Stations of the Cross is such a beautiful expression of God’s love for us. Although it can be said and followed all year round we try to say it weekly during Lent. Our parish has Stations of the Cross every Friday and typically that is the day we say it, but with 5 children all under the age of 8 we find going to the chapel at our parish difficult. We have, therefore, come up with a simple interactive way of bringing stations to our home and to our children.
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Last year, we bought enough Stations of the Cross booklets for each child. One of them is not exactly a stations book, but it is a board book that keeps our 2 year old occupied, so it is a winner.
The Set-Up
We have a little set-up that we have the kids help us arrange on Friday before we start. We just use what we have around the house and it has worked perfectly for us. We use a small bookshelf that usually holds our kids’ toys. Then we make our own way to Calvary. Each station is represented by a magnet tile square, leading all the up to the cross.
We use 13 magnet tiles for the stations. A few of the stations have special features to better represent what is happening to Jesus on His way to Calvary. For the twelfth station, when Jesus is crucified and dies on the cross, we use this beautiful picture of Jesus up on the cross and Mary at his feet, from Leanne Bowen. the final station we make a “tomb”, for Jesus, out of 5 magnet tiles.
The Supplies
-13 magnet tiles
-a station book for each family member. Here are the books we use:
-a picture or representation of each station. We use the Stations of the Cross cards from Catholic Family Crate
-a crucifix
-a pieta picture or statue (optional)
*I just want to add, that obviously all of this optional. You could take your family to your local parish and stations, you could just read through them at home without any of this. I just found a fun visual way for my kids to partake in Calvary that we build and pray through each Friday in Lent. My kids love it and so I thought I would share. But none of this is “necessary”.
The Structure
Stations of the Cross is a beautiful depiction of Christ’s way to the Cross and death upon it. It has 14 Stations of the stops He made along the way. There are many devotionals written for this devotion, the two most popular versions were written by St. Francis of Assisi and St. Alphonso Maria de’ Liguori. We use the one on the Catholic Family Crate which is very similar to that of the one said in our Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) chapel, but the wording is easier for my children to understand.
Stations of the Cross starts with an opening prayer that my husband reads and then we begin our ascent to the Cross.
My husband then reads each station name and says “We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.” We, then, reply in unison, “Because, by Thy holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.” Then he reads the Scripture passage, follows with the reflection, and then we say an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. My husband finishes each station with “Lord Jesus Crucified.” We reply, “Have mercy on us.” and then I lead a verse of the Stabat Mater hymn.
We follow this through all 14 stations.
We end with the concluding prayer; an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for the intentions of the Pope; and then I lead the last few verses of the Stabat Mater to conclude the devotion.
The Station Names
1. Jesus is Condemned to Death
2. Jesus Carries the Cross
3. Jesus Falls for the First Time
4. Jesus Meets His Mother
5. Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
6. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
7. Jesus Falls a Second Time
8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
9. Jesus Falls a Third Time
10. Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
11. Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
12. Jesus Dies on the Cross
13. Jesus’ Body is Removed from the Cross
14. Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
Stations of the Cross Resources
The Hallow App has a great page on how to pray the Stations of the Cross and a guided recording of it to pray along with for free when you download the app and sign up.
A Catholic Mom’s Life Youtube channel also has a beautiful walk through the Stations of the Cross as well.
A lot of prayer books such as the Mother Love book, Christian Warfare, and most TLM missals have the Stations in some form in them. Our parish uses these little pink booklets and you can get them on the Tan Books Website.
Other Kid friendly Stations of the Cross Ideas
Catholic Family Crate has these beautiful Jumbo coloring activity sheets available that come in a three pack and each sheet has a depiction of each station that your child color while you are praying the stations as a family.
Sara J Creations has a great Stations activities for kids where they get to color each station and then match them with the correct Station name.
I hope that if you haven’t already been doing this beautiful devotion you will give it a try. It is worth it. My kids love setting it up, they love the family time, they love learning more about Jesus, and they loving singing the Stabat Mater with me. It has become such a cherished family tradition.
Leave a comment below if you decide to give it a try or if you have other traditions around the Stations of the Cross. I would love to hear them.