Why Pray the Stations of the Cross

Why pray the Stations of the Cross during Lent? Why pray them anytime?As Dominicans, we inherit the intense devotion to Jesus' Passion that burned in the heart of our Holy Father, St. Dominic. One seemingly small yet powerful way we commemorate this is by making the Stations of the Cross. The Stations of the Cross are often held on Fridays of Lent in parishes--we make them together in the monastery on Good Friday--but on other days each Sister sets aside some time to join Our Lord on His sorrowful journey to Calvary. Although this is deeply rooted in our Dominican charism, it is to a Benedictine, Blessed Columba Marmion, that we look today for some insights into the value of this ancient Christian devotion.

Holy Week, the Liturgy, and the Stations of the Cross

Dom Marmion writes:

The Passion constitutes the "Holy of holies" of the mystery of Jesus. It is the crowning point of His public life, the summit of His mission here below, the work to which all the others converge, or from which they draw their value.

Every year, during Holy Week, the Church commemorates its different phases, in detail. Every day, in the Sacrifice of the Mass, she renews for us the memory of it and the reality of it, in order to apply its fruits to us.

To this central act of the liturgy there is added a pious practice [the Stations of the Cross] which, though not part of the official publish worship organized by the Spouse of Christ, has become very dear to souls because of the abundant graces of which it is the source. . . .

The Virgin Mary and the first Christians must, more than once, have devoutly retaken that road He took, watering with their tears the places sanctified by the sorrows of the God-man.

How beautiful to think that Our Lady was the first one to pray this devotion!  Even at the holy house at Ephesus, where Mary lived with St. John before her Assumption, they found a Way of the Cross nearby.

Three reasons the Stations of the Cross are especially fruitful spiritually

Dom Marmion continues:

This contemplation of the sufferings of Jesus is very fruitful. I am convinced that outside the Sacraments and liturgical acts, there is no practice more useful for our souls than the Way of the Cross made with devotion. [As Dominicans we have to add: "Along with the Rosary, of course!"]  It is of sovereign super-natural efficacy. Why is that?

1) First, because the Passion of Jesus is His work par excellence; almost all its details were prophesied; there is no other mystery of Jesus of which the circumstances were foretold so carefully by psalmist and prophets. . . . The Father is well-pleased by all these things done by Jesus. . . . And what is the reason for this? That Jesus during His Passion honors and glorifies His Father in an infinite measure, not only because He is the Son of God but also because He abandons Himself to all that justice and love of His Father asks of Him.

2) We also ought to love to meditate on the Passion because it is there too that Christ makes His virtues shine out. He possesses all the virtues in His soul, but the occasion for manifesting them came especially at His Passion. . . . When we contemplate Jesus in His Passion, we see the Exemplar of our life, the model--admirable and at the same time accessible--of those virtues of compunction, abnegation, gentleness, that we ought to practice in order to become like our divine head: "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."

3) There is a third aspect which too often we forget, but which nevertheless is of extreme importance.  When we contemplate the sufferings of Jesus He grants us, according to the measure of our faith, the grace to practice the virtues He revealed during those sacred hours.  How so?

When Christ lived on earth, there emanated from His divine person an all-powerful strength which cured bodies, enlightened minds and gave life to souls: "Power went forth from Him and healed all."

Something analagous happens when we put ourselves into contact with Jesus by faith.  Christ surely bestowed special graces on those who, with love, followed Him on the road to Golgotha or were present at His immolation.  He still maintains that power now.  And when, in a spirit of faith, so as to feel for Him in His sufferings and to imitate Him, we follow Him from the Praetorium to Calvary and take our place at the foot of the cross, He gives us those same graces, He makes us partakers of the same favors.  Never forget that Christ Jesus is not a model who is dead and inert.  Ever living, He produces super-naturally, in those who draw near to Him with the required dispositions, the perfection they behold in His person.

Praying the Stations regularly

Finally, Blessed Columba Marmion emphasizes how spiritually enriching it is to pray the Stations of the Cross personally throughout the year, not limited to the Fridays of Lent:

That is why, if for several moments each day, suspending your work, abandoning your preoccupations, silencing in your heart the noise of all things created, you accompany the God-man on the road to Calvary with faith, humility and love, with a real desire to imitate the virtues He manifests in His Passion, then be assured that your souls will receive choice graces that will transform them little by little into a resemblance of Jesus, and of Jesus crucified.  Now, is it not in such a resemblance that St. Paul places the whole of sanctity?

It is enough, in order to gather the precious fruits of this practice, as it is for gaining the numerous indulgences with which the Church enriches it, that you pause at each Station of the cross and there meditate on the Passion of the Savior.  No formula of prayer is prescribed, no form of meditation is imposed--not even meditation on the subject to which the specific "station" alludes.  Full liberty is left to the taste of each person and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

These excerpts from Christ in His Mysteries by Blessed Columba Marmion are taken from the new edition translated by Alan Bancroft and published by Zaccheus Press in 2008.