LITMIR.BIZ

      Suggestions for Using this Book

      The Way of the Cross is a traditional exercise of devotion, in which we follow with awe and penitence the steps of Jesus to Calvary and the tomb. In a previous book, Stations of the Resurrection, I have offered a similar series of prayers and meditations on the Resurrection appearances of our Lord. The redemptive suffering of the Cross and the glory of the Resurrection were made possible by the coming of the Son of God into this world, to take our human nature upon himself. It is in Bethlehem that the story of our salvation begins.

      The events preceding and following the Nativity are here set out in fourteen stations. The meditations and prayers accompanying each of them may be used for either personal or corporate devotion, as the Stations of the Cross are used by many worshippers. In a conducted progress around a church, in gathered prayer or in private reflection, the devotion may be particularly suitable for the forty days from Christmas to the Feast of the Presentation, but it is appropriate for any time in the year because the grace of the Incarnation is always among us.

      Each of the stations has the relevant biblical passage, a short consideration, and prayers of thanksgiving and penitence with versicles and responses to introduce and link each station. Pictures are added which may aid devotion. Suggested prayers and hymns for beginning and ending the whole devotion may be appropriate when it is led by a conductor.

      All the stations here set out are based on Gospel accounts. It is not necessary to try to harmonize them into a continuous narrative; each reveals some truth of the experience of the witnesses, and of ourselves.

      For more extended use of the stations, each has a longer meditation focusing more fully on what that particular event in the early life of Jesus may be saying to us and more intimately relating it to the recorded story. These meditations are probably most suitable for individual devotion with one or a few stations at a time. It is suggested that those following this method should first reflect more deeply on the Gospel reading. You may wish to follow the shorter devotions of the station as a preparation for meditation and resolution. Each meditation ends with a short petition, to carry the fruit of devotion into the life of the day.