STATIONS OF THE CROSS

This article appears in Volume V25, Page 806 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SOU-STE

STATIONS OF THE CROSS , a

series

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

of 14 pictures or images representing the closing scenes in the Passion of Christ, viz. (I) the condemnation by Pilate, (2) the reception of the

cross

CROSS

, (3) Christ's first fall, (4) the

meeting

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the
people
- PEOPLE
; cf. witanagemot)

with His

mother

MOTHER

, (5) Simon of Cyrene carrying the

cross

CROSS

, (6) Veronica wiping the face of Jesus, (q) the second fall, (8) the exhortation to the women of
Jerusalem, (9) the third fall, (1o) the stripping of the clothes, (II) the crucifixion, (12) the death, (13) the descent from the cross, (14) the burial. Sometimes a 15ththe finding of the cross by Helenais added; on the other hand in the diocese of Vienna, the stations were at the end of the 18th century reduced to eleven.. They form a very popular item in Roman Catholic devotion. The representations are usually ranged round the

church

; sometimes they are found in the open air, especially on the ascent to some elevated

church

or shrine.
The devotion began among the

Franciscans

FRANCISCANS (otherwise called Friars Minor, or Minorites; also the Seraphic Order ; and in England Grey Friars, from the colour of the habit, which, however, is now brown rather than grey)

, who, as the guardians of the holy places in Jerusalem, sought by this means to enable Christians to make a

pilgrimage

PILGRIMAGE (Fr. pelerinage, Lat. peregrinatio)

at least in spirit.

Pope

Innocent XII. in 1694 declared that the indulgences granted for visiting Palestine might be gained by members of the order who, simply visiting the stations of the cross wherever represented, exercised a devout meditation as they passed from station to station. These indulgences were extended by Benedict XIII. in 1726 to all the faithful, and Clement XII. five years later granted the privilege to churches other than Francis-can, provided the stations were erected by a Franciscan. In 1857 the Roman Catholic bishops in England received faculties, renewed quinquenially, permitting them to erect the stations with the accompanying indulgences, and they often delegate this faculty to priests.

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