St. Luke’s Episcopal offers meditative experience with The Way of the Cross
CONNIE SWINNEY • PICAYUNE STAFF
CYPRESS MILL — St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is offering prayer, meditation and a simple “Way” to remember the origins of Easter as well as reinforce the Christian faith.The church, 263 Spur 962 in Cypress Mill, is hosting Holy Week and inviting members and visitors to participate in a self-guided tour, The Way of the Cross, which features 14 stations on the church grounds.
“It comes from the old traditions, which started with the pilgrims who went to Jerusalem to follow The Way of the Cross, Jesus’ passion, which began with his trial and the various events that happened along the way to Calvary where he was crucified,” the Rev. Tommy Bye said. “The Stations of the Cross are done in various ways in various places.
“It’s somewhat of a meditation. It is the reminder of what brought Easter about,” Bye added. “What we’ve come to in this particular season is making present again the things that God delivered to us through his son Jesus Christ.”
Events described at each one of the stations, along a 1,000-foot pathway, include Jesus falling several times; his cross being given over to Simon of Cyrene; Jesus meeting the women of Jerusalum; his crucifixion and death; and Jesus’ body being placed in a tomb.
The pathway takes participants to individual stations, where a solitary cross is displayed with a labeled marker to identify an excerpt of Jesus’ experience.
During Lent, Bye conducts a Liturgy for church members; however, the congregation and visitors may tour the permanent stations throughout the year.
Participants use information from a booklet with narrative and prayers to guide them from station to station.
“(The stations) have a certain amount of mystery attached to them. At first, you find that you might be a little detached, but as you progress and go along, you get in a little deeper,” Bye said. “It’s an extended kind of prayer, which draws you nearer to God as you go along The Way of Cross.”
Congregation member Don Gray said the tour not only reaffirms his faith but enhances reflection on the story of Easter.
“There’s nothing other than God’s beauty of the Hill Country. There are very few vehicles (driving by.) The church is sitting up here on this hill,” Gray said. “It’s a quiet place to come out and do great contemplative prayer.”
connie@thepicayune.com