What the Stations are

The Stations of the Cross are fourteen scenes from the last hours of Jesus' life, from his condemnation by Pilate to his burial. You will see them on the walls of every Catholic church, in plaster, wood or relief. At Shrewsbury Cathedral they sit between the Pugin windows and the Margaret Rope glass. At Saint Joseph's Stockport pilgrims walk them after Adoration. In every parish across the diocese, they appear.

The practice grew from the early Christians who walked the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. By the late Middle Ages, the Franciscans set up indoor versions for those who could never reach Jerusalem. The Stations are a pilgrimage you can make on a Friday afternoon in Chester or Crewe.

The fourteen stations

1. Jesus is condemned to death.
2. Jesus takes up his Cross.
3. Jesus falls for the first time.
4. Jesus meets his Mother.
5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross.
6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.
7. Jesus falls for the second time.
8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem.
9. Jesus falls for the third time.
10. Jesus is stripped of his garments.
11. Jesus is nailed to the Cross.
12. Jesus dies on the Cross.
13. Jesus is taken down from the Cross.
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb.

Some churches add a fifteenth station, the Resurrection, although traditionally the Resurrection is celebrated as its own moment, not absorbed into the way of the Cross.

How to pray them

The shape is simple. At each station you stop, look, and pray.

1. Read or recall what is happening at that scene.
2. Reflect briefly on what it means for Christ and for you.
3. Pray a short prayer.
4. Move to the next station.

Most parishes use a printed booklet, often the Stations as written by Saint Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century, which open with the same versicle and response at each station: "We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world." A line, an image, a prayer. Repeat fourteen times. The whole exercise takes between twenty and forty minutes.

Lent and the Stations in Shrewsbury

Lent in Shrewsbury Diocese is shaped, this year and every year, by the surge of new converts walking towards Easter. Bishop Davies' Pastoral Letter for Lent 2026, read at all Masses on the First Sunday of Lent, names the moment:

"As Lent begins, we see a growing number of men and women, many of them young adults, who are seeking faith and baptism. This stream of new converts is evident across our Diocese and country and indeed across the western world."

(Bishop Mark Davies, Pastoral Letter for Lent 2026, "A Church Ready for Converts")

171 candidates were elected by the Bishop at two successive Rites of Election at the Cathedral on the First Sunday of Lent 2026. Each one of them was preparing for Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion at the Easter Vigil. The Stations are part of how the diocese walks through Lent towards that night. Most parishes have public Stations on Friday evenings during Lent. The Cathedral, Saint Joseph's Stockport, Saint Werburgh's in Chester, all hold them. Bring a friend. Bring a child. Bring an OCIA candidate.

Why the Cross

The Stations slow you down at the foot of the Cross. The Catechism, summing up Saint Paul, states it cleanly: "Christ's Cross and Resurrection... are the heart of the Good News" (CCC §571). The whole Christian life depends on what happened on those three crosses outside the wall of Jerusalem on a Friday afternoon, around the year 33.

Bishop Davies, in his pastoral letter on the election of Pope Leo XIV, picked out a small detail of that day in May 2025:

"It seemed significant that before we caught sight of our new Pope, we saw first the Cross of Christ carried onto the balcony of Saint Peter's. For the Pope always stands before the world as a witness to Christ and to the victory of His Cross."

(Bishop Mark Davies, Pastoral Letter on Welcoming Pope Leo XIV)

The Pope behind the Cross. The diocese behind the Cross. You behind the Cross. The Stations train your eyes for that posture.

Praying them at home

You do not have to be in a church. If you are housebound, ill, or working evenings, you can pray the Stations at home. Place fourteen small markers around your house. Print or download a Stations booklet. Walk slowly. Stop at each station. Children take to the practice naturally; the pictures and the simple repetition let them join in.

The Cross at the heart of the Cathedral

The new altar of Shrewsbury Cathedral, dedicated by Bishop Davies, holds the relics of Saint Polycarp, Saint John Vianney, and Saint Charles Lwanga and the Martyrs of Uganda. Each Mass offered there is a re-presentation of the same Sacrifice the Stations end at.

A next step this Lent

This Friday, walk into your parish or the Cathedral half an hour before the evening Mass and pray the Stations. If your parish has a printed schedule (most do during Lent), pin it on the fridge. Bring one person who has never prayed them before. Walk slowly. Look at each image. Say the words. The Cross is not a symbol of defeat. It is the door we walk through, fourteen steps, into the life Christ won for us.