Ready or Not, Welcome to Lent

        Ready or not, welcome to Lent!
   On Friday nights in Lent, the Catholic Church of St. Mary the Virgin, like the vast majority of Catholic Church’s all over the world, will walk the Stations of the Cross, beginning at 6:00 PM, ending with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and followed by a meatless meal at @ 6:45 PM. (There is a sign up sheet about these meatless meals in the Narthex by the Baby Bottle display.) We will have our usual Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Fridays in Lent. Confessions during Lent are heard from 4:00 - 4:55PM (as per usual) and then, after the closing prayers and transfer of the Sacrament from the Monstrance at 5:00PM, Confessions will also be heard from 5:10PM - 5:55PM before Stations and Benediction. 
 
   The Stations of the Cross originated in pilgrimage to Jerusalem and a desire to reproduce the Via Dolorosa. Imitating holy places was not a new concept, their efforts were recognized when the Franciscans were officially proclaimed the Custodians of the Holy Places by Pope Clement VI in 1342.
 
   In the end it was Saint Leonard of Port Maurice, (1676, 175), a Franciscan, who established what we know is the 14 Stations of the Cross. During his long life as a missionary, Saint Leonard erected more than 570 Stations of the Cross. The Stations of the Cross are representations of the path that Jesus took on His way to the crucifixion. They involve Jesus enduring suffering, insults, moments of support, and they  relay the intense sacrifice that Christians believe Jesus undertook for mankind’s salvation.
 
   The Scriptural significance of the Stations of the Cross is to detail the path Jesus walked on His way to eventual redemption of mankind. This path was one that featured Him bearing the weight of the Cross, falling down three times during a physical exhaustion He endured, meeting His Beloved Mother, Simon the Cyrene, and a woman named Veronica along the way. The Stations of the Cross also include Jesus being nailed to the cross, His death, and His placement in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
 
   The path to Spiritual Growth lives in the Stations of the Cross, when individuals recognize what Jesus endured, and enable it as a call to action in their own lives. To illustrate this, after each Station, we say that “We adore Thee O Christ and we Praise Thee”, to which the respondents reply that “Because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou hast Redeemed the World.”
 
   Pope Pius XI argued that the Stations of the Cross was necessary so that Christians could understand the magnitude of what was endured, providing “some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury.”
 
   The traditional Stations of the Cross are as follows; Jesus is condemned to death, Jesus takes up His Cross, Jesus falls the First time, Jesus meets his Blessed Mother, Simon of Cyrene carries the Cross, Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, Jesus fall the Second time, Jesus meets the Daughters of Jerusalem, Jesus falls for the Third time, Jesus is stripped of His garments, Jesus is nailed to the Cross, Jesus is Crucified, Jesus is taken down from the Cross, Jesus’ Body is laid in the tomb.
 
   Please join your Parish family, and walk the Stations of the Cross each Friday in Lent, and then adore Him in the Blessed Sacrament at Benediction.
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
 
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook, KHS