TRADITIONAL STATIONS OF THE CROSS by Fr. Miguel Gonzales

TRADITIONAL STATIONS OF THE CROSS
by Fr. Miguel Gonzales

Perhaps you have noticed the pictures or statues that surround the inside of your Catholic Church depicting the last steps of Jesus, as he made his way to the Mount of Calvary. Each of these commemorates, the great suffering, and hardship, that Jesus endured, in his final hours of life, here on earth. Perhaps you have even prayed at each of these stations. Perhaps you fully understand what each of them means, and perhaps, you do not. Most of us will never have the opportunity, to travel to Jerusalem, and physically follow in the steps that according to tradition, Jesus took. But, with these images, we can make a Spiritual Pilgrimage, accompanying Jesus along the way The Stations of the Cross have become one of the most popular devotions and can be found not only in the Catholic Church but in Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, and Western Orthodox. 

The Via Dolorosa – 14 stations of the Cross, Traditional forms are:
Track (1) Introduction -  First Station - Jesus is Condemned to Death
Track (2) Second Station - Jesus Takes Up His Cross
Track (3) Third Station - Jesus Falls the First Time
Track (4) Fourth Station - Jesus Meets His Mother
Track (5) Fifth Station - Simon Helps Jesus Carry The Cross
 Track (6) Sixth Station - Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
Track (7) Seventh Station - Jesus Falls a Second Time
Track (8) Eighth Station - Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
Track (9) Ninth Station - Jesus Falls the Third Time
Track (10) Tenth Station - Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
Track (11) Eleventh Station - Jesus is nailed to the Cross
Track (12) Twelfth Station - Jesus Dies on the Cross
Track (13) Thirteenth Station - Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross
Track (14) Fourteenth Station - Jesus is laid in the Tomb
Track (15) Stabat Mater Dolorosa