Exercise of the Way of the Cross

This exercise of the Way of the Cross represents the sorrowful journey of Jesus Christ, when he went with the cross upon his shoulders to die on Calvary for love of us; and so this devotion should be practiced with all tenderness, thinking that we are going to accompany the Savior with our tears, to compassionate him and to thank him.

It should be known that in visiting the following stations one gains all the indulgences of Jerusalem, as if one were actually present in those holy places. It should also be known that Pope Benedict XIV, in the year 1741, by a Brief granted all pastors the faculty — with the permission of their Ordinaries — to erect the Way of the Cross in their parishes or in other places within the boundaries of their parish churches, under the direction of a friar of the Order of Friars Minor, whether Observant, Reformed, or Recollect, who is a preacher or approved to hear the confessions of the faithful, from any convent whether near or far, but with the consent of his superior. However, if the Way of the Cross has already been erected in that place, another may not be erected unless the first is in a location where the people cannot go without very great difficulty.