Lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion

Lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion

The traditional name for today, The Fifth Sunday of Lent, is Passion Sunday. It marks the beginning of the last two weeks of Lent, traditionally called Passiontide. I think the Roman Catholic Church has, since 1969, transferred the name Passion Sunday to be an alternative for next Sunday, Palm Sunday. And many Anglican provinces have followed the Roman Catholic lead. The Church of England, as far as I understand things from the lectionary, allows for either. The Collects, however, read as though we should still call this Sunday by its traditional name. Personally, I prefer to keep the traditional name because of the way it points us towards the passion of Christ.

Starting later today, at noon, and then every day throughout Passiontide, I will be publishing a series of fourteen daily posts, each depicting one of the Stations of the Cross. Each one will have a short reflection and a prayer. I do hope you will find them helpful.

The Stations of the Cross were brought to Europe by Crusaders who had followed in Jerusalem the journey of our Lord to the cross. They sought to bring to those who could not physically travel to Jerusalem an opportunity to follow the Way of the Cross.

Since the sixteenth century, there have been fourteen Stations, telling the story of the passion from the moment that the Roman governor Pilate condemned Jesus to death, up to his burial in the tomb that same evening. Of the fourteen Stations, eight are based directly on events recorded in the Gospels. The remaining six are based on inferences from the Gospel account and from pious legend.

A Station is somewhere to stop and wait. When Christians make the Stations of the Cross they stop and wait at points along Jesus’ journey to his crucifixion.

Here is a list of the titles for each Station, linked to the appropriate posts:

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I first used these in Godmanchester a few years ago. I didn’t write them myself, but cannot remember now where I found them — I’d made them up into a booklet, and didn’t add a source.

Gracious Father,
you gave up your Son
out of love for the world:
lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion,
that we may know eternal peace
through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Additional Collect for The Fifth Sunday of Lent
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council