Lent 2023: The Stations of the Cross
Church of the Holy Redeemer of Thomas More in Chelsea, UK
(Photos: Fr Richard Filima)
In 1892, Canon Cornelius Keens, known as “the church builder”, obtained permission from the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Herbert Vaughan, to found a new parish in the older part of Chelsea in London. The church, dedicated to Our Most Holy Redeemer, was built between June 1894 and October 1895. Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Herbert Vaughan laid the foundation stone. The church was consecrated ten years later, on June 21st, 1905, by Archbishop, later Cardinal Bourne. St Thomas More was added as patron following his canonisation in 1935.
The church was designed by Edward Goldie and built by Messrs Goddard of Farnham and Dorking. The church escaped extensive damage when it sustained a direct hit during the Word War II, but the organ was completely destroyed, and the west window and the floor needed repair. Further general restoration was carried out in 1962 and in later years.
The Stations of the Cross, by Ken Thompson, were commissioned by Father (now Bishop) Alan Hopes as the parish’s commemoration of the Jubilee of the Birth of our Lord in 2000. Ken is well-known for his memorial to the Air India crash at Ahakista in West Cork; the Stations of the Cross in Longford Cathedral, Ireland; and the statue of St Patrick at Lough Derg, Co Donegal (see page 22).
To read more of the history of the Church of the Holy Redeemer go to: www.holyredeemerchelsea.com
Praying the Stations of the Cross
To pray the Way of the Cross requires only that you meditate on each station. Before each station you may say:
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Lord by your Cross and Resurrection, you have redeemed the world.
After each station you may say an Our Father, Hail Mary, or Glory Be.
To download a copy of the Stations of the Cross page from Africa, March 2022, click on the following links:
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Stations - jpg file - click on the following image:
The First Station
Jesus in condemned
Let me remember all those condemned unjustly. Give me the wisdom not to "go along with the crowd".
No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
John 15:13
The Second Station
Jesus receives his Cross
Let me take up my cross daily and ask for God's grace to help me through each day.
If anyone wishes to come after Me, they must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.
Luke 9:23
The Third Station
Jesus falls the first time
Remember the deprived and the lonely. It is easy to fall but divine grace is always at hand.
He has broken my teeth with gravel, pressed my face in the dust; my soul is deprived of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is.
Lamentations 3:16-17
The Fourth Station
Jesus meets His Mother
Let me dwell on the pain of all parents when their children are suffering and help seems unavailable.
Come, all you pass by the way, look and see whether there is any suffering like My suffering.
Lamentations 1:12
The Fifth Station
Simon helps Jesus carry His Cross
I remember the times I have struggled to bear my burdens and those who helped me.
Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for Me.
Matthew 25:40
The Sixth Station
Veronica wipes Jesus' face
Let me break through the bustle of life and offer help where it is needed.
Without beauty, without majesty we saw him, no looks to attract our eyes; despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.
Isaiah 53:2-4
The Seventh Station
Jesus falls the second time
When I feel abandoned by everyone let me remember how Jesus suffered for me.
Come to Me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
The Eighth Station
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
How can I help and encourage those downtrodden by life's injustices.
A large number of people followed Him, including women who mourned and wailed for Him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me; weep for yourselves and for your children."
Luke 23:27-28
The Ninth Station
Jesus falls the third time
Allow me, in my frequent failings, to know that God's grace is always available.
Everyone who exalts themselves shall be humbled, and they who humbles themselves shall be exalted.
Luke 14:11
The Tenth Station
Jesus is stripped
Remember those who suffer loss of dignity because of the inhumanity of others.
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them.
John 19:23
The Eleventh Station
Jesus in nailed to the cross
Let me remember the pain I cause when I neglect or reject the Christian way of life.
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
Luke 23:34
The Twelfth Station
Jesus dies on the cross
Lord give me the peace of Christ at the end of my life.
He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even to death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him.
Phil 2:8-9
The Thirteenth Station
Jesus is taken down from the cross
Remember the tragedy of parents who receive the bodies of their children.
In this has the love of God been shown in our case, that God has sent His only-begotten Son into the world as propitiation for sins.
I John 4:9-10
The Fourteenth Station
Jesus is laid in the tomb
Let the tomb be my source of new life. May I find light in times of darkness.
Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.
John 12:24-25
The Resurrection
Lord by Your Cross and Resurrection You have set us free, You are the Saviour of the World.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Image: The West Window in the Church of the Holy Redeemer of Thomas More, Chelsea, UK