Stations of the Cross date back to the fourth century

By Tim Puet, from http://www.catholic newsagency. com

The Stations of the Cross in the form most American Catholics know best are of comparatively recent vintage in Church terms, dating back to the year the U.S. Constitution was ratified. However, their history goes back well before that, to the days when pilgrims were first openly able to go to Jerusalem and walk in the footsteps of Jesus on Good Friday.

The emperor Constantine permitted Christians to legally worship in the Roman Empire in 313 after 250 years of persecution. In 335, he erected the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the site where Jesus’ tomb was believed to have been laid to rest. Processions of pilgrims to the church, especially during Holy Week, began soon after its completion.

A woman named Egeria, a pilgrim from France, described one such pilgrimage which took place in the fourth century. The bishop of Jerusalem and about 200 pilgrims began “at the first cockcrow” at the site of Jesus’ agony on Holy Thursday night. They said a prayer, sung a hymn, and heard a Gospel passage, then went to the garden of
Gethsemane and repeated the procedure.

They continued to Jerusalem itself, “reaching the (city) gate about the time when one man begins to recognize another, and thence right on through the midst of the city. All, to a man, both great and small, rich and poor, all are ready there, for on that special day not a soul withdraws from the vigils until morning,” Egeria wrote.

Pilgrimages eventually took a fixed route from the ruins of the Fortress Antonia, where Pilate had his judgment hall, to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. That route through Jerusalem’s Old City gained acceptance as the way Jesus went to his death and remains unchanged today. It is known as the Via Dolorosa, Latin for the “Sorrowful Way.”

Stops developed on the way to note specific events on the road to Calvary. In many cases, the pilgrims could only guess where some incidents took place because Jerusalem had been almost completely destroyed by Roman armies in 70 A.D.

The pilgrims brought back oil from the lamps that burned around Jesus’ tomb and relics from the holy places, and sometimes tried to recreate in Europe what they had seen in the Holy Land. The Moslem conquest of Palestine in the seventh century made such shrines more significant, since it made travel to the Holy Land dangerous.

Devotions to the Way of the Cross began in earnest after 1342, when the Franciscan friars were given custody of the holy sites in the Holy Land. The Franciscans have been closely identified with the devotion ever since; for years, Church regulations required a set of the stations to be blessed by a Franciscan when possible.

The number of stations varied widely, with some manuals of devotion listing as many as 37. The term “stations” in describing the Way of the Cross was first used in the narrative of an English pilgrim, William Wey, who visited the Holy Land twice in the 15th century.

Depictions of the events described in the Stations did not start becoming common in churches until Pope Innocent XI permitted the Franciscans in 1686 to erect such displays in all their churches. He also declared that all indulgences given for visiting the sacred sites in the Holy Land would apply to any Franciscan or Franciscan lay affiliate visiting a set of stations in a church.

Pope Benedict XIII extended that privilege to all the faithful in 1726. Five years later, Pope Clement XII allowed all churches to have stations and fixed the number at 14, where it has been ever since. In recent years, many churches have included the Resurrection as a 15th station. Benedict XIV specifically urged every church in 1742 to enrich its sanctuary with stations.

Two Franciscans of the era did much to spread the popes’ wishes. St. Leonard of Port-Maurice erected stations at more than 500 churches in Italy, and St. Alphonsus Ligouri in 1787 wrote the version of the Stations that most Americans recognize because it was used in most churches in the United States throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

It has become standard for Catholic churches to recite the prayers related to the Stations on the Fridays of Lent. Many churches have two services, one in the afternoon, mainly for schoolchildren, and one in the evening. Some Protestant churches, especially those belonging to the Episcopal or Lutheran denominations, have made the devotion part of their Lenten activities, particularly on Good Friday.

The traditional 14 stations are as follows: Jesus is condemned to death; Jesus takes up his cross; Jesus falls the first time; Jesus meets his mother; Simon of Cyrene carries the cross; Veronica wipes the face of Jesus; Jesus falls the second time; Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem; Jesus falls the third time; Jesus is stripped of his garments; Jesus is nailed to the cross; Jesus is crucified; Jesus is taken down from the cross; Jesus’ body is laid in the tomb.

The third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and ninth stations are not specifically described in the Gospels, nor is St. Alphonsus’ depiction in the 13th station of Jesus’ body being laid in the arms of his mother.

In order to provide a version more specifically aligned with biblical accounts, Pope John Paul II introduced the Scriptural Way of the Cross on Good Friday in 1991 and celebrated that form every year thereafter at the Colosseum in Rome. Pope Benedict approved it for meditation and public celebration in 2007.

This version has the following stations: Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane; Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested; Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin; Jesus is denied by Peter; Jesus is judged by Pilate; Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns; Jesus takes up his cross; Simon helps Jesus carry his cross; Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem; Jesus is crucified; Jesus promises a place in his kingdom to the good thief; Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other; Jesus dies on the cross; Jesus is laid in the tomb.

Franciscans have a long tradition of celebrating the Stations in the Colosseum on Fridays. John Paul made the observance an annual part of his Holy Week calendar on Good Friday. He carried a cross himself from station to station until age and infirmity limited his strength. Days before his death in 2005, he observed the Stations from his
private chapel in the Vatican.

Pope Benedict XVI has continued the tradition. Each year, a different person is invited to write the meditation text for the pope’s Stations. Past composers of the papal Stations include several non-Catholics. John Paul wrote the text himself in 2000 and used the traditional stations.

Thirteen specially constructed biblical stations were erected around the city of Sydney, Australia, this past July 27 for an observance of the Stations at World Youth Day. They started with the Last Supper at St. Mary’s Cathedral and the agony in the garden at Domain Park and ended in Darling Harbor, where the sunset provided a dramatic
backdrop for three crosses erected at the site.

More than 2 million people took part, with 500 million more watching worldwide on television. This may have been the largest gathering ever for the devotion.

Thank You for the scars!

Recently, I was going through a difficult time. I don’t know how it is for others, but when things are not going too well, I not only dwell on what is the current source of my frustration, but also things that have gone badly in the past. During one of my “mopey” moods, this verse from the song ‘Circle of Life’ (Movie- The Lion King) popped into my mind:

“Some of us fall by the wayside

And some of us soar to the stars

But some of us sail through our troubles

And some have to live with the scars”

Of course, my mind latched on to the last line, “Some have to live with the scars”. And I thought to myself; “I have so many scars already, only God knows how many more I will collect till the end of my life!”.

At that moment, The Good Lord reminded me of something I learned in my immunology class years ago- ‘Scar formation is a natural part of the healing process. An injury does not become a scar until the wound has completely healed.’

That meant only one thing: If a scar was forming, it meant the wound was healing. The body was attempting a repair.

I understood that I could choose to look at scars either as reminders of the hurt people had inflicted on me/ bad decisions I had made and deeply regretted/mishaps and accidents that left me wounded or in pain… OR as reminders of how The Good Lord stepped into situations of brokenness and destruction and set me on the path of healing and restoration; gave me beauty for ashes; gave me hope in a situation of despair; resurrected me from emotional and spiritual death.

I could look at scars and either remember the pain of betrayal, the wound deceit had inflicted OR the faithfulness and unchanging love of God and His power to redeem and renew, transform and restore.

The Lord reminded me of a mishap that occurred when I was 7 years old. A group of friends and I were playing in school atop a flight of stairs. Someone rammed into me at full speed and both of us went hurtling down the flight of stairs. The left side of my head hit a table which had nails jutting out and one of the nails cut the side of my face just half an inch from my left eye. I began bleeding profusely and was rushed to a nearby hospital and received medical attention. I had to wear a huge dressing on the wound for the next one month, but thankfully no permanent damage was done.

I still have the scar of the wound. It reminds me of God’s powerful protection and incredible mercy. I shudder at what would have happened had the nail pierced my eye.

When I look at Jesus’ scars, they remind me of what He did for me. How He loved me so much that He went through the agony in the Garden, scourging, crowning with thorns; He faced the mocking crowd which hurled insults at Him and death by crucifixion.

He rose to new life. But He still has the scars.

When The Lord heals/delivers/resurrects us, we too may still have the scars. But we will be overcomers; victors; more than conquerors through Him Who loved us.

—
Image used (c) Volkertoons

Reflections on Gethsemane

One of the most poignant and heart rending scenes in the Bible is that of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. I believe this is where we see the Humanity of Jesus so clearly and distinctly. Where He takes on our frail human nature with all its vulnerability.

We see Him go to the Garden of Gethsemane with Peter, James and John in tow. His closest apostles. Those who saw His glory when He was transfigured at Mount Tabor. They will now see His frailty at the Mount of Olives.

Jesus wanted His apostles to share not just His glorious moments, but also His moments of deepest anguish.

I think how that contrasts with me happily sharing about my successes, good things that come my way, but being quiet about the unpleasant stuff; going into a shell when times are bad and not wanting people to know what I’m going through…

He tells them His soul is sorrowful unto death. Deep distress has engulfed Him. He desires the company of His Friends. So human.

He feels disappointed when instead He sees them fast asleep. Not once or twice, but all three times.
He can identify with our hurt and disappointment when we go through hard times and our friends do not stand by us. When our friends cannot grasp the depth of our pain; cannot fathom the anguish deep within.

We see Him pleading with His Father to take away the cup of suffering, to let the hour pass Him by. I think of how we too recoil from suffering. Our flesh revolts, tries to avoid suffering. And Jesus understands this, because He has been there too.

He knows the horrors that await Him, but I think what really gets to Him is that He knows He will feel abandoned and forsaken by His Father Whom He was so closely and intimately united with. As He is taking on Himself the sins of all of us, He will also feel the sense of alienation and desolation that one who has wandered from the loving arms of God feels.

But what strikes me are His words- Not My Will, but Yours. Total submission to The Father’s Will. He chose to be obedient to His Father, to accept and drink the cup of suffering to its dregs. He did not tell The Father, He would accept the scourging but not the crucifixion. That He didn’t mind being crowned with thorns, but did not want to be stripped. And thus, He is an example to all of us of implicit obedience to The Father’s Will. Of saying yes even when the cost is too great, the price is high.

When it means giving up things that will take us away from fulfilling God’s mandate for our lives. When it means taking the road that is rough and hard and obstacle ridden, instead of the easy, smooth road. When it means letting go of our ideas, dreams, wishes, plans and ambitions which may be good but not HIS will for us and letting His desires become our desires.

When it means dying to ourselves, so that the glory of God is reflected more clearly and brightly through us.

Rejoice in The Lord.. Always?

There are times and situations in life when the words “Rejoice in the Lord always” seem so out of place.

How can one rejoice when one is going through a difficult time- a death in the family, a terminal illness, betrayal by a loved one, getting laid off from a job, being the victim of malicious gossip..? How can one find “joy in the journey” when the journey is long and tiring, the skies are dark, the path is strewn with stones and pebbles, when one feels friendless and alone?

Recently, I went through some tough times. And it was amazing because just after having a difficult conversation which left me rather weepy, I heard an amazing talk on “Joy in unlikely places.” Every word spoke to my situation. And I remember thinking; the Israelite had to wait for 700 years for the prophecy of the Messiah to be fulfilled but thankfully, we don’t have to wait that long to know the comfort of The God Who loves us so much.

I also remember what I heard in that sharing was so timely, so providential - The Lord God knew I would go through a time of pain that morning and so, also comforted me with those words, truly, He binds up the brokenhearted, He bandages their wounds, He strikes us but He will also heal us.

I also understood that morning that joy comes from knowing the unchanging, unconditional love of a faithful God. Thus, even in the midst of disaster, I can be truly joyful because I know I am loved by a God Who is in control even when all else seems chaotic and out of control. I will still grieve, I will still shed tears, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel, hope springs eternal, His love will take me through the worst storm, His grace will sustain me.

I made a decision to be deliberate about choosing joy. Now, this does not mean that I go about with a plastic smile on my face declaring ‘ALL EEJ WELL”. No, that would be fake. It does not mean that I deny the reality of my circumstances and pretend I have no pain.

To me, choosing joy means acknowledging what is happening around me, accepting that this is a difficult time, even mourning and grieving; but simultaneously looking to God, proclaiming He is sovereign, He is in control and He knows what He is doing, even when I don’t really understand. And, that He will hold me together when everything seems to be falling apart; nothing can separate me from His love, nothing will ever diminish His love for me and there is NOTHING that He cannot handle.

With this frame of mind, yes, it is possible to Rejoice in the Lord always!

Lost and Found

Recently my darling pet dog Raffy ran away when the front door was open for a little while.

I went to search for him; at first, thinking he might be in the building compound itself, I did not change from my nightclothes. However, there was no sign of him. Thinking it would not be appropriate to go looking for him on the road, dressed in my nightclothes, I went home, changed and resumed my search. I went left, then right, asking people on the road if they had seen him. No luck.

I kept praying and suddenly, The Lord inspired me to return to my building and search in the compound. Voila, as I turned a corner, he came bounding towards me and meekly allowed me to put on his leash and lead him home.

As I was getting dressed to go to Church later, it suddenly struck me. The dog was so happy (and relieved) when I found him, because he thought he was lost. I remembered how when God found me, I was happy in the initial phases. Then, slowly, there was pressure from people in general to conform to what their idea of “someone who is with The Lord” should be. “If you are with the Lord, you cannot do this.” “If you are with the Lord, you cannot do that.” “You cannot wear these clothes.” “You cannot go there.” I began to view God as a killjoy.

In my weakest moments, I even began thinking, “My friends have all the fun. Why didn’t God find me 10 years later????” I completely understood what Adam and Eve must have felt when the serpent pointed out to them that God had denied them access to the fruit of “that” tree. Like them, I too took my eyes off the many things God had blessed me with and only focused on what He had “denied” me. There were times of intense struggle between what was spiritual and what was of my flesh. Occasionally, my flesh won.

But through it all, God was faithful.

He pursued me like the Hound of Heaven, finding me time and again when I chose to follow the way of the world and get lost. When I fell into pits, God would come and lift me out of them. When I got entangled in thorny bushes, God would extricate me from them. Experiencing His relentless love and limitless mercy, I “found” God. As in, understood that He was a Loving Father, Whose love did not fluctuate like the sensex, Whose love is unconditional, Whose love is unchanging. I saw Him as a Good Shepherd Who would go after the lost sheep and bring it back to safety.

Even the 10 Commandments which earlier seemed restrictive, with all the “Thou shall nots” were examples of His Fatherly love for me. I understood that if I was a parent, I too would have rules for my children, because I love them.

Because I do not want them to go astray. Because I want them to do well in life. Because I don’t want them to make the same mistakes. Because by virtue of being older and more experienced, I could see the likely pitfalls if they proceeded in a certain direction. And I thank God that through it all, He loved me and always invited me to return to Him and remain in Him. I thank God that His love endures forever. I thank God that His endless mercy follows me and His goodness will lead me home.

The Bamboo Tree & the Purpose of Suffering

Bible verse: Luke 22:19- “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

There is a story about a bamboo tree that stood tall and proud in his Master’s garden. Because the Master came to admire it every day, the tree felt happy and wanted. One day, the Master told the tree it was needed for a special purpose and would have to be cut down.

The bamboo tree felt sad and angry and it cried for a long time. But because it knew the Master wanted to use him for another purpose, it finally bowed and said, “Take me, Master, cut me down and use me for whatever you will.”

The master took the bamboo tree and cut it down, slashed off all its beautiful branches and leaves, cut it in half and tore out its core. Then he laid the tall tree on the ground, joining it to a clear stream.

The water ran from the stream through the tree’s hollow channel onto the rice fields.
When autumn came, the fields looked magnificent, full of beautiful yellow rice that became the nurturing grain for many people.

The bamboo tree saw this and became happy again. In its health, it was beautiful and glorious; in its brokenness and humility, it became more glorious as the channel of life for many people.

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What do we do when we run out of wine?

John 2, 1-10 which speaks of The Wedding Feast of Cana is one Bible passage that greatly inspires me.

We see Jesus, His Mother and the disciples at a wedding. When the wine runs out, Jesus’ mother somehow comes to know and tells Him, “They have no wine.”

At this juncture, let’s reflect on the pre-wedding day preparations. The families of the bride and groom must have spared no time, effort, money to make sure the wedding reception would go well. They must have spent time deciding on the venue, whom to invite, what the menu and refreshments should be. They must have cooked the best food, acquired the best wine they could afford; in short, gone all out to ensure that the day was one which would be memorable and talked about for a long time to come.

In our lives too, we make plans. We prepare checklists. We go through these lists time and again to see if we have missed out on anything. We even try to anticipate what could possibly go wrong, where the gaps could be, and work to plug them.

And then, something unexpected happens. Something we never thought or prepared for.
Everything gets thrown out of gear.

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On Biblical and Other Modern Stones

While reading Mark 16, 1-8, a couple of things struck me:

1. The women going at sunrise to the tomb to anoint The Body of Jesus
2. The women wondering who would roll away the stone at the entrance of the tomb, and finding out when they reached the tomb that the stone had been rolled away and Jesus had risen.

With regard to the first point, the very fact that the women were going at sunrise to the tomb means they were possibly waiting for the first ray of sunshine so that they could set out. Maybe, it won’t be too far fetched to assume that they hardly slept, if at all. One can see their deep love for Jesus and a desire to serve Him by anointing that same Body that had been so brutally and cruelly treated in the recent past.

Going by the events of Good Friday, I am sure the women were mourning and grieving and the atmosphere was one of sorrow. Had The Body of Jesus been in the tomb, it would certainly not have been a pleasant sight; with holes in The Hands and Feet and lacerations on account of the scourging.

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