Stations of the Cross with Children

 

 

I know that during Lent and the Easter season that the main thing that I want our children to learn and understand is that God loves us so much that he sent his one and only son Jesus to live in this sinful world and that he then died on the cross for each and every one of us!  In order to understand this, we choose to share the Passion of Jesus with our children (even at a young age) and answer honestly what questions they have. 

 

Most Catholic Churches during Lent pray the Stations of the Cross every Friday remembering the Passion of Christ.  Usually these services are held in the late evening which means we are not able to go as a family due to little ones bedtime.  We think it is very important for our children to learn the Stations of the Cross and hear the story so we are making opportunities for our children to learn in other ways including:

• Praying at Home
• Teaching with Engaging Resources
• Praying within the Community

 

Praying at Home

How can you learn about and pray the Stations of the Cross with your family even if you cannot go to the scheduled time at church?  How can you make time and space for your family for this special meditation during Lent? 

 

We first started meditating on the Stations of the Cross in Our Little Oratory at home every Friday of Lent (and our children have enjoyed it so much that they have been asking for it on other days as well!)  I got 8x10 images of the Stations of the Cross from Leaflet Missal to display in our space.  The visual images are very important for all of us, especially the children to focus on and follow the story.  We also have little flip books on a ring from Feast and Feria that follow the images of the Stations of the Cross as well.  We sit together and take the time as a family to learn about and pray about the Stations of the Cross.

 

 

Teach with Fun Resources

Our favorite Stations of the Cross resources are from Holy Heroes.  We have been using their Rosary CD's for about 6 months now in our daily prayer time and love them so much, and this is the first year we are using the Stations of the Cross CD.  The Stations of the Cross CD is by far our favorite CD yet from Holy Heroes.  The music is beautiful, the sound effects really help bring you into the story of the Passion of Christ and running about 30 minutes long it is the perfect amount of time to hold little children's attention.  We have been listening to it before bedtime so the room is dark and the pictures of the Stations of Cross are illuminated by candlelight.  Adding this tradition to our home has truly been one of our favorite Lenten activities.  There are so many great resources out there, what are some of your favorite ones for the Stations of the Cross?

 

Pray Within the Community

 

Go into your parish church or look around your community to see if they have any additional resources for the Stations of the Cross or opportunities for prayer and learning!  We are blessed with beautiful churches in our town and surrounding areas that have remarkable Stations of the Cross. Even if we do not go to the specific prayer services we like to bring our young children to see the Stations of the Cross in other outlets outside of our home as well.  We live near the Holy Family Shrine in Gretna, NE which is a beautiful church on top of a hillside.  We loved going one afternoon to study the images of the Stations of the Cross and pray. 

Our children's favorite resource in the community is the outdoor Stations of the Cross at our parish Church St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church.  We have gone once so far this Lent and hope to go back at least one more time in the next few weeks.  We brought our Stations of the Cross prayer book from Holy Heroes and had a short meditation on each mystery and then prayed the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and end with "Lord, by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world".  I love that it is outside so we can get some fresh air, our energetic boys have some space to get their "wiggles" out as we learn and we still have the opportunity to focus in prayer!

 

Lord, by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.

 

I:  Jesus is Condemned to Death

II:  Jesus is Made to Carry the Cross

III:  Jesus Falls for the First Time

IV:  Jesus Meets His Blessed Mother

V:  Simon Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

VI:  Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

VII:  Jesus Falls for the Second Time

VIII:  Jesus Comforts the Holy Women

IX:  Jesus Falls for the Third Time

X:  Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

XI:  Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

XII:  Jesus Dies on the Cross

XIII:  Jesus is Taken Down From the Cross

XIV:  Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

Reflection:
It is hard sometimes to focus on the pain and suffering of Jesus on the cross.  We need to trust in God that through the pain and suffering there is the Resurrection!  What suffering and pain do we have in our lives that we need to hand over to Jesus at the foot of the cross?  What struggle as a wife, as a mother, as a friend can we ask for help with?  What one thing can we do to help our children learn about suffering, one thing to bring them closer to God?