Jesus’s Way of the Cross came to life in a dramatic way on Good Friday at St. Martin of Tours Parish in Gaithersburg, Maryland, as more than 100 volunteers, including dozens of actors in costumes, staged an outdoor Living Stations of the Cross.
A large banner along Route 355 promoted the Living Stations, which were held from noon to 3 p.m. on April 3 and started in a field owned by the parish across from St. Martin of Tours Church and School, and the stations wound through that property and along surrounding neighborhood streets.
Noting the big sign along that busy street inviting people to participate in the event, Father James Fangmeyer, a parochial vicar at St. Martin’s, said, “The Stations of the Cross is a sign to each person’s heart of God’s love.”
The priest said that the adults and children acting in the stations were putting their faith in action. “I think it’s a transformative experience for them,” he said.
As the Stations of the Cross unfolded, the actors and the hundreds of people in the crowd, most of whom were Hispanic, seemed deeply moved as they witnessed Christ’s Passion and death being acted out. Many families with children were in attendance, and the stations recited in English, Spanish and French drew parishioners and guests with roots from across the United States and from throughout Latin America and Africa. The parish offers Masses in those languages to serve its diverse community.
Before the Living Stations of the Cross began, Father David Wells, the pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish, noted, “The Hispanic community really responds to show publicly the last steps of Jesus. It’s a powerful testimony.”
The pastor added, “With the Hispanic community, there’s a real connection with the suffering and death of Jesus, because so many of them have experienced such suffering in their lives. It’s an easy connection for them to see Christ amidst their sufferings.”
In his opening prayer, Father Wells said that in re-enacting and witnessing Jesus’s Passion and death, “May we enter more deeply into your redemption.” He said that Jesus through his death on the cross and his Resurrection “takes on all of our sins to redeem us and make us new.”
Sister Yelitza Ayala and Sister Providencia Negron, members of the Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima who do family ministry at St. Martin of Tours, organized the Living Stations of the Cross along with Miguel Hernandez, the parish’s director of volunteers.
For more than two months, the 100 actors and crew members practiced for the Living Stations every Sunday. Jaime Santos, a St. Martin’s parishioner who is originally from El Salvador, portrayed Jesus, and his wife volunteered with the crew, and their daughter was one of the angels. Santos participates in the Jesus te Ama (“Jesus Loves You”) prayer group.
Along with Santos, many of the actors, including the men who were portraying the apostles and the soldiers, did prayer and fasting to prepare for their roles, Sister Yelitza said.
“They were very committed to this,” she said. “…From the very beginning, we were very clear. We are not doing a show. We are evangelizing people as a community of faith, helping people to live the mysteries of Christ and his Passion and Resurrection.”
Sister Yelitza added, “This is part of our mission. We are missionaries of the love of Christ.”
She noted how the Stations of the Cross being done in English, Spanish and French “speaks about the unity of the faith of our church. We are a very diverse, multicultural parish… At the rehearsals, all of the communities got together as one family of faith.”
Before acting out the 14 Stations of the Cross, the volunteer actors depicted the other events of Holy Week, including Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the Agony in the Garden and Jesus’s arrest and appearance before the chief priests and Pilate.
Then the dramatic Living Stations of the Cross unfolded, as crowds of people watched, including some children and adults who climbed a nearby tree, and a father holding his young daughter on his shoulders. (The following photos are by Mark Zimmermann for the Catholic Standard.)
First Station of the Cross: Jesus is Condemned to Death
Second Station of the Cross: Jesus Takes up His Cross
Third Station of the Cross: Jesus Falls the First Time
Fourth Station of the Cross: Jesus Meets His Mother
Fifth Station of the Cross: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross
Sixth Station of the Cross: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
Seventh Station of the Cross: Jesus Falls the Second Time
Eighth Station of the Cross: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
Ninth Station of the Cross: Jesus Falls the Third Time
Tenth Station of the Cross: Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
Eleventh Station of the Cross: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
Twelfth Station of the Cross: Jesus Dies on the Cross
Thirteenth Station of the Cross: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross
Fourteenth Station of the Cross: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
During the Fourteenth Station, Jesus was placed in an ornate hand-crafted tomb and carried by men in a procession to the church.
The tomb with Jesus in it was placed before the altar, and then hundreds of people placed flowers at its base. One woman could be seen with tears in her eyes after placing a flower there.
The commemoration of Christ’s Passion and death on Good Friday concluded with people praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
