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Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross,
the artistic work of Carmelo Puzzolo,
reveal a living tradition by pilgrims who hear the invitation of JESUS,
"Follow Me."
Matej 9:9

Trailer

The Making of These
Stations of the Cross 
Medjugorje, 2016

JESUS directed us in October, 2016, to video the Stations of the Cross, in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Hercegovina.  The weather for almost 2 1/2 weeks was very unusual for that time of the year and mostly rainy. Continually, I tried to be alert and pray,
"LORD, Your will be done".
I made the contacts; I waited and prayed. After the 1st week, I surrendered it all to Our LORD and Our Lady, "LORD, this is Your request and I am here because of You. If You desire this to be accomplished, then You'll have to take care of everything".
Two weeks passed by and still I waited. After the last weekend was slipping away, I was leaving early Tuesday morning - still trying to be hopeful. They were predicting rain through the weekend until I left. You cannot easily climb Cross Mountain when raining or immediately after a rain because the rocks are so slippery.
Early Monday morning, during the darkness of the night, the LORD woke me up. As I opened my eyes, the moon was beaming into my bedroom.
"I'm with you," JESUS said.
I got up and saw that it was very clear and it renewed my hope of possibly accomplishing JESUS' request on my last full day.
In the morning, my contact said
that there may be someone
available to video -
I would know after 10 am Mass. Again, "hope springs eternal" -
my contact had a smiling face
after Mass and it was
"Yes, meet at 1 pm
(1300 Our Lady's number).  
We began the climb -
GOD is so awesome!
At the second station,
the shadow of the Cross was shown on the Station.
At the fourth station,
there the sun was so brilliant, reminding us that
Our Lady comes in a warm, glowing light. JESUS: "Everyone can live their life without knowing My/Our Mother,
but their life will not be complete."
Then, notice the 'following sun'
in the various stations.
The LORD continued, "I desire that there be no spoken words or music.
I will speak to every one's heart.
I desire that you send it out to all the world.  When you walk with Me
in the Stations of the Cross in My Life,
you will better understand how I walk with you
in the stations of the Cross of your life.
The stations will be very important
in the future." 
The Crucifix placed on the remembrance stone of Father Slavko, was hand-made in Medjugorje.
In October, 2017, the Lord asked us
to carry this Crucifix with us
as we pilgrims walked up the mountain
and prayed the Stations of the Cross.

This Crucifix was to be then placed
and shown in the video,
so that those who gathered to pray
the stations would venerate this Crucifix; as if they had
been praying and meditating
on the Stations in Medjugorje. 

Please help JESUS
in sharing His mission 
"Go out to All the world..."
by sharing His Life.


Dearest and Beloved,
JESUS, Lord and Saviour, Faithful Friend and Brother,
 
Bless this crucifix and all those who gaze upon You on the cross and all for whom You desire to know You throughout the whole world; let Your Voice be heard within our hearts. May Your Peace renew humanity.
 
May Saint Benedict and All the Saints and the Heavenly Court, Our Ancestors and Souls in Purgatory intercede with us and for us for our on-going conversion and protection, especially surround us and all families with Your Holy Angels.
 
Please, we implore You, LORD, for Holy Mother Church, and ourselves for the strength, guidance and consolation of Your Holy Spirit for our journey and of His Constant Presence so that we may complete our life's pilgrimage with the help of Our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph and our chosen Guardian Angel in doing Our Father's Will in Love and in Mercy. We praise You and thank You for Your Eternal, Sacrifice of Love. In JESUS' Name, we pray.

Amen


On the cross is written:
“To Jesus Christ, Redeemer of the human race, as a sign of their faith, love and hope, in remembrance of the 1900 years since the death of Jesus”

History of the
Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross follow the path of Christ from Pontius Pilate's praetorium to Christ's tomb known as the "Via Dolorosa" (Sorrowful Way). This devotion has evolved over time. Tradition holds that our Blessed Mother visited daily the scenes of our Lord's passion. After Constantine legalized Christianity in the year 312, this pathway was marked with its important stations. St. Jerome (342-420), living in Bethlehem during the later part of his life, attested to the crowds of pilgrims from various countries who visited those holy places and followed the Way of the Cross. 
In the fifth century, an interest developed in the Church to "reproduce" the holy places in other areas so pilgrims who could not actually travel to the Holy Land could do so.
In 1342, the Franciscans were appointed as guardians of the shrines of the Holy Land. The faithful received indulgences for praying at the following stations: At Pilate's house, where Christ met His mother, where He spoke to the women, where He met Simon of Cyrene, where the soldiers stripped Him of His garments, where He was nailed to the cross, and at His tomb.
William Wey, an English pilgrim, visited the Holy Land in 1462, and is credited with the term "stations". He described the manner in which a pilgrim followed the steps of Christ. Prior to this time, the path usually followed the reverse course of ours today moving from Mount Calvary to Pilate's house.
When the Muslim Turks blocked the access to the Holy Land, reproductions of the stations were erected at popular spiritual centers around Europe.
In the 1500s, the number of the stations varied. William Wey's account has 14 stations, but only five correspond to the modern day Stations. Some versions included the house of Dives (the rich man in the Lazarus story), the city gate through which Christ passed, and the houses of Herod and Simon the Pharisee. In 1584 a book written by Adrichomius described 12 stations which match those in our present version.
At the end of the 17th century, the erection of stations in churches became more popular. In 1686, Pope Innocent XI, realizing that few people could travel to the Holy Land due to the Muslim oppression, granted the right to erect stations in all of their churches and that the same indulgences would be given to the Franciscans and those affiliated with them for practicing the devotion as if on an actual pilgrimage. Pope Benedict XIII extended these indulgences to all of the faithful in 1726.
Five years later, Pope Clement XII permitted stations to be created in all churches and fixed the number at 14. In 1742, Pope Benedict XIV exhorted all priests to enrich their churches with the Way of the Cross, which must include 14 crosses and are usually accompanied with pictures or images of each particular station. The popularity of the devotion was also encouraged by preachers like St. Leonard Casanova (1676-1751) of Porto Maurizio, Italy, who reportedly erected over 600 sets of stations throughout Italy.
Currently there are 14 traditional stations:
   -Pilate condemns Christ to death.
  -Jesus carries the cross.
   -The first fall.
   -Jesus meets His Blessed Mother.
   -Simon of Cyrene helps to carry the cross.
   -Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
   -The second fall.
   -Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem.
   -The third fall.
   -Jesus is stripped of His garments.
   -Jesus is nailed to the cross.
   -Jesus dies on the cross.
   -Jesus is taken down from the cross.
   -Jesus is laid in the tomb.
Because of the intrinsic relationship between the passion and death of our Lord with His resurrection, several of the devotional booklets now include a 15th station, which commemorates the Resurrection. A plenary indulgence is granted for those who piously exercise the Way of the Cross, actually moving from station to station where they are legitimately erected and while mediating on the passion and death of our Lord ("Enchiridion of Indulgences," No. 63).
Those who are impeded from visiting a church may gain the same indulgence by piously reading and meditating on the passion and death of our Lord for one-half hour.
Information derived from EWTN.com