Treading the “Holy Way” Together: Stations of the Cross During the Pandemic

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you,

Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

The Living Stations of the Cross have a long history as part of the OLMC School Holy Week preparations. For months, students rehearse the central events of Christ’s Passion, assuming roles from Pontius Pilate to Mary to Jesus himself in order to lead the entire school community in contemplation. It is a moving devotion, as each year our students become living reminders of these events.

This year, the Living Stations of the Cross had to be canceled in compliance with social distancing mandates. One more sacrifice--one last Lenten offering--was being asked of our students, especially the 8th grade class which had already put many hours of work into preparing the event. Undaunted by physical separation, however, members of the school community worked together, with the help of technology, to compile a stunningly beautiful slide presentation of the Stations of the Cross. 8th grade students recorded the prayers and readings that they had been rehearsing. On their own, they recorded their voice parts in the traditional hymn Stabat Mater, which music teacher Mrs. Matyasfalvi then compiled into a virtual choir. All classes submitted artwork for the stations, sharing their own perspectives on these holy scenes. On Holy Thursday at 11am, students were invited to pray along with the presentation from their separate homes. The beginning verses of the hymn reminded each student of what was missing: They were, in fact, “left alone to walk with [Christ].” Yet they were still accompanied by the familiar voices of friends and classmates leading them in prayer and song. Even though they could not see the events played out before them, they could gaze upon icons of each other’s interpretations of the road to Calvary. The Stations came alive this year, not through reenactment, but through the drama of absence and longing. This year’s celebration of the Stations was a simple invitation to accompany Christ by uniting our suffering with his.

We, inevitably, will look back on Holy Week of 2020 as the year in which we missed familiar faces presenting the Passion for us, and we will all look forward to resuming our tradition of the Living Stations of the Cross next year. But we can also remember 2020 as the year we reflected on how precious a gift our OLMC community is, and we were reminded to give thanks to the One who is the center of our life together. Without Christ, who suffered for each of us, we would not have this community of friends. Through our own suffering, we recognized that it is his living presence among us--even when we are apart--which sustains us.