From Jerusalem to Every Church

The devotion originated in the desire of Christians to walk the actual route of Christ's passion in Jerusalem, the Via Dolorosa, a pilgrimage possible only to the few who could reach the Holy Land. From the later Middle Ages, and especially through the promotion of the Franciscans, long custodians of the holy places, the practice of representing the stages of that route in local churches spread across Europe, so that the faithful might make the pilgrimage in spirit without the journey. The number and selection of stations varied for centuries before settling at the familiar fourteen.

Several of the traditional fourteen stations, such as Jesus falling three times, and the woman Veronica wiping his face, derive from pious tradition rather than directly from the Gospel narratives, a point noted within the church itself. In response, a "Scriptural Way of the Cross" drawn entirely from events recorded in the Gospels has been introduced in modern times and was used by recent popes, and many churches add a fifteenth station of the Resurrection so that the devotion does not end at the tomb. In all its forms the Stations translate the ancient impulse of pilgrimage into a devotion that can be made anywhere.