The Stations of the Cross
in the nave of the Cathedral
Lent 2015
Be a pilgrim - for just ten minutes
During Lent fourteen icons which tell the story of ‘the Way of the Cross’ are placed on the walls around the nave of the Cathedral.
You are invited to spend a few minutes following the journey of Jesus Christ on the last day of his life - from his condemnation by Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor in Jerusalem, to the moment when his lifeless body was laid in the tomb.
Down the centuries pilgrims in Jerusalem have followed the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Sorrow, marking Christ’s final journey to Golgotha. During the forty days of Lent these icons make a Jerusalem here for us, and you too can become a pilgrim journeying with Christ to stand at the foot of the cross.
Some guidelines
Make your way down the north aisle to where the first icon, numbered number one, is placed. Your pilgrimage begins here.
Spend a moment in front of this simple picture painted in the classic style of eastern iconography. Stand still for a moment and let yourself breathe and rest. As you begin to focus on these icons, try to let go of the noise and clutter and pressures of your day. Read the introduction below first, and then make your pilgrimage.
Introduction
As you walk slowly and pause before each of the fourteen icons, you will see that the heart of the story is the struggle of one solitary man who has been condemned and carries the crushing weight of a huge black cross on which he is eventually nailed.
He and his cross are the heart of the story, but around him are other key people: Pilate, the governor who condemns him; Mary his mother; the women who weep for him and long somehow to help him; his fearful and timid disciples often standing behind the women in the crowd; Simon of Cyrene the stranger who helps him carry his cross; and throughout the story the soldiers who go with him, and strip him, and finally crucify him. And at the end there is Joseph of Arimathea, in whose tomb he was placed, and Mary Magdalen and John, the ‘beloved disciple’ to whom he was especially close, and other disciples who lovingly take down his body and place it in the tomb. And over and through it all there is this black ugly cross which stands over the whole scene at the end, seemingly triumphant.
As you walk slowly, and look, and reflect on these pictures and how they might relate to your life ask yourself …
What does this cross represent - in my life, or in the life of the world?
Where am I in these pictures?
And, who is this Jesus Christ - for me?
The story does not end with the final icon, and there can be no final icon to tell the end of the story because the story is not yet ended. It is not possible to represent in a picture the resurrection of Christ from the dead for the resurrection is not
solely about an event that happened two thousand years ago early on the Sunday morning when he burst from the tomb. The resurrection is about this crucified one, alive, and with us now.
Now, slowly, taking your time and not rushing, make your way round the stations. Look carefully at each one – and allow them to speak to you.
THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS
1. CHRIST CONDEMNED
Pilate … having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. (Mark 15.15)
2.CHRIST TAKES UP HIS CROSS
They took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. (John 19.17)
3.CHRISTFALLS
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. (Isaiah 53.4)
4.CHRIST MEETS HIS MOTHER
Simeon said to Mary, his mother, ‘ …and a sword will pierce through your own soul also.’ (Luke 2.35)
5.SIMON OF CYRENE
… and they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, to carry his cross. (Mark 15.21)
6.VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF CHRIST
‘Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25.40)
7.CHRIST FALLS AGAIN
… but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.
(Isaiah 53.5)
8.WEEP NOT FOR ME
… ‘Daughters of Jerusalem do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.’ (Luke 23.28)
9.CHRISTFALLS YET AGAIN
… though he fall he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord is the stay of his hand. (Psalm 37.24)
10.CHRIST STRIPPED
‘let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.’ (John 19.24)
11.CHRIST CRUCIFIED
‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ (Luke 23.34)
12.CHRIST DIES
… and Jesus said ‘It is finished’, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19.30) I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. (John 12.32)
13.CHRIST TAKEN DOWN
They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. (John 19.40)
14.CHRIST BURIED
… and Joseph of Arimathea … laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled the stone against the door of the tomb. (Mark 15.46)
Prayers
God our Life,
as we stand at the foot of the cross of your Son
help us to see and know your love for us,
so that in humility, love and joy,
we may place at his feet
all that we have, all that we are;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,Amen.
Christ our victim,
whose beauty was disfigured
and whose body torn upon the cross;
open wide your arms
to embrace our tortured world,
that we may not turn away our eyes
but abandon ourselves to your mercy. Amen.
O Saviour Lord
crucified for me, crucified by me,
attach me to the long line of pilgrims
who have sought and discovered the true cross:
not the old worn word, but its living grace;
not the cruel relic of a bygone woe,
but the wisdom of God for the mind
the power of God for the will;
the patience of God towards our angers and ignorances,
your generosity unto death. Amen.
Christ crucified draw you to himself, so that you find in him, a sure ground for faith, a firm support for hope, and the assurance of sins forgiven, and the blessing of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.
These 14 Stations of the Cross were commissioned by the Chapter of Wells Cathedral in 2000. They are the work of the Bulgarian icon painter Silvia Dimitrova. Silvia lives in Bath and exhibits internationally. Many of her works are in public and private collections. The commission was completed in 2001 and received financial support from the Wootton family in memory of Bill Wootton for many years a faithful member of the Cathedral Community. They have provided us with fourteen strikingly original pieces of work, beautiful in themselves which help us towards a better understanding of Jesus Christ and himcrucified.