The Stations of the Cross were commissioned by St. Catherine of Siena Church with the generous donation of Margaret Pillar in memory of her husband Arnold in 2013. The artist is Michael Northrop who has worked with St. Catherine’s over the last ten years with the renovation of the Church and the addition of Trinity Chapel and all of the artwork which adorns our church and chapel. The overall shape of the stations reflects the Crucifix combined with the shape of the resurrection window behind the Crucifix to create this unique set of stations Michael’s intention was to have Jesus looking directly at us. He wants us to confront what the suffering of Jesus means to us and for us.
Every element of the images has symbolic meaning. For example, there is a stone wall behind every station until Jesus dies on the cross. This wall symbolizes the separation of man from God because of sin. Through the sacrifice of Jesus that wall is broken down. At the ends of the crossbar on each cross (collectively called termini in Latin) we have symbols that add to the understanding of each station.
Perhaps the most unique element of the St. Catherine of Siena Stations of the Cross is the inclusion of soil from each of the corresponding stations on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. During the project, Fr. Creagan took a number of parishioners to the Holy Land. They volunteered to collect the soil as they walked the path that Jesus took to Calvary. They brought the soil back. It was sterilized to neutralize any organic matter and then it was pulverized and mixed into the paint. The texture on the ground in Stations One through Eleven and Thirteen, as well as in the mortar between the stones in Station Fourteen is from the corresponding stations in the Holy Land. The soil from the Twelfth Station is included in a small reliquary and is visible in the back of the Crucifix.
The first twelve stations are located in the main church on the brick walls. The crucifix as the twelfth station invites you to progress to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel to pray and reflect with the thirteenth and fourteenth station located on the columns behind the mosaic angels.
In the chapel, we invite you to reflect and complete your prayers filled with the hope of Christ’s triumphal ending to a most sorrowful passion.
In the First Station Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate. Jesus looks at us asking who we judge Him to be. The symbols on the termini are a pitcher of water and a bowl. Pilate washes his hands of that decision. There are many ways we wash our hands of this decision. This station challenges us to look at how we respond to the invitation that Pilate gives us to “Behold the Man.”
The Second Station shows Jesus receiving the crossbar of His cross which He will now carry. The images in the termini depict the pillar where Jesus was flogged and the lash that was used to tear His flesh. This beating would have torn the flesh from His back and shoulders making carrying the cross intensely painful. Jesus looks at us and asks us if we are willing to take up our cross and follow Him. The pain of our Lord’s experience can make us want to turn away, but He reminds us that His “yoke is easy” and His “burden is light.”
Jesus falls under the weight of His cross in the Third Station. He looks into our heart and reminds us that when we fall, He is with us and He has been there. His fall was physical, ours may be spiritual, but He will be there. Angels reach out to help in the fulfillment of the prophecy, “He will send His angels to lift you up.” They remind us of the spiritual help that is all around us.
In the Fourth Station, Jesus looks away from us to see His mother. Notice that the cross seems lighter as Jesus is comforted by His mother. We too can find comfort in our most difficult hour by looking to His mother. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.” The Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced with sorrow and the Sacred Heart of Jesus wounded for us, appear in the termini.
In the Fifth Station Simon of Cyrene is pulled from the crowd to assist Jesus. Jesus looks into our hearts and asks if we will stand with Him when asked. According to the tradition of the Church, Simon was an egg dealer. The Passover would be the biggest day of the year for his trade because every Jewish home needed eggs for the Passover table. He had come to the city with his two sons Alexander and Rufus. When he was pulled into the Passion of Jesus he lost time selling his eggs. He prayed and the Lord turned all of his eggs beautiful colors to make them more desirable and Alexander and Rufus were able to sell all they had. This is the root of our Easter tradition of colored eggs. Alexander and Rufus went on to become saints of the Church. Thus the basket of colored eggs and the eggs with the names of Alexander’s sons appear in the termini.
Veronica meets Jesus in the Sixth Station. She wipes His face with her veil and receives the image of Jesus. Veronica is really not a name, but rather a title. Vero means true and icon is image. She has the true image of Jesus. He looks at us and asks if we are willing to be His true image in the world. The termini show the veil before and after Jesus leaves His image.
Jesus falls a second time in the Seventh Station. The blood from His first fall is evident on His left knee. Once again, the angels reach out to Him in the termini.
The Eighth Station shows Jesus speaking to the women of Jerusalem. He says, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.” He speaks to us as well. How often we do not see the dangers around us. We revel in the riches of our world and ignore the spiritual destruction that waits. Jerusalem appears on the termini, a city which was destroyed almost exactly forty years after the Passion of Jesus.
In the Ninth Station Jesus falls a third time, this time He is shown on both knees. He is losing strength as He approaches Calvary. Once again angelic help is offered in the termini.
The public disrobing of Jesus in the Tenth Station was designed to add to His humiliation. He looks at us weak and nearly naked. We are reminded of His teaching when the people ask, “Lord, when did we see you naked and not clothed you?” He answers, “What you have not done for the least of these, you have not done for me.” Every time we deny clothing to those in need, we become the soldier stripping our Lord.
The termini show the seamless robe taken from Jesus and the dice used to gamble to see which soldier would take home the prize.
The Eleventh Station shows Jesus being nailed to the cross. This was a very personal painting. In the image Jesus looks at us with pleading eyes as flesh and bone are ripped by iron spikes. His face shows pain, but the underlying message is, “I’m enduring this for you.” Those spikes that tore His hands and feet are shown in the termini.for the artist. About twenty-six years ago he had this vision during prayer. He had tried to paint it but realized that he couldn’t without training. He studied and became an artist, but never tried to paint this again until now.
From the beginning, it was determined that the crucifix should be the Twelfth Station. It is not recommended to replicate images within the church and the crucifix is the defining image of Jesus dying on the cross. The numeral XII in the floor is twenty-four-carat gold mosaic tesserae, the same gold used on the mosaic arch at the entry of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. The numeral will be dedicated to the station.
Jesus is taken down from the cross in the Thirteenth Station. Here we no longer see Jesus looking at us, we now see His body. This is the body given are all of us who recognize our Lord. In this image, we remember Arnold Pillar, in whose memory these stations were created. He stands as Joseph of Aramathea receiving the body of Christ. Nicodemus offers the body. In this image is Father Robert Creagan, pastor, who regularly offers the body of Christ to this parish. Witnessing the event is Jesus’ mother Mary, who is closest to the cross. The other Mary is modeled after Margaret Pillar, wife of the late Arnold Pillar. Mary Magdalene is modeled after Margaret’s sister Helen who passed away in 1946. The termini in this station depict the eclipse that happened at the crucifixion which reminds us of that three day period of darkness when the Son of God was not with us. for us, the body that gives us life. Surrounding the body.
The Fourteenth Station shows Jesus in the tomb. This image is meant to reflect the inside of the tabernacle where the body of Christ resides. Behind the body are the tabernacle doors and the angels that stand on either side of the tabernacle. Over the body is the flame, the Shikineh (pronounced shi-ky-na) presence of God, the flame indicating the presence of the body. The termini here are empty signifying the emptiness felt by the disciples at the death of their Lord.
There are times when a Fifteenth Station is honored. The resurrection window behind the tabernacle shows Jesus breaking down the gates of death in His resurrected body. His resurrection is the triumphal ending to a most sorrowful passion.
Adapted from Artist Statement for the Stations of the Cross in the booklet distributed for the dedication.
By: Michael Northrop, Artist
The Stations were dedicated on the 17th day of January 2015
by Bishop Paul J. Bradley