The Stations of the Cross are also called The Way of Cross, Via Crucis, and Via Dolorosa.
These names are used to signify either a series of pictures or tableaux representing
certain scenes in the Passion of Christ, each corresponding to a particular incident,
or the special form of devotion connected with such representations.
Taken in the former sense, the Stations may be of stone, wood, or metal, sculptured or carved,
or they may be merely paintings or engravings. Some Stations are valuable works of art, as those,
for instance, in Antwerp cathedral, which have been much copied elsewhere. They are usually arranged at intervals around the walls of a church, though sometimes they are to be found
in the open air, especially on roads leading to a church or shrine.
In monasteries they are often placed in the cloisters.
Stations of the Cross are prayed as a community on Fridays (except Good Friday) during Lent.
Starting on Friday, February 16, and continuing through Friday, March 22, we will gather in the church at 6:00 PM to pray the stations in English and we will gather in Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel at 6:00 PM to pray the stations in Spanish.
All are welcome to join us.
The erection and use of the Stations did not become at all general before the end of the seventeenth century, but they are now to be found in almost every church. Formerly their number varied considerably in different places but fourteen are now prescribed by authority. They are as follows:
The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make in spirit, as it were, a pilgrimage to the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death, and this has become one of the most popular of Catholic devotions. It is carried out by passing from Station to Station, with certain prayers at each and devout meditation on the various incidents in turn. (cited from catholic.org)