Starting next Friday, February 19th, the Padre Eustáquio Church in Belo Horizonte will hold the Stations of the Cross meditation. The meditation on the Passion of Our Lord will take place every Friday during Lent at 6 PM inside the church.

Entry will be controlled at the church door. Temperature checks, shoe sanitization, and hand sanitizer will be available. Additionally, attendees must wear face masks at all times. Following the Stations of the Cross, Holy Mass will be celebrated at 7 PM, and everyone is invited to participate.

The Stations of the Cross meditation will take place on the following days, always at 6 PM:
February 19th and 26th
– March 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th

The Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross consist of spiritually retracing Jesus' path to Mount Calvary as he carried the Cross, as well as providing an opportunity to internalize his suffering.

Regarding its meaning, "Via Crucis," or Via Sacra, means in Latin "“The Way of the Cross”. This path is made up of 14 stations that represent specific scenes from the Passion, each corresponding to a special event or a particular way of devotion related to those representations.

Formerly, the number of stations varied considerably in different places, but now the Magisterium prescribes fourteen:

1. Christ is condemned to death.
2. Jesus carries the cross on his shoulders.
3. Jesus falls for the first time.
4. Jesus meets his Blessed Mother.
5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross.
6. Veronica wipes Jesus' face.
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 placed in the tomb.

In the beginning, the Stations of the Cross prayer was different. In the 4th century, the nun Egedia wrote about the pilgrimages that Christians made to Jerusalem to visit the places of Jesus' passion and death, carrying the Gospels. This pilgrimage ended on Mount Calvary.

*with information from acidigital.com