About the Study
One of the traditional way the Church has helped her faithful in this journey is through the Stations of the Cross. It’s an ancient practice, dating back to the 4th century. Back then, of course, Christians went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But now, we don’t have to journey nearly as far. Thankfully, Catholic churches have some form of each of the stations displayed and the faithful can walk the Stations of the Cross nearly anytime and in their own neighborhood. This is especially true during Lent, where churches often reserve Friday nightsfor the church community to pray the Stations together.
We at Heart of Mary, then, found ourselves wanting to take a slower, scriptural look at the Stations of the Cross. We wanted to spend the entirety of Lent pondering it’s goodness, so that we might draw ever near to him and allow ourselves to be smitten by his love. Following a scriptural reflection, we’ll spend a day or so looking at a saint who, in a special way, gives witness to that particular station.
Join us as we contemplate the cross. For, as Pope Francis says,
“The Cross of Christ contains all the love of God; there we find his immeasurable mercy. This is a love in which we can place all our trust, in which we can believe…Let us entrust ourselves to Jesus, let us give ourselves over to him.”
This year's Lent Study journal is quite a large PDF file, so we broke it up into two sections. We recommend that if you'd like a hard copy, print a a section at a time and place in a binder or send all off to a printer to have found together. We've condensed the file size as small as we could. Thank you for your understanding.
Print them. Hang them. Frame them. Place them anywhere.
Make your own Stations within your home or prayer space. Create a Stations Journal.
About the Artist
VIVIAN IMBRUGLIA
For most of my life I have been interested in art, and have dabbled in everything from murals to portraits, and from ceramics to precious metal clay. For most of my life I have been active in my faith, attending weekly mass, getting involved in various ministries. One day I found myself taking an icon class, very much by chance, but I now believe by design. I fell in love with iconography and sacred images. It consumed me. I wanted to learn as much as I could. After having worked in the outside world for over 30 years, I told my husband I just want to write (paint) icons everyday. I love the prayerful atmosphere, and the liberating feeling of trying to allow the Spirit to guide me. So with the encouragement of friends and family and most especially my husband, this is what I do. I take ten short steps up the stairs to my studio where I can paint and pray. The lingering smell of incense and Gregorian chants fill my studio. So now I feel like I've found what I should be doing. I've combined my interest in art with my Catholic Christian faith. My goal is simply to serve HIM, and touch as many lives as possible with my work.
The Study
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”