The Via Dolorosa

The Via Dolorosa or "Way of Suffering" is a street in the old city of Jerusalem. Traditionally, it is held to be the route followed by Jesus from the Praetorium (the Roman Judgment Hall) to Calvary, which was the scene of the Crucifixion. Over the centuries, millions of pilgrims have come here to walk the way that Jesus took to his death. Each Friday at 3pm priests lead a procession for pilgrims along Via Dolorosa (starting in the Monastery of the Flagellation at the tower of Antonia, not far from the Lion's Gate). Large wooden crosses are carried by some of those in the procession and prayers are said at each of the 14 Stations. It begins in the Muslim Quarter and winds its way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter.

You can enter the Sanctuaries of the Flagellation and the Condemnation, where Jesus was scourged and judged. In the sanctuaries are some of the original paving stones of the Lithostrotos. As you leave the sanctuary to follow the Via Dolorosa, each Station of the Cross is marked by a small sign or a number engraved in the stone over a door. Paving stones have been set in a semicircular pattern to mark those stations directly on the street. Other stations are behind closed doors.

Here is a list of the "Stations".
1. Jesus is condemned to death.
2. Jesus receives the cross (at the foot of Antonia).
3. Jesus falls for the first time.
4. Jesus meets his mother.
5. Simon the Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross.
6. Veronica wipes Jesus' face.
7. Jesus falls the second time (at the bazaar crossroads.)
8. Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem.
9. Jesus falls the third time.

The five remaining stations are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

10 Jesus is stripped of his garments.
11. Jesus is nailed to the cross.
12. Jesus dies on the cross.
13. Jesus is taken down from the cross and laid in the arms of Mary.
14. Jesus is laid in the chamber of the sepulcher and from there is resurrected.

Out of the fourteen traditional Stations of the Cross, only eight have scriptural foundation: Stations 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 being unattested in any of the gospels; and Station 13 being a misrepresentation of the gospel account (it represents Jesus' body being taken down off the cross and laid in the arms of Mary, while all four gospels state the Joseph of Arimathea alone took Jesus down from the cross and buried him.)

How I guess I related all this was the movie "The Passion of the Christ" by Mel Gibson that came out a few years ago. Gibson is a Catholic and the movie especially moves through the Stations of the Cross. So now, go back and watch that movie and see if you can discover the "stations".