The Stations of the Cross.(i)
HIS DEVOTION arose first in Jerusalem, among the Christians who dwelt there, out of veneration for those sacred spots which were sanctified by the sufferings of our Divine Redeemer. From the Holy City this devout exercise was introduced into Europe. When, in 1342, the Franciscan Fathers established their house in Jerusalem, and undertook the custody of the sacred places of the Holy Land, they began to spread throughout the Catholic world the devotion of the Way of the Cross.
This excellent devotion has met with the repeated approvals of the Holy See, and is enriched with many Indulgences; to gain them, it is necessary to meditate, according to individual ability, on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to go from one Station to another, if the space and number of persons will admit.
Method of Practising this Exercise,
Composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori, a.d. 1787.
Let each one, kneeling before the High Altar, make an Act of Contrition, and form the intention of gaining the Indulgences, whether for himself or for the souls in Purgatory. Then say:
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