Way of the Cross

JThursday, April 2, 2026. Published by the Conference of Bishops of France

For twenty centuries, the memory of the last hours of Jesus ' life has retained The attention of the Church and the piety of the faithful found in the Way of the Cross a

means to express his devotion outside the liturgy itself.

On Good Friday, the Church makes us follow Christ step by step in the fight he has

accepted to live to redeem us from our sins. The Way of the Cross that accompanies Jesus to his death is a contemplation active who wants to help everyone enter into the mystery of God's love, manifested in his Son. On the other hand, in the intercession for the world as Jesus lived in On the cross, such an approach can only be made in the perspective of His Resurrection at Easter. The Way of the Cross therefore appears as a pilgrimage « in spirit », that is why it affects the one who enters into three aspects, physical as spiritual: walking, meditation and intercession.

Walking
To marry the feelings of Christ, it is necessary to step by step. To enter the depths of the Father's love, it is necessary for a path to grow from station to station. Physical displacement calls for internal displacement. It is a question of letting ourselves be shaped by the way, of following Christ step by step, of letting us lead on the path he takes, and not of preceding him. It's about getting deeper into our discipleship.
Meditation
Step by step is accompanied by the progressive movement of meditation, which invites us to remember the journey accomplished by Jesus himself. The Gospel is the foundation of this meditation which calls the pilgrim to a progressive discovery of the Father's mercy, at the same time that he is invited to contemplate Jesus destroyed under the blows of the Passion, to recognize in him Christ, Servant of the Father's love for our humanity.
Intercession
Every pilgrimage is accompanied by prayer. As part of the journey of the cross, prayer would like to take care of all the situations of suffering, trial, distress, death that we encounter around us in daily life; All the lives of the men of this world that Christ, in his Paschal mystery, offered to the Father.

The practice of the Way of the Cross can be done in a solemn, community and processional way or in a private way, within a church or even in the city.
What are the stations of the Way of the Cross?
The Way of the Cross is not an act of sadomasochism, it is the only one who overcomes sin, evil and death, because it leads to the radiant light of Christ's resurrection, opening the horizons of new and full life. It is the Way of Hope and the Future. He who travels with generosity and faith gives hope and future to humanity. He sows hope.
The 14 stations of the Way of the Cross
1st station: Jesus is condemned to death
2nd station: Jesus is charged with his cross
3rd station: Jesus falls under the wood of the cross
4th Station: Jesus Meets His Mother
5th station: Simon de Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross
6th station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
7th station: Jesus falls for the second time
8th station: Jesus consoles the girls of Jerusalem
9th station: Jesus falls for the 3rd time
10th station: Jesus is stripped of his clothes
11th station: Jesus is attached to the cross
12th station: Jesus dies on the cross
13th Station: Jesus descended from the cross and handed over to his mother
14th station: Jesus is placed in the tomb
(15th station: with Mary, in the hope of the resurrection)
Traditionally the Ways of the Cross have 14 stations, today we sometimes add a 15th station, that of the empty tomb which thus connects, in the final, all stations to the resurrection.