In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Welcome to Virtual Stations of the Cross for Lent 2021. In this time in our community when we cannot physically gather together, we remain a community of love, service and prayer. In in our homes, and in our own time, we are invited to make the journey of the cross together as a community committed to being the Body of Christ in the world.
To follow the virtual stations of the cross, click on the cross on each of the Stations, which are in order on the image from I to XIV. Each station has a link which will take you to a blog post (like this one) with prayers and reflections specific to that station. Use the “Leave a Reply” box at the bottom of each page to convey comments, intentions, and notes/messages to others following the Way of the Cross in community. There will be a place for comments at the bottom of each station’s blog entry (scroll down, you’ll find it!). If you have any questions or technical challenges, please reach out me (Rev. Sarah Kye Price) at PriestSP@stmarksrva.org.
Each station of the cross we walk asks us to remember the path that Jesus walked, steps that culminated a journey of his earthly ministry of healing, teaching, and overturning the way things had always been in order to show us a new way. In his life, Jesus gathered adults and children; people who were rich and people who were poor; people who were born into his own race and culture and those whose races and cultures were different and even feared. Jesus welcomed sinners and taught us that the least among us would be the greatest. In his journey, Jesus carried the burdens of this world and this vision of new hope. Even now, in uncertain days, we know that Jesus has walked this path with profound love for us, so that nothing we can face in this world can ever separate us from the knowledge and love of God. In walking the way of the cross together, we learn to see our own lives reflected in that love.
This virtual journey moves through the Stations of the Cross at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. We begin and end here in our chapel with opening and closing prayers, and we make our way around the stations of the cross through the nave, pausing at each place. Imagine you are gathered there now, with a community of faithful pilgrims on this journey with you. Even though we remain separated for the health and well-being of this community right now, our journey reminds us that we will gather again soon, physically and spiritually, to celebrate Holy Eucharist, our Great Thanksgiving and proclaim resurrection. Love will triumph over death.
As we retrace these holy steps of Jesus in our own journey of faith in community, we begin by offering together the prayer that Jesus taught us:
Our Father, who art in heaven:
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
We will glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ:
In whom is our salvation, our life, and our resurrection.
Let us pray.
Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Sacred Space 