Why Praying the Stations of the Cross is Particularly Powerful this Lent

Does this Lent feel particularly … Lent-y to you? You thought giving up social media or sweets was going to be a sacrifice, and now you can’t go to Mass or even leave your house! But maybe you’ve found the Lentiness of this year has deepened your prayer life. With more opportunity for silence and prayer, maybe it feels like you are joining Jesus in the desert more than it has in years past. That’s why, as Holy Week approaches, it is the perfect time to pray the Stations of the Cross, so you can walk the road to Calvary with Our Lord in a way like never before.

This week on Morning Air®, host John Harper shared why the Stations of the Cross are particularly powerful for him this year.

“I’ll admit that in past Lents I said, ‘I’m going to get to Stations of the Cross.’ And I was lazy and the last two Lents I missed Stations of the Cross,” he said. “But this year I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to do Stations of the Cross.’ And then, you know what happens obviously – the pandemic and it’s closed.”

“But I prayed them with Father Rocky and there was such a peace that I had in praying it online with Father Rocky and Drew from the Chapel of the Nativity. It really set the tone, not only for a Lenten Friday afternoon, but really it just gave me an opportunity to take a look at where I was in that halfway point of Lent. To just fine-tune some things going forward for these final weeks of Lent.”

You can join Fr. Rocky in praying the Stations of the Cross Live at 3:30pm Central each Friday this Lent. Tune-in on your local Relevant Radio station or on the Relevant Radio App. You can also watch the video of the live broadcast by going to RelevantRadio.com/Stations. Watch live, or watch the replay of the video, which will be available approximately 30 minutes after the Stations of the Cross concludes.

Pray the Stations of the Cross with Fr. Rocky

The version of the Stations of the Cross prayed by Fr. Rocky is provided by Magnificat, and is available here so you can pray along with us. Magnificat also offers many prayer resources for free online (including resources for kids!) so check it out  and pray along with us!

As Fr. James Kubicki, SJ, a regular Morning Air contributor, said this week, “While we may not be able to go to church to be part of our parish community praying the Stations on Friday, we can have that kind of virtual community. And we don’t have to be physically present with one another when we’re praying. The Holy Spirit can bring us together in those other ways. And our prayer together with Father Rocky can be a beautiful way of reminding ourselves that we’re not alone.”

Stephanie Foley serves as a Digital Media Producer at Relevant Radio®. She is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, where she studied journalism, and she has worked in Catholic radio for 12 years. Stephanie is a wife, a mother of three boys, and in her free time she enjoys reading, running, and really good coffee. You can find more of Stephanie’s writing at relevantradio.com and on the free Relevant Radio mobile app.