CBB Review – The Way of the Passion: Forty Stations with Jesus

The Way of the Passion: Forty Stations with Jesus is a companion book that leads readers into a deeper understanding of our Lord’s Passion. Julien Chilcott-Monk provides readers with an insightful look into the Passion by combining Scripture readings, poetry, prayers and mediations. It’s a book of great value and by the end of it you will grow in understanding and love for what Jesus endured for us.

Julien takes the traditional fourteen Stations of the Cross and expands them into forty. The book is presented as a daily reader beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding Holy Saturday. Each of the daily readings is about two pages in length. The entries are easy to read but the content is such that it provides ample opportunity for prayer and meditation.

One of the most significant parts of the book for me were the chapters dedicated to the last words of Christ. “Forgive them for they know not what they do”, “today you will be with me in paradise”, “woman behold your son!….Behold your mother”, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”, “I thirst”, “It is finished”, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit”. Each of these chapters provide an in-depth meditation on each of the final words of Jesus. A particularly valuable part of the book.

To me this book is one that can be used beyond the Lenten season as a good refresher on the entire chain of events that transpired during Christ’s suffering. Such reading draws us into a more personal relationship with Christ anytime of the year. This resource can also be used for group study providing a perfect framework for parish group study of the Passion.

What follows are the Forty Stations included in the book:

1 The Entry into Jerusalem

2 The Anointing of Jesus at Bethany

3 The Preparation for the Passover

4 Jesus Washes the Feet of His Disciples

5 The Warning of Betrayal

6 The Institution of the Eucharist

7 Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denials

8 Jesus in Gethsemane

9 Jesus is Arrested

10 Jesus is Taken Before Annas

11 Peter’s First Denial

12 Jesus Before Caiaphas, and Peter’s Further Denials

13 Jesus Before the Sanhedrin, and the suicide of Judas

14 Jesus Before Pilate

15 Jesus Before Herod

16 Jesus Again Before Pilate

17 Pilate Washes his hands

18 Jesus Receives his Cross

19 Jesus Falls

20 Jesus Greets Mother

21 Simon of Cyrene is Ordered to Assist with the Cross

22 Jesus Meets the Woman with the Towel

23 Jesus Falls a Second Time

24 Jesus Meets the   Woman

25 Jesus Falls a Third Time

26 Jesus Arrives at Golgotha

27 Jesus is Stripped and Nailed to the Cross

28 The Indictment

29 Jesus Suffers the Taunts of the Bystanders

30 First Word from the Cross

31 The Second Word from the Cross

32 The Third Word from the Cross

33 The Fourth Word from the Cross

34 The Fifth Word from the Cross

35 The Sixth Word from the Cross

36  The Seventh Word from the Cross

37 Jesus Dies on the Cross

38 The Side of Jesus is Pierced

39 Jesus Is Taken from the Cross and Laid in His Mother’s Arms

40 Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb

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