The 14 Traditional Stations of the Cross

The fourteen Stations of the Cross -- sometimes known devotionally as the Via Dolorosa, via crucis -- are visual meditations primarily on the passion and suffering experienced by Christ.
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The scenes, normally found inside a church and less so in the open, are specific to Catholics who use the illustrations as visual reminders.
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While the narratives depicted in each station have varying amounts of truths, and the exact locations are not exactly known, what is important is the spiritual meaning.
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The stations, for example, show three scenes in which Christ falls, but there is no evidence that he fell exactly three times as depicted, much less that He ever fell at all; It's only surmised that he must have fallen, and more than once, from the great suffering that He withstood during the passion.
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And while there is absolutely no evidence, either physical or Biblical that a woman by the name of Veronica, for example, existed, much less that she pressed the cloth against Jesus' head -- to capture the impression of His face from his blood and sweat -- the metaphysical message of Veronica's deed serves to offer fictive proof to the believer, who already believes in the occurrence from reading about it, that she not only witnessed Christ's passage on the Via Dolorosa (which, as a real street, by the way, has never been found), but also gave "history," by means of that cloth, some fictive evidence that He existed.
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Biblical scholars and etymologists theorize that the origin of the word "Veronica" can be derived from two Latin words: "Vero," meaning "true," and "icon," meaning "image", hence "true image," i.e., Veronica is holding the true image of Christ.
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Station #5 illustrates Simon carrying the cross, and is taken from scripture. However, the mystical meaning is that it would neither be important had there never been a Simon nor that he carried the cross. And had such an event not occurred, a Roman official could very well have randomly plucked from the crowd a strong-enough-looking person, most likely a male, and pressed him into service to carry the cross.
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The metaphysical interpretation is that a person willingly took on the cross for Christ which and serves as an example of one devout believer doing the service of furthering Christ message, while a real-world interpretation is that the Roman guard just wanted to speedily get to the location of the crucifixion. Of course, how a deed likely done rather unwillingly is transformed into a deed done willingly is left unaddressed.
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What matters is what Christ and his deed has come to represent to Catholics. Of course, it's not important to the believer that this snippet of devotional history, the Stations of the Cross, be anchored in true, evidentiary history. No, what is important is the quality of one's spiritual quest, and the belief in the strength of the mystical message that it is.
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In fact, this popular story was not developed by the Church hierarchy, no, it sprang from the spiritual needs of the non-ecclesiastic, the non-priest, the parishioner, the normal believer who likes stories that are illustrated, and it seems that only reluctantly, and later, did the Church's Magisterium fully come on board. In the end, the Stations offer yet another wonderful, illustrative tale in Church lore that fortifies a person's Catholic Christian faith.
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The musical score is Messe "Tu es Petrus": Gloria

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[delArMedia]

Nice artwork and it's nice and simple allowing us, the viewer, to reflect on whatever we wish to add. Great work!

[chevyyyyyyy]

Hello delArMedia,

I distilled the titles to the bare but understandable essence, if this is what you mean. I also avoided any homilies. This was to respect the needs and goals of individual Roman Catholics as well as catholics of other denominations to form their own personal messages while identifying with His suffering and ultimate rise to victory.

You have given me the supreme compliment

[wholegeneration53]

thats pretty cool

[chevyyyyyyy]

HI wholegeneration53,

Thanks. I drew them, and it's my interpretation, so it's original art. I purposely made Jesus heroic in those instances when He's usually depicted as morose or depressed in order to convey his ultimate victory even in apparent defeart.

[johnycena000]

Nice video