Sunday, March 13, 2011
Magnetic Stations of the Cross
"For Roman Catholics throughout the world, the Stations of the Cross are synonymous with Lent, Holy Week and, especially, Good Friday. This devotion is also known as the "Way of the Cross", the "Via Crucis", and the "Via Dolorosa." It commemorates 14 key events on day of Christ's crucifixion. The majority concern His final walk through the streets of Jerusalem, carrying the Cross." (quote credit)
Many Catholic Churches say the stations of the cross each Friday during Lent (this devotion is on Friday since this is the day Jesus died on the cross). With our young family and our schedule it is sometimes difficult to head out the door and visit the Stations at our local church.
While we are reading through each station we use this wall cross that is hanging year round in our home.
On the cross are 14 magnetic Stations of the Cross. I gave this cross as a gift to my husband's cousin who entered into full communion with the Catholic Church with my husband on Easter 2006. When she passed away, our family inherited this beautiful cross.
It is magnetic so before we start reading through the prayers for each station, we take all the magnets off the cross:
Then each child takes a turn putting the next numbered station on the cross to fill the cross back in. They place the magnet, the we take turns reading the prayers associated with that numbered station. (Each magnet is numbered with a Roman numeral in the corner, it's just hard to see this in the photos.)
Here is our 3 year old placing a magnet on the cross:
I JUST FOUND SOMEPLACE THAT SELLS THIS CROSS. I'M SO EXCITED SINCE I HAVE SEARCHED AND SEARCHED FOREVER FOR A PLACE THAT SELLS IT. THE LINK IS HERE !!!!
So by saying a children's version of the Stations of the Cross and using this magnetic wall cross, our children's attention span is able to last long enough for our family to set time out of our busy schedule each Friday in Lent to pray and remember all that this holy season of Lent is all about.
For many other Lenten ideas be sure to visit Lacy's blog at Catholic Icing and Monica at Arma Dei, Equipping Catholic families (Scroll to bottom of Monica's blog to see all the link up ideas) where others have linked up what they are doing for Lent.
What are some ways you make the season of Lent special for your family, especially with young children?
Please join Lynda, Anna-Marie and myself for March's No Ordinary Blog Hop (NOBH). We are having a giveaway this month so join the fun! Click button below for details!
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Hello! Thank you for your Visit!
I'm Tracy. I love my faith, family and on most days, homeschooling my 5 blessings. When I'm not busy baking cakes for my family or making memories in real life or dreaming I had a housekeeper or professional chef, I enjoy documenting a slice of Smith life in blog land.
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22 comments:
What a beautiful cross and story.
Oh I love that cross!
Hi Tracy! I am visiting that link as soon as I leave here. What a beautiful cross! Holy Heroes has a great CD of the Stations of the Cross. We listen to it every Friday during Lent. We are jealous that you met Virginia! We love Holy Heroes. Last year, we received a Christmas card from them with a picture of all the kids... my younger kids were so excited! +JMJ+ (Oh, another great, informative post!)
Hi Kim,
Thank you for stopping by and commenting! Have a blessed week!
Hi Jen,
It is a beautiful cross and very child "friendly" :) My kids love placing each magnet when it's their turn :) Have a blessed week!
HI Annita,
So good to hear from you again! I have seen HH Stations CD and we have a stations of the cross CD in our car that I think is from HH. I need to get that out and we can listen to it this Friday! Thanks for sharing the idea! Do you know the HH family personally? Is that how you got a Christmas card? That's cool you got a card from them :) Thanks for stopping in and commenting :)
Have a blessed week!
No, we do not know them personally. I think they must have just sent them to people on their mailing list one year. To my younger kids, it was like getting a card in the mail from someone famous! :)
HaHa! That's cute about how your kids were excited to get their card :) I felt like I took a picture with a celebrity at the Catholic conference so I can imagine how excited your kids were to get their card. My kids thought it was "cool" that I took a picture with a HH "celebrity".
BTW, did you know their father, Ken, runs a Catholic youth camp through Envoy Institute. Ken works at Belmont Abbey and one of my local friend's teenage daughter went to the camp last summer. It was the first time they offered the camp for 14 yr. olds and up (don't know the cut off age). My friend's daughter applied to work this summer there and she met HH Virginia at camp. (my friend also got a Christmas card :) )
Anyway, I'm storing this opportunity in the back of my mind when my oldest reaches 14 (she has 3.5 yrs. to go). My friend's daughter LOVED it so I hope they will still have it in time for my children! Have you heard of this camp and do you have sons or daughters who may be interested in this great Catholic camp?
Love that beautiful cross . . .
Love that cross if you ever find it again please let me know, it is great:) Voted for you today
Hi Tracy,
I love this cross! It is beautiful. I like the idea that it is interactive, which the kids love. We have just been doing coloring pages, but this looks like so much fun. Thanks for sharing and I am heading over to check it our now. Have a wonderful day!
Tracy, that cross is so neat! Thanks for the link. It is something that will definitely go on my wish list!!!
Hi Renee Ann,
It is beautiful and it is also a wonderful reminder of my husband's cousin and her faith. Thank you for visiting and commenting!
Hi Anna-Marie,
You might have commented before I found the link to a place that sells the cross, but I have found a link and have posted it on my post here. :) Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Kimberly,
Coloring pages sounds fun too! At least my girls like to color ALOT, but our son would rather not :) If you get the cross, I would love to know! Hope you are having a great day!
HI Patty!
Glad you like the cross too! When I bought it several years ago, I had never seen a cross like this, it's something so meaningful and unique. I haven't seen it advertised in catalogs and I had to search a long time to find this company that sells it. Hope you can purchase it one day or get it as a gift :) Thanks for visiting and commenting!
Hi Tracy, that cross is beautiful! What a fabulous idea. We did go on Friday to our church to pray the stations of the cross. Between the cross stations, the leader sang a song in Latin and I've heard it for years but have no idea what it means. Do you have any idea?
I had never heard of Stations of the Cross before. I did some research and know what it is, and I love your cross. What a wonderful way to make the season of Lent special.
I have been voting for you. =)
Hi Noreen,
I know I have heard the song, but can't remember off the top of my head which one it is. So I did a search about your question about which Latin song is sung between stations. I found this site here: http://www.adoremus.org/0905Hymns.html
which lists the top 10 Catholic Hymns. If you look at #7 Hymn, "The Passion", it mentions the “Stabat Mater Dolorosa” or
“At the Cross, Her Station Keeping”
I know I have sung the song in English and probably in Latin, but didn't know the Latin meanings. Did you hear the "Stabat Mater Dolorosa" between stations? I'm sure you can just type in this Latin title to get the lyrics to see if this is what was sung at your church.
Also, for my own reference and to share with you and others, here is a link I found that has Bible References for each station: http://www.itsgila.com/biblerefsviad.htm
I hope all this information is helpful! Thank you for your visit,comment, and question. Your question is a great one! Have a blessed day!
Hi Lynda,
The Stations of the Cross is a beautiful way to remember Jesus' Passion and death and what he endured for all of us. I'm so glad to share this popular and meaningful way to keep Lent holy with my blog visitors. Thanks for stopping by and voting :) Have a blessed day!
HI Tracy,
I had to look up stations of the Cross too as I didn't know it. Again I am so amazed at the difference between Lutherans and Catholics:) Voted for you today.
Hi Anna-Marie,
I'm so glad this post allowed you to learn something new about Catholicism with all its rich history, faith, and traditions. Thanks for your visit and vote :)