Via Lucis: The Way of Light

We may be a week past Easter Sunday, but we are still in the Easter season. Since I haven’t mentioned them in a couple of years, I thought this would be a good time to suggest praying the Way of the Light. Although most Catholics are familiar with the Stations of the Cross, a popular Lenten devotion that follows the course of Jesus’ passion and death, fewer are familiar with the Way of the Light, the Stations of the Resurrection.

As I wrote once before, these Stations were inspired by an ancient inscription found on a wall of the San Callisto Catacombs on the Appian Way in Rome. The stations combine the events mentioned in the Saint Callistus inscription with other post-Resurrection events to create 14 stations, thus paralleling the Stations of the Cross. They emphasize the hopeful aspect of the Christian story and can serve to deepen our appreciation of this Easter season.

Here are the fourteen. My suggestion would be to take one each day, perhaps reflecting on the scriptural passage associated with the event, a number of which I include below. You can also find version of these stations online (e.g. here).

1. Jesus Rises from the Dead

2. The Disciples Find the Empty Tomb (Luke 24:12)

3. Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18)

4. Jesus Walks with the Dsiciples to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-26)

5. Jesus Reveals Himself in the Breaking of the Bread (Luke 24:27-32)

6. Jesus Appears to His Discipes (John 20:19-20)

7. Jesus Confers on His Disciples the Power to Forgive Sins (John 20:23)

8. Jesus Confirms Thomas in Faith (John 20:24-29)

9. Jesus Appears to His Disciples on the Shore of Lake Galilee (John 21:1-14)

10. Jesus Confers Primacy on Peter (John 21:15-19)

11. Jesus Entrusts His Disciples with a Universal Mission (Matthew 28:16-20)

12. Jesus Ascends into Heaven (Acts 1:6-12)

13. Mary and the Disciples Await the Coming of the Spirit (Acts 1:13-14)

14. Jesus Sends the Spirit Promised by the Father to his Disciples (Acts 2:1-3)

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Mary and the Fourteenth Station

Today is Friday and Fridays during Lent are a traditional day for Stations of the Cross. Many churches have evening services where people do the Stations in groups. Others like to pray them individually.

There are many versions of the Stations and many people have their own favorite – whether it is Clarence Enzler’s Everyone’s Way of the Cross (one of my favorites) or the St. Alphonsus Liguori Stations of the Cross or the Social Justice Stations of the Cross and so on.

The one I picked to reflect on this week is The Stations of the Cross with Mary, from Creighton University Online Ministries.

For all of us who have suffered the loss of a loved one (which I’m guessing is pretty much all of us), the prayer of the Fourteenth Station, Jesus is laid in the tomb is a very powerful one. Here it is:

No mother should ever have to bury a child. Just a short time before this day, Jesus looked into Lazarus’ tomb. He must have known he would be laid in a tomb like that soon. And when he thanked God for hearing his prayer, he must have known that the Father who sent him would give him life that would never die. In just a few days, this tomb would be empty and forever a sign of Jesus’ surrender to the forces of sin and death, for us.

As we picture this scene, let us place the image of the empty tomb before our eyes. Whenever you are tempted to stand outside any tomb and grieve, remember this empty tomb and know that, through the eyes of faith, all tombs are empty. Today, join me in giving him thanks. Join me in signing ourselves with the sign of his cross, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Even during Lent, we remember that the tomb is empty. I’m reminded, as I pray Mary’s prayer, of the some lines of a song I’ve heard used as a recessional hymn, Goodness is Stronger than Evil: “Vic’try is ours, vict’ry is ours through him who loved us. Vic’try is ours, vic’try is ours through him who loved us.”

The Stations of the Resurrection

Although most Catholics are familiar with the Stations of the Cross, a popular Lenten devotion that follows the course of Jesus’ passion and death, fewer are familiar with the Way of the Light, the Stations of the Resurrection.

Inspired by an ancient inscription found on a wall of the San Callisto Catacombs on the Appian Way in Rome, a Salesian priest named Father Sabino helped develop the idea to create a new set of stations in the 1990s. The stations combine the events mentioned in the Saint Callistus inscription with other post-Resurrection events to create 14 stations, thus paralleling the Stations of the Cross.

The Stations of the Resurrection emphasize the hopeful aspect of the Christian story and (just as the Stations of the Cross help deepen our Lenten experience) can serve to deepen our appreciation of this Easter season.

Here are the fourteen. My suggestion would be to take one each day, perhaps reflecting on the scriptural passage associated with the event, a number of which I include below. You can also find version of these stations on line and in the Magnificat for this month, which include prayer and suggested meditations.

1. Jesus Rises from the Dead

2. The Disciples Find the Empty Tomb (Luke 24:12)

3. Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18)

4. Jesus Walks with the Dsiciples to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-26)

5. Jesus Reveals Himself in the Breaking of the Bread (Luke 24:27-32)

6. Jesus Appears to His Discipes (John 20:19-20)

7. Jesus Confers on His Disciples the Power to Forgive Sins (John 20:23)

8. Jesus Confirms Thomas in Faith (John 20:24-29)

9. Jesus Appears to His Disciples on the Shore of Lake Galilee (John 21:1-14)

10. Jesus Confers Primacy on Peter (John 21:15-19)

11. Jesus Entrusts His Disciples with a Universal Mission (Matthew 28:16-20)

12. Jesus Ascends into Heaven (Acts 1:6-12)

13. Mary and the Disciples Await the Coming of the Spirit (Acts 1:13-14)

14. Jesus Sends the Spirit Promised by the Father to his Disciples (Acts 2:1-3)

Stations of the Cross (Part 2) – Lent Retreat in Daily Living, Week 6

This week was the sixth and penultimate gathering of the Lent Retreat in Daily Living I’m offering at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and at St. Hubert’s Catholic Community. At both venues, we began our sessions, as always, with the participants sharing with each other the experiences they had last week praying with the first seven Stations of the Cross.

This week the retreatants will again be praying with the Stations of the Cross, this time focusing on the last seven stations. In my talk I addressed each of them. For each, I offered some thoughts on the station, and also identified different questions or areas of reflection the incident might invite us to. As they did last week, the prayer material for each day included scriptural references (for those stations having a clear scriptural reference), an image corresponding to that station, some reflection questions for each station, and a version of the stations prayers that I find particularly powerful.

As I emphasized to the retreatants, we are walking with Jesus in his passion this week, trying to enter into his suffering. So the emphasis in prayer is being with Jesus. To be sure, we want to reflect on what the station means in terms of our own lives, but always – front and center – should be the experience of Jesus, and what we learn from that.

You can stream the podcast from the icon below or can download it here. (The podcast runs for 20:12.) Although I already linked to this last week, you can find a copy of the prayer material for praying with each of the foureen Stations here.

Stations of the Cross (Part 1) – Lent Retreat in Daily Living, Week 5

This week was the fifth gathering of the Lent Retreat in Daily Living I’m offering at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and at St. Hubert’s Catholic Community. We began our session, as always, with the participants sharing in small groups the experiences they had last week praying with the Seven Sorrows of Mary. I think it is fair to say that everyone found something in Mary’s experiences to help them both in their own suffering and when they are walking with anohter in their suffering.

This week and next week, the retreatants will be walking with Christ using the vehicle of the Stations of the Cross. Stations are a popular Catholic devotion, especially during Lent, when it is common for them to be prayed communally. (Check your local Catholic Church – chances are good that they have a Stations service on Friday evenings during Lent.) Although I refer to it as a “Catholic devotion,” many Protestants find it a powerful vehicle for prayer as well. Each of the fourteen stations corresponds to a particular scene or incient in the suffering and death of Jesus. (Thus, the retreatants will pray with one station on each day this week and next week.)

During my talk this week, I said something about each of the first seven stations, which the retreatants will pray with this week. For each, I offered some thoughts on the station on on different questions or areas of reflection the incident might invite us to. The handouts I gave included scriptural references (for those stations having a clear scriptural reference), a set of images corresponding to each of the stations, some reflection questions for each station, and a version of the stations prayers that I find particularly powerful.

You can stream the podcast from the icon below or can download it here. (The podcast runs for 22:43.) You can find a copy of the prayer material for praying with the Stations here. (The attachment contains the prayer material for both this week and next week.)