From the earliest days of the Church, Catholics have followed the Stations of the Cross (also called the Way of the Cross or Via Dolorosa, “Way of Sorrow” in Latin).

Early Christians were known to retrace the path Jesus walked to crucifixion through the streets of Jerusalem leading from the Antonia Palace of Pontius Pilate to Calvary. We know that pilgrims visited Calvary and Christ’s tomb with special devotion. The popularly accepted sites were located by St. Helen during a pilgrimage she undertook when she was in her 70’s. Her son, the Emperor Constantine, erected the first Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, finishing its construction in 335 A.D..

Journeys to these holy sites were extremely difficult for most people of Saint Helen’s day (the Fourth Century). As Palestine fell under Muslim control after the seventh century, such journeys became even more difficult and dangerous. In 1095, when Pope Urban II summoned the First Crusade, one of his purposes was to assure safe passage to Palestine for Catholic pilgrims. After Jerusalem was seized by the savage Seljuk Turks in the 12th century, travel to the Holy Land became quite rare.

The Franciscans received custody of Jerusalem’s Holy Places in 1335, and secured passage to pilgrimage sites. Returning Crusaders had begun the practice of setting up memorials to the holy sites when they returned home to Catholic nations of the West. The Franciscans built on this custom and began to place Stations of the Cross in Franciscan churches across Europe. St. Leonard Casanova, a Franciscan devoted to the Stations, is said to have erected the Way of the Cross in more than 500 churches in Italy alone during the span of 20 years (1731-1751).

From the very beginning, it was required that the cross of each station be made of wood. This is because the important part of each station is not what particular part of the Way of the Cross it depicts, but the cross itself. Each station must have a wooden cross attached to it. Even if nothing else is present, the cross alone makes it a valid station. This is why you may see some older stations that are made of stone or plaster, or even painted on walls, but always adorned with small, wooden crosses.

The Stations of the Cross on the walls of Immaculate Conception Church are large mosaics reflecting the Byzantine style of Ravenna, Italy.