Stations of the Cross
Apologies if this has been raised previously, but here goes:
A member of our congregation has asked me why the Stations of the Cross in our church are displayed 'anticlockwise', starting at the East end of the North side, progressing to the West End, then back on the South side ending at the East end by what we term the Resurrection (formerly Requiem) altar. I believe this is the traditional order.
Thinking quickly, I said that traditionally the North side was the abode of darkness and the Devil, the South that of light and God. So, the series starts with the apparent triumph of evil with the condemnation of Jesus, and ends with the redemption of the world by his sacrificial death. I have no idea if this is right, but can any Shipmate enlighten me with the true explanation?
A member of our congregation has asked me why the Stations of the Cross in our church are displayed 'anticlockwise', starting at the East end of the North side, progressing to the West End, then back on the South side ending at the East end by what we term the Resurrection (formerly Requiem) altar. I believe this is the traditional order.
Thinking quickly, I said that traditionally the North side was the abode of darkness and the Devil, the South that of light and God. So, the series starts with the apparent triumph of evil with the condemnation of Jesus, and ends with the redemption of the world by his sacrificial death. I have no idea if this is right, but can any Shipmate enlighten me with the true explanation?
Comments
The pictures themselves are Edwardian drawings contemporaneous (AFAIK) with the church (built in 1908), and the direction in which the various peeps are travelling, so to speak, is as described.
Whether it has any significance or not, I couldn't say, but the tradition in some Western churches used to be to read the Gospel facing north towards the abode of the heathen, rather than the forces of darkness, but, hey.....
From the discussion of Praying for departed clergy (and the burial thereof):
So perhaps you're reading the Gospel facing north in the hope of evangelizing the crocodiles.
(In actual fact, we read the Gospel in the midst of the community of faith, symbolic - AIUI - of Our Lord's presence in the midst of His people).
By the way, brilliant quick thinking on your part, Eirenist!
Firstly the less liturgically high traditions the few prayers the people know by rote. They will know the Lord's prayer and the Grace but do not assume people know anything more. An alternative that they would understand is to pick one of the great hymns and sing a verse of that after each station. It is worth checking for the original text which is often longer for instance When I Survey the Wonderous Cross had at least six verses rather than the current four. Recent generations have tended to shorten older hymns. The lower liturgically traditions tend to know a lot of hymns as it in many ways replaced the simple liturgical prayers in devotional practice.
Second, when handling anything to do with Mary, it is fine to do a meditation on Mary's experience. It is likely to upset people if it is followed by anything that might be interpreted as a prayer to Mary
Third, with non-Biblical stations, you have two choices. One is to leave them in and link with a wider experience of the journey, this may be by tying it into a Biblical passage. For instance, Veronica's veil could be linked back to Mary's anointing with oil at Bethany. The alternative is to skip.
Fourth, if you have Reformed types then the simple answer is to make sure there is a Bible passage at each station. Nothing is likely to calm them down as much as hearing the Bible read.
The version of the Scriptural Way of the Cross published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops can be found here. (I couldn't find a version at the websites of the Catholic Bishops' Conferences of England and Wales or of Scotland, but maybe there is one somewhere.)
Hope this helps.
Now our new vicar had announced he will not agree to Stations in his church, as he says it is RC and he does not agree with it.
Which is why I was interested in alternative ecumenical ideas.
Instead he has proposed an alternative which is not only during the day so will exclude some who work, but also he proposes to include a Celtic Communion, which almost certainly means the RCs cannot officially participate, though individually some may be happy to do so.
It will certainly be thrown out by the churches together committee.
The then Anglican vicar I think wanting to get rid of it, placed it with the URC while they were in vacancy. The thing was that it then went to two of people who were engaged with worship leading in the congregation. I think it went out with a bang rather than the whimper he hoped.
The Elim guys are involved, tend to irritate me by using it as an excuse to hand out tracts, the Elim minister has performed Jesus on occasion.
* there was one memorable year when we had white clothed Jesus daubed with black hand prints at every station by a range of different actors, to show the sin laid upon him. That one had poetry rather than a fairly well known hymn, but that was a one off. Same group no longer runs the nativity service on Christmas Eve, which is another story entirely.