Stations in the Public Square

by R. Adam Molnar, adam@twelvefruits.com

When I got the email from the Vineyard, I was surprised. I am reasonably well known on campus, including some of the Vineyard folks, and occasionally I send them speaker announcements. Because I'm very much in favor of joint prayer between Protestants, Orthodox, and Catholics, I enjoyed the assignment. Trying to think of something appropriate for the audience, yet still Catholic, was a little challenge. Despite being in Easter season, though also in Novemediales, I chose the Way of the Cross. It's Christ-centered, understandable, and good for night reflection.

The definition of "Stations" covers a wide variety of things. Google, my friend, gave me many examples, with pretty much no standard except the names of the stations themselves. (Even those differed for Protestants, who tended not to like the Mary and Veronica stations, and often eliminated the falls.) One thing I noticed, though, was the lack of Bible verses. Almost everyone wrote a meditation, or a prayer, but even in children's versions, nobody seemed to speak on the station itself. Since the audience would likely not have heard the stations before, it made sense to keep things simple, and focus on the Passion. That's a different approach. Also, the service was to be held in Rockefeller Chapel, which does not have pictures of the stations, meaning I'd have to lead through words.

I did jettison some of the Catholic trappings. First, there would be no kneeeling. Rockefeller Chapel has hard floors, athletics at 1 in the morning are hard, and well kneeling is distracting. Second, I included a "travel song", to be sung between in each station, but did not choose the Stabat Mater for two reasons. The first is that I didn't want to answer questions about Mary. Lots of Catholics identify with Mary in a way evangelical Protestants do not, but I don't, and don't like dealing with that much. Second, I didn't want to focus on Mary. The Stabat Mater describes Mary's journey, and I wanted to focus on Christ's. So I chose an alternative suggested by the USCCB, Crucem Tuam. I also wanted a song to celebrate the Resurrection. From the Easter season, O Sons and Daughters had a good message and a tune easy to sing. Neither the Taize version of Crucem or O Soms needed instrumentation, a good idea since I couldn't find a singer to accompany me. If you have access to more instruments, you could do something a little more complicated, but not much. Flourishes or multipart harmonies don't work with the words or theme.

Most of the scripture choices are obvious; they're passages from the Gospels describing the situation. Yes, I know John 19:25-27, talking to his mother, is at Calvery and not on the way, but that's the best fit, even a little out of chronology. The three falls and Veronica are tougher, since there's no direct scriptual support for them. For Veronica, the book I referenced on the first page suggests either Matthew 25 or Sirach 6:14-17 about friendship. The Sirach passage is better, but Sirach is not in the Protestant bible, so I decided to duck that controversy. The falls use Isaiah, which I also snuck into the prayer at station 2. Isaiah 53 is the first reading in the Good Friday passion, so there is some justification. Really, though, I'm just an Isaiah-Revelations person. The closing prayer refers to Revelations 22, the inspiration for the twelvefruits.com name.

Handout and Tips

The handout, available in PDF format here, is two pages. One side is a list of what happens at each station, the travel song, and a list of stations and passages. The other side has some text about the Way of the Cross, since being a lecturer I can't avoid that. It also has space to copy in O Sons and Daughters. Please remember copyrights if you use it. You can use a double-sided copier to make a one-sheet handout, like I did, and it's all the congregation would need.

The script that I used is also available. I basically read off the script the whole way through. I'm pretty patient, and measured in my delivery, and am used to talking through pages of stuff. So it worked. In a larger gathering, or if I had more people, I would divide the leader text into two - the Scripture readings and the prayers. Both voices need to be strong, as they're carrying a conversation, describing the scene.

As for the song between stations, well, um, we dropped it. I'm not good enough to lead as a cantor, nobody else volunteered, and they wanted to focus on the words and the path. If there is physical walking between places, I'd still retain the Latin to pass the steps, and add to the journey. Then a cantor would be very useful. Actually, I'd love to lead a long journey path, around a big church, or down the block, with this call. I think they'd work well, which is of course part of the reason they got released to the Internet. It took me about 25 minutes, without the song, reading at a decent speed. With song, I'd guess roughly 35.

Finally, I know that a lot of the station ending prayers are not magical. The Reproaches are better than pretty much anything I wrote. Prayer writing is not my strong suit. In general, I tried to sound a little evangelical, keep things short, and focus on how we see Christ at each station. This is most explicit at station 9, where I reference the previous views. There are a couple public prayer adaptations. The Reproaches can be read like a responsioral psalm. They might even be sung by sufficiently qualified folks. At Station 7, you might publicly name the sick and suffering of the parish, and at station 14, you could name the dead. I added Pope John Paul II when I said that part.

I really hope these notes are useful for private and public prayer. Who knew I would ever try to design a service? Good luck in all your journeys, and God bless.