Stations of the Cross

N.B.: This was originally posted as a comment at Kelly Clark's Pew Lady blog.

Our parish's catechumens and candidates, along with those of all the other parishes in the Nashville diocese, gathered at the Cathedral of the Incarnation for the Rite of Election this past Sunday as Bishop Choby presided.

I had never been there before, so I was struck by the extreme architectural and artistic differences between our parish church and the Cathedral. Our parish church was built in 1999, and the Cathedral was built in 1914.

One of the most interesting differences was in the Stations of the Cross. The ones at the Cathedral are, well, just what you would expect at a Cathedral. Incredible classical-style art, depicting everything in great three-dimensional detail. Beneath each is a short caption describing what is happening in each one. It looks just like this (scroll down about halfway).

By contrast, our parish church has small wooden plaques to represent the Stations. Very modern art, with only the scripture reference to tell you what is going on. They are high quality, and I personally like them. But stylistically, it probably isn't everyone's cup of tea, especially those whose tastes run towards the classic styles.

And that's understandable. But those people probably don't know the story of our Stations. They were created by one of the parishioners (who is a college art instructor) for the new building. The parish had outgrown its old building, and the parishioner and his art class made them especially for the new building.

They were designed and made with love; and over time, it has become one of those countless little things that make our parish "home". So even if a person doesn't like our Stations, you can't argue with their purpose or the sentiment behind them.