Stations of the Cross at Epiphany

The Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross is a devotion adapted from a custom observed by Christian pilgrims who said prayers in Jerusalem at a series of places in that city associated with the passion of Jesus. 

There have been as many as fifteen stations. Of these, nine are based directly on events of Scripture and are included in this display. Each station usually includes sentences and responses, Scripture verses, a prayer, and a hymn.

As you meditate on each of the 15 Stations of the Cross, you are invited to begin each meditation with this simple phrase: 

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.

By your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

THE FIRST STATION

Jesus Is Condemned to Death

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death.  They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.  Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!"  So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves."  After flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:1-2,22,24,26b)

THE SECOND STATION

Jesus Carries His Cross

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and striking him on the face. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.  (John 19:1-2,16b-17)

THE THIRD STATION

Jesus Falls the First Time

 Justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us; we wait for light, and lo! there is darkness; and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We stumble at noon as in the twilight, among the vigorous as though we were dead. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm brought him victory, and his righteousness upheld him.  (Isaiah 59:9,10b,15b-16)

THE FOURTH STATION

Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.    (John 19:26-27)

THE FIFTH STATION

Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross

As the soldiers led Jesus away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.    (Luke 23:26)

THE SIXTH STATION

A Woman Offers Comfort to Jesus

 Before the betrayal, a woman came to Jesus with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, "Why this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor." But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial."     (Matthew 26:7-9,10,12)

THE SEVENTH STATION

Jesus Falls a Second Time

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.     (Isaiah 53:4-6)

 THE EIGHTH STATION

Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

A great number of the people followed Jesus, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children."     (Luke 23:27-28)

 THE NINTH STATION

Jesus Falls a Third Time

I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords. They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my path, but they have fallen into it themselves. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast.     (Psalm 57:2,4,6-7a)

THE TENTH STATION

Jesus Is Stripped of His Clothes

 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it."     (John 19:23-24a)

THE ELEVENTH STATION

Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross

 Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with Jesus. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."     (Luke 23:32-34a)

THE TWELFTH STATION

Jesus Dies on the Cross

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last.     (Luke 23:44-46)

THE THIRTEENTH STATION

Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross

When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, Pilate granted the body to Joseph. Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth.    (Mark 15:42-43,45-46a)

THE FOURTEENTH STATION

Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb

Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. He and Joseph took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.     (John 19:39-42)

THE FIFTEENTH STATION

Jesus is Risen from the Dead

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.  (John 20:1-18)