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What are the Stations of the Cross?

Quick answer

The Stations of the Cross (also called the Way of the Cross or Via Crucis) is a Catholic devotion that retraces in fourteen scenes the journey of Christ from his condemnation by Pilate to his entombment. The faithful pray and meditate before fourteen images set up in the church, traditionally on the Fridays of Lent.

The devotion

The Stations of the Cross is one of the most widely practiced Catholic devotions, particularly during the season of Lent and on Good Friday in the Sacred Triduum. The devotion consists in praying before fourteen images, set up in sequence around the interior of a Catholic church, that depict successive scenes from the Passion of Christ. The faithful walk from station to station, pausing before each to read a brief meditation, recite a prayer, and contemplate the mystery.

The devotion took its present form in the late medieval period, particularly through the work of the Franciscans, who had been entrusted with the custody of the holy places in Jerusalem. The Franciscans developed and propagated the practice as a way for Catholics who could not undertake pilgrimage to Jerusalem to participate spiritually in the Lord's Via Dolorosa.1

The fourteen traditional stations

The traditional fourteen stations are:

  1. Jesus is condemned to death (cf. Matthew 27:24-26).
  2. Jesus carries his cross (John 19:17).
  3. Jesus falls the first time (a station from tradition; not narrated in Scripture).
  4. Jesus meets his Mother (a station from tradition).
  5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross (Mark 15:21).
  6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus (a station from tradition; the name Veronica derives from vera icon, "true image").
  7. Jesus falls the second time (from tradition).
  8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem (Luke 23:27-31).
  9. Jesus falls the third time (from tradition).
  10. Jesus is stripped of his garments (Matthew 27:35).
  11. Jesus is nailed to the cross (Luke 23:33).
  12. Jesus dies on the cross (John 19:30).
  13. Jesus is taken down from the cross (John 19:38-42).
  14. Jesus is laid in the tomb (Matthew 27:59-60).

A modern variant, the Scriptural Stations of the Cross, was promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1991. It substitutes scriptural events for the four stations not directly narrated in the canonical Gospels (the falls and the encounter with Veronica), giving fourteen stations entirely grounded in Scripture: the Agony in the Garden, the Betrayal, the Trial before Pilate, the Scourging and Crowning with Thorns, and so on. Both forms are permitted by the Catholic Church.2

How the Stations are prayed

The traditional method:

  1. The faithful gather at the first station.
  2. At each station, a leader reads the announcement: "We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world."
  3. A brief meditation on the scene is read.
  4. The leader and people pray (often an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be).
  5. The procession moves to the next station.

The full devotion takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes. Many parishes offer the Stations of the Cross on every Friday of Lent, often immediately after Mass.

The plenary indulgence

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who pray the Stations of the Cross under the usual conditions: confession, Communion, prayer for the intentions of the Pope, and detachment from sin. The devotion must be prayed before stations canonically erected in a Catholic church or chapel, with at least a brief meditation at each station. (See What is an indulgence? for the full conditions.)

When the Stations are prayed

The Stations of the Cross are most commonly prayed:

  • On the Fridays of Lent in parish settings.
  • On Good Friday afternoon in the Sacred Triduum, often as a public devotion in addition to the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion.
  • Daily during Lent as a private devotion, particularly by those preparing for confession or focused on a specific intention.

The Pope typically prays the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday at the Roman Colosseum, with members of the faithful, and the meditations are written for the occasion by a different author each year.

For the related rosary mysteries that retrace the Passion, see the five Sorrowful Mysteries. For the Triduum, see the Sacred Triduum.

Sources

Footnotes

  1. The Franciscan custody of the holy places in Jerusalem was formally established by the Bull of Pope Clement VI, Gratias agimus, in 1342. The Franciscans developed the modern Stations of the Cross devotion across the late medieval period. ↩

  2. Pope Saint John Paul II, the Scriptural Stations of the Cross, first prayed at the Roman Colosseum on Good Friday 1991. ↩

Last reviewed: May 1, 2026. Sources verified.