Candles on the font The Logo of St Mary’s Church

Stations of the Cross: Community Art Project

By The Revd Rosemary Donovan

During Lent 2008, we are trying to discover more about what it means to be a praying community. To this end we are inviting a variety of local people to contribute to a special art exhibition based on the Stations of the Cross.

The Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition exists in Roman Catholicism, Anglican, and Lutheranism. It may be done at any time, but is most commonly done during the Season of Lent.

The Stations themselves are usually a series of 14 pictures or sculptures depicting the following scenes:

  1. Jesus is condemned to death
  2. Jesus receives the cross
  3. The first fall
  4. Jesus meets His Mother
  5. Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
  6. Veronica wipes Jesus’ face with her veil
  7. The second fall
  8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
  9. The third fall
  10. Jesus is stripped of His garments
  11. Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
  12. Jesus dies on the cross
  13. Jesus’ body removed from the cross (Pieta)
  14. Jesus is laid in the tomb

Most of these are drawn from Scripture, with some being taken from tradition. The number and lames of the stations changed radically at various times in the history of the devotion, though the current list of 14 stations is now almost universal.

Praying the Stations of the Cross is connected with a time of Penitence and self-examination. The person praying walks from station to station, meditating on the Passion. There is no requirement that his meditation be of a certain duration, use specific prayers, or indeed, that the meditation :correspond to the stations that are depicted.

Each Tuesday evening in Lent, St Anne’s Church will be open for people to view the exhibition. he dates will be Tuesday 12th, 19th, 26th February, 4th, 11th March.

It is intended that this project will work on many levels. Consequently the programme for each evening would be 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. church open for drop in — chill out — refreshments. Then at 8:00 p.m. sere will be a ‘Meet the Artist’ session where some of the contributors will discuss their work, and for lose who wish to there will be a short, informal service of Holy Communion at 8:30 p.m.

I believe that this is an exciting project that will demonstrate both church and community relationships and enable many people to explore aspects of faith and spirituality in a challenging and different way.

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