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44-504: The oldest tradition of the life of Verena is found in the so-called Vita prior by Hatto , the abbot of Reichenau (and later bishop of Mainz ), written in c. 888. The younger Vita posterior was most likely written by a monk in Zurzach in the 11th century, the oldest extant copy dating to the 12th century. According to Hatto's account, Verena was born in Thebes as the daughter of

88-501: A prototype of the consecrated virgin , saying that she attracted a following of young virgins. She was at one point imprisoned by a local governor, and Saint Maurice appeared to her in jail to console and strengthen her. After she was released, she continued her good works. At the end of her natural days, she retired into a narrow cave. The year of her death was calculated as 344 by Johannes Laurentius Huber (1812–1879), provost at Verenamünster in Zurzach. If her birth before 250

132-589: A spirit of reparation for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during his passion. As a physical devotion involving standing, kneeling and genuflections, the Stations of the Cross are tied with the Christian themes of repentance and mortification of the flesh . The style, form, and placement of the stations vary widely. The typical stations are small plaques with reliefs or paintings placed around

176-473: A Franciscan priest, and in 1862 this right was extended to bishops throughout the church. The early set of seven scenes was usually numbers 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11 and 14 from the list below. From the late 16th century to the present, the standard complement has consisted of 14 pictures or sculptures depicting the following scenes: Although not traditionally part of the Stations, the Resurrection of Jesus

220-581: A church nave . Modern minimalist stations can be simple crosses with a numeral in the centre. Occasionally, the faithful might say the stations of the cross without there being any image, such as when the pope leads the stations of the cross around the Colosseum in Rome on Good Friday. The Stations of the Cross originated from the pilgrimage to Jerusalem in Roman Judaea and a desire to reproduce

264-671: A commonly given feminine name in Switzerland, in hypocoristic form [Vreni" becoming an almost archetypically Swiss girls' name (c.f. diminutive " Vreneli "). The name Verena or Vreneli was also transferred to numerous female figures in Swiss folklore and mythology ; notable among these is the Vrenelisgärtli ("Verena's garden") glacier of the Glärnisch massif. The Verena Gorge Hermitage north of Solothurn, ostensibly

308-652: A notable Christian family. She was educated by a bishop named Chaeremon ( Vita prior , ch. 3). A bishop Chaeremon of Nilopolis is mentioned by Eusebius as martyred in 250, which would place Verena's birth before that date. After the death of Chaeremon, Verena travelled to Lower Egypt with a group of Christians, where the Theban Legion was being recruited. With the Theban Legion, she then travelled to Milan ( Vita prior ch. 4). While still in Milan, she heard of

352-500: A paragon of Christian patience in the face of adversity in Charlotte M. Yonge's romantic novel 'The Heir of Redclyffe' (1853). Hatto I Hatto I (c. 850 – 15 May 913) was Archbishop of Mainz (Mayence) from 891 until his death. Hatto belonged to a Swabian family, and was probably educated at the monastery of Reichenau , of which he became abbot in 888. He was also abbot of Ellwangen Abbey . Hatto soon became known to

396-412: Is accepted (based on the identification of her mentor, bishop Chaeremon), this would imply that she was more than 95 years old at the time of her death. The Verena Minster in Zurzach was built over the grave of Saint Verena in a Roman cemetery. Her cult became widespread from the 12th century, and Verena was one of the most venerated saints in medieval Switzerland . A Benedictine abbey existed in

440-460: Is also sung, except during Lent. Structurally, Mel Gibson 's 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ , follows the Stations of the Cross. Some modern liturgists say the traditional Stations of the Cross are incomplete without a final scene depicting the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus because Jesus' rising from the dead was an integral part of his salvific work on Earth. Advocates of

484-468: Is present at the crucifixion but is only mentioned after Jesus is nailed to the cross and before he dies (between stations 11 and 12). The scriptures contain no accounts whatsoever of any woman wiping Jesus's face nor of Jesus falling as stated in Stations 3, 6, 7 and 9. Station 13 (Jesus's body being taken down off the cross and laid in the arms of his mother Mary ) differs from the gospels' record, which states that Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus down from

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528-627: Is sometimes included as an unofficial fifteenth station. One very different version, called the Via Lucis ("Way of Light"), comprising the Fourteen Stations of Light or Stations of the Resurrection , starts with Jesus rising from the dead and ends with Pentecost . Out of the fourteen traditional Stations of the Cross, only eight have a clear scriptural foundation. Station 4 appears out of order from scripture; Jesus's mother

572-584: The Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem , which is a traditional processional route symbolising the path Jesus walked to Mount Calvary . The objective of the stations is to help the Christian faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage through contemplation of the Passion of Christ . It has become one of the most popular devotions and the stations can be found in many Western Christian churches, including those in

616-632: The Catholic Church in the Philippines . Filipinos use this set during Visita Iglesia , which is usually done every Holy Week. In the Roman Catholic Church, the devotion may be conducted personally by the faithful, making their way from one station to another and saying the prayers, or by having an officiating celebrant move from cross to cross while the faithful make the responses. The stations themselves must consist of, at

660-720: The Diocese of Los Angeles in the United States of America, along with Metropolitan Serapion of Los Angeles, Fr. Joseph Boules and Fr. Gregory Bishay travelled to Switzerland to bring a part of Saint Verena's relics to her churches in Anaheim and Orange. The Anaheim church, now located in Yorba Linda , California, now has a shrine dedicated to her relic, as well as the church in Orange. There are numerous references to her as

704-715: The Franciscan religious order were allowed back into the Holy Land . Their founder, Francis of Assisi , held the Passion of Christ in special veneration and is said to have been the first person to receive stigmata . In 1217, Francis also founded the Custody of the Holy Land to guard and promote the devotion to Christian holy places. The Franciscans' efforts were recognized when Pope Clement VI officially proclaimed them

748-528: The German king, Arnulf , who appointed him archbishop of Mainz in 891, and he became such a trustworthy and loyal counsellor that he was popularly called the heart of the king. He presided over the important synod at Tribur in 895 and accompanied the king to Italy in 894 and 895, where he was received with great favor by Pope Formosus. In 899, when Arnulf died, Hatto became regent of the Empire and guardian of

792-480: The Roman Catholic , Lutheran , Anglican , and Methodist traditions. Commonly, a series of 14 images will be arranged in numbered order along a path, along which worshippers—individually or in a procession—move in order, stopping at each station to say prayers and engage in reflections associated with that station. These devotions are most common during Lent , especially on Good Friday , and reflect

836-551: The Sacro Monte di Domodossola (1657) and Sacro Monte di Belmonte (1712), and form part of the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy World Heritage Site, together with other examples on different devotional themes. The sculptures at these sites are very elaborate and often nearly life-size. Remnants of these sites are often referred to as calvary hills . In 1686, in answer to their petition, Pope Innocent XI granted to

880-753: The Via Dolorosa . Imitating holy places was not a new concept. For example, the religious complex of Santo Stefano in Bologna , Italy , replicated the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other religious sites, including the Mount of Olives and the Valley of Josaphat . Following the siege of 1187 , Jerusalem fell to the forces of Saladin , the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. Forty years later, members of

924-512: The 10th century at the site of her burial in Bad Zurzach . The monastery was replaced by a collegiate church at some time before 1265, with Saint Verena as its patroness . In southern Germany, a chapel dedicated to her was present at the site of the minster of Salem Abbey in 1137. The minster there includes a niche dedicated to her. The convent of beguines in Zürich , established in

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968-642: The Fowler, duke of Saxony, afterwards King Henry I , the attitude of Conrad was ascribed by the Saxons to the influence of Hatto, who wished to prevent Henry from securing authority in Thuringia , where the see of Mainz had extensive possessions. He was accused of complicity in a plot to murder Henry, who in return ravaged the archiepiscopal lands in Saxony and Thuringia. Hatto died on 15 May 913, one legend saying he

1012-743: The Franciscans began to build a series of outdoor shrines in Europe to duplicate their counterparts in the Holy Land. The number of stations at these shrines varied between seven and thirty; seven was common. These were usually placed, often in small buildings, along the approach to a church, as in a set of 1490 by Adam Kraft , leading to the Johanniskirche in Nuremberg . A number of rural examples were established as attractions in their own right, usually on attractive wooded hills. These include

1056-415: The Franciscans the right to erect stations within their churches. In 1731, Pope Clement XII extended to all churches the right to have the stations, provided that a Franciscan father erected them, with the consent of the local bishop . At the same time the number of stations was fixed at fourteen. In 1857, the bishops of England were allowed to erect the stations by themselves, without the intervention of

1100-671: The Philippines and by Filipinos abroad. The Stations of the Resurrection (also known by the Latin name of Via Lucis , Way of Light) are used in some churches at Eastertide to meditate on the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ . Franz Liszt wrote a Via Crucis for choir, soloists and piano or organ or harmonium in 1879. In 1931, French organist Marcel Dupré improvised and transcribed musical meditations based on fourteen poems by Paul Claudel , one for each station. Peter Maxwell Davies 's Vesalii Icones (1969), for male dancer, solo cello and instrumental ensemble, brings together

1144-499: The Stations of the Cross and a series of drawings from the anatomical treatise De humani corporis fabrica (1543) by the Belgian physician Andreas van Wesel ( Vesalius ). In Davies's sequence, the final "station" represents the Resurrection, but of Antichrist , the composer's moral point being the need to distinguish what is false from what is real. David Bowie regarded his 1976 song " Station to Station " as "very much concerned with

1188-598: The Stations of the Cross are prayed during the season of Lent in Catholic churches, each station is traditionally followed by a verse of the Stabat Mater , composed in the 13th century by Franciscan Jacopone da Todi . James Matthew Wilson's poetic sequence, The Stations of the Cross , is written in the same meter as da Todi's poem. Dimitris Lyacos ' third part of the Poena Damni trilogy, The First Death ,

1232-477: The accustomed halting-places along the Via Sacra at Jerusalem, occurs in the narrative of an English pilgrim, William Wey , who visited the Holy Land in the mid-15th century and described pilgrims following the footsteps of Christ to Golgotha . In 1521, a book called Geystlich Strass (German: "spiritual road") was printed with illustrations of the stations in the Holy Land. During the 15th and 16th centuries,

1276-533: The advocacy of French diplomat Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil . During 1810–1813, the footpath along the gorge was further developed as a partly Roman Catholic pilgrimage site, and a partly national romantic shrine for the patriciate of Solothurn. In a century-old tradition, the resident hermit is provided for by the Bürgergemeinde of the city of Solothurn. The municipality of Stäfa at Lake Zürich displays Verena in its coat of arms , from

1320-552: The battle of Fritzlar on 9 September 906 between the Babenbergs and Conradines he arranged for the capture and execution of Count Adalbert of Babenberg , breaking his promise of safe conduct. Hatto retained his influence during the entire reign of Louis the Child and on the king's death in 911 was prominent in securing the election of Conrad, duke of Franconia , to the vacant throne. When trouble arose between Conrad and Henry

1364-618: The celebration from a stage on the Palatine Hill , while others carried the cross. Just days prior to his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II observed the Stations of the Cross from his private chapel. Each year a different person is invited to write the meditation texts for the Stations. Past composers of the Papal Stations include several non-Catholics. The pope himself wrote the texts for the Great Jubilee in 2000 and used

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1408-515: The coat of arms of Stäfa bailiwick in use since 1526. In 1986, a delegation from Saint Verena's Church in Switzerland , brought a part of Saint Verena's relics to Egypt . The first Coptic church consecrated in the name of Saint Verena is Saint Maurice and Saint Verena's Church in Cairo , which was consecrated by Pope Shenouda III on 22 February 1994. In October 2004, a delegation from

1452-768: The cross and buried him. To provide a version of this devotion more closely aligned with the biblical accounts, Pope John Paul II introduced a new form of devotion, called the Scriptural Way of the Cross , on Good Friday 1991. He celebrated that form many times but not exclusively at the Colosseum in Italy, using the following sequence (as published by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops): In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI approved this set of stations for meditation and public celebration. Another set of Stations are being used by

1496-480: The custodians of holy places in 1342. Although several travelers who visited the Holy Land during the 12–14th centuries (e.g. Riccoldo da Monte di Croce , Burchard of Mount Sion , and James of Verona ), mention a "Via Sacra", i.e. a settled route that pilgrims followed, there is nothing in their accounts to identify this with the Way of the Cross, as we understand it. The earliest use of the word "stations", as applied to

1540-561: The island of Reichenau , was generous to the see of Mainz and to the abbeys of Fulda and Reichenau, and was a patron of the chronicler Regino, abbot of Prum. Stations of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross , also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis , are a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers . The stations grew out of imitations of

1584-402: The martyrdom of the Theban Legion (an event of uncertain historicity, traditionally dated to 286, during the reign of Maximian ) and travelled to Agaunum ( Saint-Maurice ). In later sources, she is said to have buried the martyred legionnaires. Verena then moved on to Salodurum ( Solothurn ) in a hermitage , and spent her days in fasting and prayer, and working miracles. Hatto presents her as

1628-415: The mid-13th century, had a chapel dedicated to St. Verena. Verena is often portrayed as a matron with either bread, or a jar of water in one hand, and a comb in the other, symbols of her care for the poor and lepers . The given name Verena is not recorded outside of the context of this saint; it has been associated with the name Berenice (i.e. Veronica ). In reference to the saint, Verena came to be

1672-411: The site of Verena's hermitage , is known to have been in existence since the 12th century (the older of the two chapels has foundations of the 12th century). The presence of a resident hermit is recorded for 1442. The site features stations of the cross dating from 1613 (restored around 1990). In the 18th century, the gorge was developed as a landscape garden in the style of Romanticism , notably due to

1716-465: The stations of the cross". Polish composer Paweł Łukaszewski wrote Via Crucis in 2000 and it was premiered by the Podlaska Opera and Orchestra on March 8, 2002. Stefano Vagnini 's 2002 modular oratorio, Via Crucis , is a composition for organ, computer, choir, string orchestra and brass quartet. Italian composer Fabio Mengozzi released his electronic album Via crucis in 2022. As

1760-590: The traditional Stations. The celebration of the Stations of the Cross is especially common on the Fridays of Lent, especially Good Friday. Community celebrations are usually accompanied by various songs and prayers. Particularly common as musical accompaniment is the Stabat Mater of which a few verses are sung between each station. At the end of each station the Adoramus Te is sometimes sung. The Alleluia

1804-401: The traditional form of the Stations ending with the body of Jesus being placed in the tomb say the Stations are intended as a meditation on the atoning death of Jesus, and not as a complete picture of his life, death, and resurrection. Another point of contention, at least between some ranking liturgists and traditionalists, is (the use of) the "New Way of the Cross" being recited exclusively in

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1848-492: The very least, fourteen wooden crosses—pictures alone do not suffice—and they must be blessed by someone with the authority to erect stations. Pope John Paul II led an annual public prayer of the Stations of the Cross at the Roman Colosseum on Good Friday. Originally, the pope himself carried the cross from station to station, but in his last years when age and infirmity limited his strength, John Paul presided over

1892-649: The young king, Louis the Child , whose authority he compelled Zwentibold , duke of Lorraine , an illegitimate son of Arnulf, to recognize. During these years Hatto did not neglect his own interests, for in 896 he secured for himself the abbey of Ellwangen and in 898 that of Lorsch . He assisted the Franconian family of the Conradines in its feud with the Babenbergs for supremacy in Franconia; after

1936-480: Was struck by lightning, and another that he was thrown alive by the devil into the crater of Mount Etna . His memory was long regarded in Saxony with great abhorrence, and stories of cruelty and treachery gathered round his name. The legend of the Mouse Tower at Bingen is connected with Hatto I and Hatto II , who was archbishop of Mainz from 968 to 970. This latter Hatto built the church of St. George on

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