Catholics at the U remembered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by carrying a wooden cross in a procession around campus Friday.
A crowd of students, faculty and local parishioners walked from place to place, stopping at various stations to reflect upon particular events of the crucifixion story. The Stations of the Cross is an annual event of the St. Catherine of Siena Newman Center.
“Primarily, it’s a meditation on what Christ went through for us and how to apply it to our own lives,” said the Rev. James Thompson, associate pastor at the St. Catherine of Siena Newman Center.
“It’s a way to sort of relive the passion of Christ,” said Beth Frieden, a peer minister at the Newman Center and a graduate student in art history.
Thompson said the Stations of the Cross ceremony is a tradition dating back to at least the Middle Ages and is observed by most Catholic congregations. Most conduct the ceremony indoors, he said, but at colleges and universities, it has become customary for students to bear the cross in a procession around campus.
At each station, Thompson stopped to bless those who worked at a particular campus facility and parishioners read a passage related to the crucifixion. Then a member of the crowd volunteered to carry the cross to the next station.
Thompson wore a black habit instead of his regular white habit to symbolize mourning for the death of Christ, Frieden said.
Frieden estimated that between 60 and 70 people participated in the event.
Hallie Brown, a freshman in nursing, said that participating in the Stations of the Cross had a particularly significant meaning for her.
“I’m letting other people see what I believe in, in a state where it’s not the majority. It’s the first time I’ve done something like this,” Brown said.
“This is a unique Stations of the Cross. It’s a journey walking to different stations,” said John Rakowski, a junior in philosophy. “I usually try to participate in most of the triduum.”
Triduum is a Latin term for the three days at the close of Holy Week consisting of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil, Thompson said. Holy Week events concluded with an Easter Sunday mass.