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The Stations of the Cross, also known as the Way of the Cross, the Way of Sorrows, the Via Crucis, or the Via Dolorosa, are a series of fourteen images depicting the events of Jesus Christ’s journey on the day of his crucifixion, accompanied by appropriate prayers. These stations originate from the traditional pilgrimage route in Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa, which symbolises the path Jesus is believed to have walked from the Lions’ Gate to Mount Calvary. The primary purpose of the stations is to facilitate a spiritual reflection for believers, encouraging them to contemplate the Passion of Christ.
Pilate brought out Jesus around noon, saying: ‘Here is your king.’ They shouted: ‘Take him away, crucify him!’
Pilate: ‘Shall I crucify your king?’ Chief priests: ‘We have no king but Caesar.’
Pilate handed Jesus over to them for crucifixion.
The soldiers then took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he proceeded to the place called the Skull (which in Aramaic is known as Golgotha). There, they crucified him alongside two others—one on each side with Jesus in the middle. Pilate commissioned a notice to be prepared and affixed to the cross. It read:Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this inscription, as the location of the crucifixion was near the city, and the sign was inscribed in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews objected to Pilate, saying, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather that this man claimed to be the king of the Jews.” Pilate responded, “What I have written, I have written.”
The first fall of Jesus under the weight of the cross is not recorded in the Bible
, but it is a central moment in the traditional Stations of the Cross (Station III). It signifies Jesus’s human frailty, suffering, and bearing the weight of human sins
Near the cross of Jesus, there stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother there, along with the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to her, “Woman, behold your son,” and to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” From that moment, the disciple took her into his care and residence.
And they compelled a passer-by from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.
The account of Veronica wiping the face of Jesus is not recorded in the Bible. It is a devout tradition, observed as the Sixth Station of the Cross in Catholic and other Christian practices. According to this tradition, she was a woman who used her veil or cloth to wipe Jesus’ face on his way to Calvary, and an image of his face is said to have appeared on it.
The second fall of Jesus is not explicitly documented in the Bible; however, it is a traditional element of the Stations of the Cross (the Seventh Station). It symbolises Jesus’ significant physical exhaustion and burden, with reflections often associated with Isaiah 53:4-5 (“Surely he has borne our infirmities”) or Psalm 22:6 (“I am a worm, and no man”).
A considerable number of people accompanied Him, among them women who continued to mourn and lament for Him.
However, Jesus turned towards them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me; instead, weep for yourselves and for your children.”
As the soldiers led him away, they detained Simon of Cyrene, who was on his way in from the countryside, and compelled him to carry the cross behind Jesus. A considerable crowd followed, including women who were mourning and lamenting for him. Jesus then turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then ‘They will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”For if these things are happening when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Pilate responded, “What I have written, I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided His garments into four parts, one for each soldier, with the tunic remaining. It was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. They then said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots to determine who will get it.” This was in fulfilment of the Scripture: “They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” Accordingly, the soldiers carried out these actions.
They also put two robbers on crosses beside Jesus, one on the right, and the other on the left. [And the Scripture came true that says, “They put him with criminals.”] People walked by and insulted Jesus. They shook their heads, saying, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross!” The leading priests and the teachers of the law were also there. They made fun of Jesus just as the other people did. They said among themselves, “He saved other people, but he can’t save himself. If he is really the Christ, the king of Israel, then let him come down from the cross now. We will see this, and then we will believe in him.” The robbers who were being killed on the crosses beside Jesus also insulted him. At noon the whole country became dark. This darkness lasted for three hours. At three o’clock Jesus cried in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.” This means, “My God, my God, why have you left me alone?” Some of the people standing there heard this. They said, “Listen! He is calling Elijah.” One man there ran and got a sponge. He filled the sponge with vinegar and tied it to a stick. Then he used the stick to give the sponge to Jesus to drink from it. The man said, “We should wait now and see if Elijah will come to take him down from the cross.” Then Jesus cried in a loud voice and died.
Later, Joseph of Arimathea requested permission from Pilate to take Jesus’ body. Although he was a disciple of Jesus, he had kept his faith private due to concerns about the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s consent, he retrieved the body. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who had previously visited Jesus secretly at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, approximately seventy-five pounds. Together, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in strips of linen, following Jewish burial customs.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, took Jesus’ body, wrapped it with the spices, and clothed it in strips of linen, following Jewish burial customs. The site of the crucifixion was adjacent to a garden, within which there was a new tomb that had never been used. As it was the Jewish Day of Preparation, and because the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.