Saint George's Anglican Church

 Stations of the Cross

The devotion known as the Way of the Cross, or the Stations of the Cross, first came into use in Western Christendom in the fifteenth century. Its origin was in the time of the Crusades, when pilgrims to the Holy Land marked off the sites associated with our Lord's Passion in Jerusalem, which they called stations. On returning to their homes in Europe, they continued the devotion by erecting in their churches, or in the fields, memorials of these stations or stopping places. The number of the stations, no less than the scenes and occasions of the Passion story, varied a great deal. In the eighteenth century, they were fixed at fourteen in number; five of these have no basis in the Gospel accounts of the Passion, but are the creation of legend or devotion. However, since most of the parishes which use this devotion have four­teen stations permanently affixed to the walls of the church, the fourteen stations have been kept. Any parish with fewer stations may adapt these devotions to any number. The content of these devotions has never been determined by any official Church authority, for they have generally been con­sidered acts of private prayer and meditation. They have often been observed, however, by groups of worshippers, united in common prayers at each station, and in the singing of hymns (usually the Stabat Mater) as they passed from one station to another. The original conclusion of the Way of the Cross ends with the Body of our Lord being placed in the tomb. Modern Christians reject ending on this note, but once again proclaim that it is the resurrected and living Lord whom men worship. The Stations of the Cross will be prayed each Friday through Lent in the Chapel at 7 P.M. Please come and spend some time at the Cross.