of the Cross in
the Roman Coliseum on Good Friday, we began a devotion of the Stations
on the grounds of Saint Charles Seminary on Good Friday evening. In
a very special way I invite you to be present on the grounds of Saint
Charles Seminary on Good Friday evening, March 21, beginning at 7:30
for this year’s re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross. Those
who have attended have found it to be a very moving experience and so
I ask you seriously to consider this invitation to join me on that evening,
especially in this Bicentennial Year of our Archdiocese.
Our journey
God has willed that each one of us exist. In fact, we can say that,
in a certain way, He felt that His world would be incomplete if any
of us were not a part of it. This is why He allowed us to come into
existence. He asks you to make the journey of your own life using His
teaching and example as your road map. His own great journey to Calvary
made it possible for us to experience mercy and hope in our own earthly
journey. As we have reflected on the moving devotion of the Stations
of the Cross, we can conclude with some of the famous words of Saint
Alphonsus, which are found in the meditations He wrote for this devotion:
My Lord Jesus Christ, you have made this journey to die for me with
a loving heart, while I have turned my back on you so many times. But
now I love you with my whole heart, and because I love you, I sincerely
repent for ever having offended you. Pardon me, my God, and permit me
to accompany you on this journey. You go to die for love of me. I wish
also, my beloved Redeemer, to die with love for you. My Jesus, I will
live and die always united to you. Amen.
February 7, 2008
Cardinal
Rigali's Lenten Letter 2008