Plus: a method of Constructing your own Stations

A Truly Marian Devotion

Throughout Lent, we must make a truly Marian meditation to fully receive the spiritual fruits of this holy season. Tradition holds that Mary, the Mother of God, would daily retrace the route of her Son’s Passion in prayerful recollection.^[1]  Thus, the Via Crucis devotion originates in Mary’s very reflections during her earthly sojourn.

A Tradition With Deep Roots

Early Catholics also began imitating the way Jesus walked in Jerusalem during His Passion, which came to be known as the Via Dolorosa in the 1500s.  St. Jerome spoke of great crowds of pilgrims from all countries coming to reflect on the Passion in the Holy Land.^[2]  Interestingly, early Catholic pilgrims actually walked a reverse route from that of Our Lord, commencing the prayerful walk at Calvary and concluding downhill at Pilate’s house. However, seeing it to be more suitable, the direction was changed in the 16th Century to go from Pilate’s house uphill to Calvary.^[3] 

Franciscan and Dominican Influence

Motivated by the spirit of Crusades, Catholics began making more frequent pilgrimages to Jerusalem in the twelfth century.  Pilgrims of the time mention walking a Via Sacra during these visits.  In the mid-13th Century, the stable presence of Franciscan Friars as custodians in the Holy Land, one being Bl. Bernardo Caimi, facilitated external devotion to The Passion.  In 1491, a set of Stations was built at Varallo, Italy by Franciscans.^[4]  The Via Crucis devotion, with the identical fourteen stations in the same order as today, became widespread in Spain in the seventeenth century, mainly among Franciscans.  Early Dominicans also took an interest in promoting devotion to Our Lord’s Passion in stations including Blessed Alvarez (d. 1420), who, upon returning from the Holy Land, erected small chapels adorned with paintings dedicated to the primary scenes of the Passion.^[5] 

Universal Recognition of The Stations

The first use of the term Stations to describe the route frequented in Jerusalem is seen in the account of English pilgrim William Wey, who visited the Holy Land in 1458 and again in 1462.^[6]  To formalize a Stations devotion, Pope Innocent XI permitted Franciscans to erect stations within their communities in 1686.  Pope Clement XII further gave all churches the right to construct stations, provided that a Franciscan father oversaw the erection of the stations, and the local bishop consented.  While the number of stations has fluctuated over time, the number was fixed at 14 by Clement XII in the same year.  English bishops were subsequently allowed to erect the stations by themselves in the 19th Century, without a Franciscan priest, and in 1862 this decree was extended to all bishops of the universal Church.^[7]

Stabat Mater

While many have laid claim to the development of the Stabat Mater hymn, sung as a poignant reminder to conclude each station with Marian fervor, Pope Benedict XIV “gives it without question” to Innocent III (d. 1216).^[8]  Found in several fifteenth-century European missals, the Stabat Mater was formally accepted into the Roman Breviary and Missal in 1727 for the Feast of the Seven Dolors of the B.V.M.^[9]  This hymn evokes the emotion of Mary grieving over the sufferings of her Son, a most fitting way to meditate on such a sorrowful, yet necessary, event with the help of Our Lady.

Our Via Crucis Devotional Project

Since wild bamboo grows in our North Georgia backyard, our family decided to make use of the natural environment to commemorate the Via Crucis this Lent. After cutting the stalks to 6-ft tall, we drove them into the ground with a stake-driver, arranging them in a circle on a woodsy hillside. We selected images for each of the 14 stations and brought them to a local print shop, which made them into weather-resistant, polycarbonate placards with holes drilled for the insertion of  screws.  Finally, we affixed the images near the top of the stakes.  Now, we are ready every Friday of Lent to meditate on the Stations at-home using the methods of St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Francis Assisi.  

Either inside or outside, consider making your own Via Crucis for a fruitful Lent. Thanks be to God for such a beautiful tradition!  Let us enter into Our Lord’s Passion with Marian devotedness throughout this blessed and solemn Liturgical season. 

The Our Father is a prayer composed by Our Lord Himself for our happiness on earth and in heaven.

Because I go to the Father: and whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My name, that will I do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you shall ask Me anything in My name, that I will do.[1]

Amen, amen I say to you: If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it you.[2]

The Our Father is the best of all prayers because it is the Lord’s Prayer, taught us by Jesus Christ Himself, a prayer of perfect and unselfish love.[3]

When the apostles asked Him to "teach us how to pray," He gave them a prescribed form of prayer.[4]

The following are points that may help you to pray the Our Father more efficaciously.

OUR FATHER

When we invoke the Father and when each one of us calls Him our Father, we are to understand thereby that from the privilege and gift of divine adoption, it necessarily follows that all the faithful [viz., those in the state of sanctifying grace] are brethren.[5]   

WHO ART IN HEAVEN

All who have a correct idea of God will grant that He is everywhere and in all places.[6]

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

In praying that the name of God may be hallowed (venerated), our meaning is that the sanctity and glory of the divine name may be increased.[7]

THY KINGDOM COME

Our Lord says: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you."  So great and so abundant are the heavenly gifts contained in this petition, that it includes all things necessary for the security of soul and body.[8]

THY WILL BE DONE

Whoever desires to enter into the kingdom of heaven should ask of God that His will may be done.  For Christ the Lord has said: “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the will of My Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.”[9]

ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

We pray that our conformity to the will of God be regulated according to the rule observed in heaven by the blessed angels.[10]

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

We particularly and expressly pray for the needs of soul and body.[11]

AND FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US

Where before we asked God not only for eternal and spiritual goods, but also for fleeting and temporal favors, we now ask for God’s forgiveness for offending Him and pledge to forgive those who have harmed us.[12]

AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION

When we have earnestly sought pardon of our sins and are longing for the kingdom of heaven, then it is that the devil employs all his resources and efforts to entice us to relapse into sin, and thus become far worse than before.[13]

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

On the eve of Our Lord’s Passion, He prayed to His Father for the salvation of mankind. "I pray," He said, "that Thou keep them (i.e., us) from evil.!" (St. Cyprian remarks, "Nothing more remains to be asked.")[14]

Thus, it is easy to see that there is so much more packed into the Our Father than is apparent to those who mumble their way through this priceless prayer.  Hopefully, these few points above might awaken in us a greater appreciation of Christ’s beneficence in personally instructing us in this best of all prayers.  Say it very slowly and devoutly, contemplating every word.  After that, we could incorporate this mediation on the Our Father into a slow and reverent Spiritual Communion.

Lastly, we can aid our prayerful contemplation of these subjects, by using a loving picture of Our Lord (such as the one below, which was derived from the Shroud):

The horror of sin, especially mortal sin

Sin is always a great evil.[1]  All sin is an infinite evil in three ways and all mortal sin is an infinite evil in a fourth way also.[2]  Everything else which we might call a “misfortune” (and which is out of our control), is God’s Will for us and is for our good.  St. Paul assures us that, except for our sins, “all things work together unto the good for those who love God.”  Romans, 8:28 (emphasis added).  Thus, our own sins are the only true evil for us.

The most tragic of all sin, is mortal sin.[3]  No number of venial sins could ever be as horrific as a single mortal sin.[4]

A person in mortal sin must strive immediately to get back into God’s grace

When a person has the tragedy of being in mortal sin, he cannot merit through anything he says or does.[5]

Obviously, the most important thing he can do is immediately seek to get back in the state of Sanctifying Grace, by making Acts of Contrition as perfectly as possible[6] and by sacramental Confession (if it is available without compromise).[7]  Beware of Bishop Richard Williamson’s evil advice that you should go to confession to any priest who believes in sin.[8]

A person cannot be sure that his act of contrition is perfect enough.  If the person did succeed in making a perfect act of contrition, he is then back in the state of Sanctifying Grace[9] and can immediately begin meriting again, while he seeks to go to confession (to an uncompromising priest, as soon as one is available).

Thus, one reason for a person to continue his prayers, good works, and penances even before going to confession, is because they are meritorious if he is back in the state of grace.

But a person in mortal sin should still strive to do good, even though there is no merit

Even if the person were not back in the state of grace, he should continue praying, doing good works and doing penance, although he would not merit supernaturally for that conduct.  There are five reasons to continue this conduct even while in mortal sin:

1.    This conduct does good on a natural level;

2.    This conduct avoids harm on a natural level;

3.    This conduct enforces habits which are good on the natural level, to help us even when we cannot merit;

4.    This conduct avoids harm to ourselves by avoiding the strengthening of our bad habits or making us more prone to evil which would harm us on a natural and a supernatural level; and

5.    We should always act according to reason and, even when in mortal sin, our reason tells us to pray, perform good works, and do penance.

Below, we discuss each of these five reasons.

1.   This conduct accomplishes good on a natural level.

Such prayers, good works, and penance set a good example, especially for those to whom he is nearest and loves the most.  Does he love his friends and family?  If yes, doesn’t he want to do them good even if he does not benefit from that good?  Of course, he does!  Love is “willing the good for another”.[10]  So, a man who loves even naturally, wills the good for those whom he loves.  So, continuing his prayer, good works, and penance is a good example which does good to his loved ones.  This is especially true for parents and spouses, whose very vocation involves the care of and love of others.

Nor does it suffice to merely pretend to do good so as to give good example.  That pretense is a sin of dissimulation – not leading an honest life – which is a sin against the Divine Law and the Natural Law.

Further, most fakery is discovered and it does even more harm to a person if he is a fraud, especially in the good he does.

2.   This conduct avoids harm on a natural level.

By contrast, the failure to pray, do good works, and do penance can scandalize others, especially those who are nearest and dearest to him.  A period of such bad example from him can ruin his friends and relatives for life, even if the person himself were to return to the state of grace.  Again, a parent in mortal sin might, for example, feel like a hypocrite or unworthy to pray the Rosary with his family, and thus be tempted to not do so.  But it is part of his duty and part of love to show good example to his spouse and children.

3. Prayer, good works, and penance enforce habits which are good on the natural level, to help us even when we cannot merit from them.

Men are creatures of habit.  Even on a natural level, it is easier for a person to later pray, do good works, and do penance meritoriously once back in the state of Sanctifying Grace, if he maintains those natural habits even while unhappily unable to merit due to mortal sin.

Even while a person is (tragically) in mortal sin, he can work on acquiring or strengthening his natural virtues, e.g., patience.  Good conduct while in mortal sin can help a person acquire or strengthen those natural virtues.

4.    This conduct avoids harm to ourselves by avoiding the strengthening of our bad habits or making us more prone to evil which would harm us on a natural and a supernatural level.

Further, failures to continue those good practices lets down our guard and makes us more likely to commit future sins we otherwise would not have committed.

5.    Even when in mortal sin, our reason tells us to pray, perform good works, and do penance.

Our reason is our highest and most God-like part of our nature.  We should always act according to this highest and best part: viz., our reason.

Our power of reason is the way God made us in His own Image.[11]  

Even on a natural level, we know God is the source of all goodness and that we owe Him worship and prayer.[12] 

Even when in the state of mortal sin, a person’s reason tells him to pray, perform good works, and do penance as a matter of justice to God.

He owes this to God even if he does not merit from this worship and prayer.  This debt to God is right and reasonable.  A person must pay his debt to God even if he were not to merit, just as a child must show respect for his parents, keep his room neat, and do his schoolwork even though he did not receive a reward for doing so.  Thus, reason tells a person that he must pray even if he is in mortal sin.

A person’s reason tells him to continue doing good works – they are a natural good and a man in mortal sin should follow his reason doing good works even when he cannot merit supernaturally from those good works.

Even on a natural level, we know that we must conform our lower passions to our reason and our will, and that this task requires that we mortify our passions and do penance.

Committing mortal sin is a “wake-up call” which should immediately cause us to increase our prayers and good works.

Not only should a person not stop praying and doing good works following commission of a mortal sin, but he should immediately increase his prayers and good works. 

His sin is a reminder of his weakness.  The best remedy for this weakness is prayer.  When a person sins, it is unreasonable (and is a further sin) to not take concrete means to avoid similar falls in the future.  So, the more “wake-up calls” (i.e., sins) a person commits, the more he should realize his need for more prayer – and take those means.

Conclusion

Sin is the only true evil.  Mortal sin is the gravest evil and destroys a person’s ability to merit.  However, even a man in mortal sin should continue his prayers, good works, and penances, to avoid further harm to himself and others and to make it easier to do good in the future.