Stations of the Cross set for Good Friday, April 18

The Catholic Community of Gonzales and Waelder will follow the steps of Jesus from condemnation to crucifixion to burial when they re-enact the Stations of the Cross, also known as Via Crucis, at 3 p.m. this Friday, April 18 — Good Friday.

The annual Lenten pilgrimage begins at the Gonzales Memorial Museum, makes its way down Saint Lawrence Street to the Squares and eventually to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at the corner of Saint Lawrence and Saint John streets, said Deacon Alfonso Moreno.

Christians of all faith are invited to come participate in walking the 14 Stations of the Cross. This deeply spiritual reflection on the journey of Jesus to Calvary, his death and passage to new life, is an invitation to all to walk with him on this journey. In this walk, Christians learn more deeply who God is through the passion and death of Jesus, and learning to accept and embrace the cross in their own lives as Jesus embraced his. 

The Stations of the Cross, as experienced today, probably date back about 500 years in the church, but their roots go much deeper. Church historians trace the origins of this devotion to the earliest times of Christendom. Pilgrims going to Jerusalem in these times would walk the actual path of Jesus to the cross, a path which later came to be known as the Via Dolorosa.

Centuries afterward, the custom arose of erecting images of the significant events in Jesus’ journey throughout the known world. People would pass from image to image, making in spirit the pilgrimage to the actual scenes of Jesus sufferings and death. A variety of prayers and reflections were added, and even today there is no standard set of prayers, but many versions to suit the spiritual needs of those who make the Stations.

Use of the Stations did not become widespread till about the end of the seventeenth century, though now they are found in almost every church. 

The Stations are an example of the ancient prayer form called "procession,” a prayerful movement from one place to another. As one prays the stations, he or she may move from one station to the next, the movement itself becoming a meditative prayer.