Is the ‘apostolic Church’ missional?

I am intrigued by the wording of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 that confesses, “We believe … In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.”  Within this expression, known historically as the four marks of the church, I am mostly intrigued with the words ‘apostolic church’  (ἀποστολικὴν ἐκκλησίαν).  As the Nicene Creed is recited regularly in Orthodox, Roman, and Protestant churches around the world, what do Christians mean by the words ‘apostolic church’?

I raise this question because of the present emphasis on the church as missional. This adjective describes the church as “sent” or “on mission.” So, is it possible that ‘apostolic church’ in the Nicene Creed describes the church as sent or on mission? Or does it refer simply to the origin and beliefs of the church as rooted in the teachings of the apostles of Jesus?  Or does it, as some claim, refer to the institution of the church as built upon Jesus and the apostles, with authority conferred successively to bishops through the laying on of hands?  Although the Nicene Creed was written as a statement of orthodox faith in response to heresies, it affirms nevertheless the church as apostolic in nature. So, how should Christians understand ‘apostolic church’?  Is the apostolic nature of the church missional as well as doctrinal?  Is it characterized by orthopraxy as well as orthodoxy? Does apostolicity include missionality?

Originally, the Greek verb apostellō (ἀποστέλλω) from which the adjective ‘apostolic’ came means to send forth a messenger, agent, message, or command.  The one sent (apostlos) was the personal representative of the one who sent him. Moreover, a connection existed between the sender and the recipient.[1]  The noun apostolos (ἀποστόλος), derived from the verb apostellō, was used first “in maritime language where it referred to a cargo ship, or the fleet sent, and later denoted a commander of a naval expedition, or a band of colonists sent overseas.[2]  The Jewish historian Josephus used a form of the word for a “group sent on a mission,” specifically Jews sent to Rome.[3] In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the verb apostellō was not used to denote an institutional appointment of someone to an office but the authorization of a person to fulfill a particular function or a clearly defined task.[4]  The stress fell on the one who gave authority to the one who was sent.

In the New Testament, John uses the verb apostellō to stress that it is the Lord who sends.  For instance, in John 17:18, Jesus prays: “As you [Father] sent (aposteilas) me into the world, so I have sent (apesteila) them [disciples] into the world.”[5]  John also uses apostellō with another Greek verb pempō (πέμπω)—a virtual synonym of apostellō—to emphasize that it is the Lord who sends.  In John 20:21, Jesus says to his disciples: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent (apestalkev) me, even so I am sending (pempo) you.”[6]  Clearly, John’s use of pempo along with apostellō stresses the function of the disciples as being sent, in contrast to any institutional concept of apostolos.

Needless to say, apostolos is used in the New Testament of the fixed designation of a definite office, namely, that of the apostles (ἀπόστολοι) or apostolate, most often designating the Twelve. Mark’s Gospel records:

And he [Jesus] went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send (apostelle) them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3:13-14)

Jesus appointed these disciples as apostles and soon sent them out to participate in his mission.[7]  It is important to note that originally the apostolate was not an office but a commission.[8]  This commission was renewed by Jesus following his resurrection, and certainly the Twelve were called to their authoritative position as witnesses of the resurrection with missionary responsibility (Matthew 28:19).

 

And where did the Twelve go?  Based upon history of church's expansion in the first centuries, various traditions record that Matthew went to Persia and Ethiopia. Peter went to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Betania, and Italy, dying in Rome. Andrew preached to the Scythians and Thracians. Thomas traveled east and preached to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and Margians, dying in India. Philip preached in Phrygia, and was crucified in Hierapolis. Thaddaeus preached in Edessa, Mesopotamia, and died at Berytus. Bartholomew preached in India with Thomas, went back to Armenia, and perhaps to Ethiopia and Southern Arabia. James preached the gospel in Spain.  Simon the Zealot went to Parthia. John ministered in Asia Minor and was exiled on the island of Patmos.[9]

So, is it possible that ‘apostolic church’ describes the church as sent or on mission?  Does 'apostolic church' describe a mark of the church concerned as much with orthopraxy as with orthodoxy, as much with the missionary nature of the apostles as with any historic connection to them?  Is missionality inherently tied to apostolicity?  Is the 'apostolic church' missional?     (continued)

---

[1] Colin Brown, ed., New Testament Theology Vol. 1, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986): 126-127.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews. 17, 11, 1. “So when Varus had settled these affairs, and had placed the former legion at Jerusalem, he returned back to Antioch; but as for Archelaus, he had new sources of trouble come upon him at Rome, on the occasions following: for an embassage of the Jews was come to Rome, Varus having permitted the nation to send it, that they might petition for the liberty of living by their own laws. Now the number of the ambassadors that were sent by the authority of the nation were fifty, to which they joined above eight thousand of the Jews that were at Rome already.”

[4] Brown, New Testament Theology Vol. 1, 127.

[5] John 17:18, καθὼς ἐμὲ ἀπέστειλας εἰς τὸν κόσμον, κἀγὼ ἀπέστειλα αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν κόσμον.

[6] John 20:21, Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν, καθὼς ἀπέσταλκέν με ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ πέμπω ὑμᾶς.

[7] Mark 6:7, “And he called the twelve and began to send them (αὐτοὺς ἀποστέλλειν) out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.”

[8] Brown, New Testament Theology Vol. 1, 131.

[9] Cf. Alvin J. Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004): 19.

Missional Creed

A liturgy of worship can shape the witness and mission of the people as they gather for worship in order to be sent. This creed has been read in unison in a variety of settings including my Missional Church course at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.  A recent post reported that it was used in a service of St. David's Cathedral in Australia. This creed, based on the ancient symbols, is written to affirm the gospel and to prepare the readers for mission in the world:

We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, who sent his Son into the world, and who now sends us into the world, as witnesses to his reign in heaven and on earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, who was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and became man, the Light of Light who entered our darkened world, to proclaim good news to the poor, to heal the sick, and to set the oppressed free. For us and for our salvation, he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.  On the third day he rose as victor from the dead.  He ascended into heaven where he is head of his body, the church, and will come again in glory and judgment, and reign in his triumphal kingdom.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the giver of life, who leads us, the people of God, on the mission of God, to join in the work of the kingdom of God. In this, we are called as Christ’s holy and apostolic church, to bear witness to God’s love, mercy and justice, to proclaim good news in word and deed, to make disciples of all peoples, for the redemption of all creation, to the glory of God’s holy name.  Amen.

dmg 2014

Charity on the Prairie: Christian Orphans' Home of Nebraska

        The Christian Orphans’ Home of Phelps Center, Nebraska, began in 1888 in response to human need—a response prompted by love of God and neighbor. The orphanage was founded by Axel Nordin (1858-1912), pastor of the Swedish Free Mission at Phelps Center, now Holcomb Evangelical Free Church. Nordin took into his home three young girls and by this act of charity laid the foundation for this work of caring for and educating orphans and other dependent children.

 

According to a local newspaper at the time, L. W. Larson, a blacksmith from Loomis, was without his wife and found he was unable to care for his daughters. The three girls were brought to the pastor with a request that he provide for their care. Since Nordin was a bachelor, he enlisted the help of his mother, Mrs. Lars Nordin. It soon became generally known that they took in destitute children and orphans, and consequently received additional applications.  In over a year the number of children increased from three to nineteen, with eleven boys and eight girls.

 

Nordin, originally from Skultuna, Västmanland, Sweden, was converted to faith during his youth and began to preach at age twenty. When he arrived to America, he joined the Free Mission work. His mother, Anna Stina, and father, Lars, immigrated in 1884, settling in Phelps County. The Free Mission church at Phelps Center had been established in 1880 by Fredrik Franson who along with burgeoning Free Mission Friends drew upon the Swedish Pietism of P. P. Waldenström and American Revivalism of D. L. Moody.

When the home incorporated in 1889, the board included such members as: J. G. Princell and John Martenson of Chicago, Axel Nordin, John Dahlström, and several highly respected citizens of Phelps County. The home was incorporated with the understanding that any homeless child of any race or religious faith would be admitted. The home’s early history titled Hågkomster och Minnen (Recollections and Memories) reported that Nordin knew that such an undertaking would require effort and sacrifice and that the education of the children entrusted to his care came with great responsibility. This work was “not the management of perishable things or temporal capital, but the care of eternal souls whose formation shaped essentially who they would become then, as well as in the future. To undertake such an exceedingly great responsibility before God and humanity was not to be taken lightly.”

 

Mary Johnson Norlen

In 1890 the home continued after Nordin accepted a call to become pastor of the Oak Street Free Mission, now First Evangelical Free Church, in Chicago.  Miss Mary Johnson (1850-1927), affectionately known as “Tant Mary,” came from the Windy City to assume responsibility as the housemother. She was assisted by others including Charles Norlen whom she married. The Norlens themselves adopted two children, Jennie and Reuben.

 

            The orphanage was designed to be a safe and healthy environment— an alternate home for distressed children.  Most of them came from where “hardly a ray of human love and affection was known.” The children often arrived “dirty, clothed in rags, and devoid of humane treatment.” It was reported:

They have perhaps a father in their life, but he consumes everything he earns and then wastes everything he possesses, and moreover, when he comes home, he is a terror to his family. … They have perhaps a mother, but because of sorrow and hardship, she has become so overwhelmed that she has hardly a trace of motherly instinct left. … O, the poor children that are raised in such homes! What can we expect will become of them? How bleak is the future for these small, innocent creatures! Should not philanthropy’s (människokärleken, love of humankind) sunlight displace the dark, heavy clouds that hang over these troubled homes, ready to crush so many of their futures?

 

            The Free Mission Friends who supported this work maintained a theological view of social obligation in this world and eschatological hope for the world to come.  In light of the circumstances that “put innocent children in the most horrific distress, without homes and without care” and in “hearing the heart-rending cries for help until the blood curdles in one’s veins,” they were prompted to ask: “Why all this suffering? Why all this sin? Why such neglect?”

 

Nordin and the staff who followed him were saddened as they witnessed extreme poverty alongside luxuriance, and wondered: “How can some people so completely forget the needs of others? For, from one man ‘[God] made of one blood all the nations of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth.’” Like earlier Pietists whose sense of social obligation was shaped by the Bible, these Free Mission Swedes believed it was their responsibility to care for God’s creation, and asked, “Should we not all be struck by the Master’s words: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in…Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”



Personnel of the Orphans' Home

In contrast to Jesus’ words of warning, the home’s staff held to the conviction that they were “here on earth to protect and care for each other.” They thought that to neglect this responsibility would bring fearful consequences. They held that everyone would “give an account at the judgment.” And yet they looked forward to Jesus’ second coming, saying: “Come soon, come soon!” In essence, they viewed Jesus’ return in glory as “a day of rejoicing for many,” but also a day of “woe to those who will be held accountable for their neglect!”

 

When Nordin presented his plan for the children’s home at the Free Mission’s meeting at Phelps Center in 1889, it was received with great interest.  Since no orphanage existed among the Swedish free-church denominations in America at the time, the need was easily recognized. The Free Mission preachers from different parts of the country pledged their support, and interest continued among their churches as well as other Swedish-American denominations.  Although the home was supported mostly by Swedes, the doors were open to every needy child as long as room and funds permitted. At times there were “twelve to fifteen children of [other] foreign nationality.”

 

From the beginning, the primary objective of the home was “to be a Christian home”—a home that surrounded the children with Christian influence. Therefore, the staff was generally comprised of those “who professed and proved to be Christians.” With such close proximity to the Free Mission church in Phelps Center—just five minutes away—the children attended Sunday school and occasional preachers’ meetings. Regarding the children, it was reported:

 

Not a few have given their hearts to God, and profess faith in Christ. It is certainly great to see human beings saved from temporal suffering and destruction, but how much greater is it to see them saved eternally. Temporal life and happiness are valuable enough but do not compare with eternal life and happiness. How beautiful it is to hear the children’s testimonies when they say they will live for Jesus and obey him. We believe, too, that while seeds planted in the children’s minds may soon be forgotten and we may not see the long-awaited harvest as soon as we would like, the seeds will sooner or later bear fruit. When we have sown and watered, have we done our part; God makes it grow.

 

Clearly, the home not only observed the mandate to care for others but also the mandate to proclaim the good news of Jesus, keeping in view the Pietist principle of personal conversion.

 

            The Christian Orphans’ Home sought the children’s safety and wellbeing, much like the biblical concept of shalom, often translated as peace but includes wholeness or holistic health of body and soul, and living in harmony with God and fellow man. From the beginning, the home was to be a “life-saving institution” (räddningsanstalt). Sometimes it was not mostly orphans who needed protection and care but defenseless children, victims of domestic violence. One such child had come to the home after having been mistreated by the father. It was noted: “The child would scream with all its might whenever a man came in the vicinity.” In light of the home’s purpose, the early history records:

What a contrast between what things should and could be, and how they are!  A

happy home is the best imitation on earth of heaven, while an unhappy home is the extreme opposite. To escape from such a “home” and enter a Christian orphanage is a benefit to these little ones… Therefore, a great deal of insight and understanding is required in order to lead and nurture the minds of these children in the right direction, and in this manner, we pluck the weeds that have taken root and started to grow, and replace them with what is wholesome and good.

 

Girls at the Christian Orphans' Home

 

During its years of operation the home purchased 240 acres of land, erected and expanded its dormitory, and added other buildings including a school. In 1926, it relocated to a new facility west of Holdrege and changed its name to the Christian Children’s Home. The work continued until 1954 when growth of the foster care system in Nebraska enabled an alternative setting for the care of homeless and abused children.

 

Between the years 1888 and 1954, it is estimated that the home welcomed over 1,100 children. While some were residents briefly, others grew there to adulthood. The facility has continued until today as Christian Homes Care Community, providing nursing care and assisted living to senior adults.

 

            The Christian Orphans’ Home remains an example of a theologically informed and socially engaged Pietism. This continued through the early decades of the twentieth century when American Fundamentalism was separating social action from the Christian life and focusing almost exclusively on “spiritual” matters. Yet during this period and afterwards, the Christian Children’s Home practiced a faith that proclaimed the gospel in word and deed. This charity on the Nebraska prairie is an example of what it means to love God and neighbor.

Miss Modin: The Swedish Lady Missionary
by David M. Gustafson

Published in www.pietisten.org  Spring/Summer 2013

When Ellen Modin gathered with forty teachers and seven preachers in Salt Lake City at the Congregational Church on April 2, 1885, a reporter from The Salt Lake Herald referred to her as “Miss Modin, the Swedish lady missionary”—a title descriptive of her whole life. After serving in Utah, she returned to Minneapolis where she founded a school for female evangelists and a rescue shelter for women and children.  She lived a missional life.

In Evangelical Free Church history, Ellen Modin was the first missionary associated with its earliest work which in 1885 was called Kristnas gemensamma verksamhet, the United Work of Christians.  She was not only the first to receive support from the mission account but was the first approved missionary on the field.  She arrived to Salt Lake City several months ahead of Edward Thorell, the second Free-work missionary to Utah.  She originally associated with American Congregationalists “working among Swedish women who had adopted Mormon teachings and practiced the religion of polygamy.”  The Report of the American Home Missionary Society stated: “In Salt Lake City, Miss Modin has been visiting from house to house, ministering to the sick and gathering the Scandinavians for study of the Bible and prayer.”  In addition, she worked among Chinese immigrants. Several Chinese embraced the Christian faith and two became employed as missionaries.

Ellen Modin (1853–1941) originally from Hälsingland, Sweden, had lost both of her parents to death before she immigrated to America in 1881. She arrived first to Des Moines, Iowa, and then relocated to Minneapolis.  She came to America as a teacher, having completed her course of study at Bollnäs Seminarium in Gävleborg.

The Utah Mission was taken over by the Free’s United Work of Christians as a result of Fredrik Franson’s visit to the Utah Territory in 1879 and 1880.  In company with F. J. Fredrickson, Franson spent six months working as an itinerant evangelist in the Mormon territory.  His vivid descriptions of the conditions were reported in the periodical Chicago-Bladet, stirring readers to pray for and support this mission.

Such reports prompted Ellen Modin to join the mission to Swedish Mormon women, and so she arrived in February 1885 to begin her work.  Three years later she was joined by Lottie Axelson and Mathilda Johnson.  In Modin’s first book, titled Eko från flydda dagar (Echoes from Days Gone By) published in 1906, she gave an account of her activities among Mormons, writing:  “I made it a practice to spend every morning studying books of Mormonism, comparing their teachings with the Bible.”  She spent her afternoons visiting Swedish Mormon women with a view to persuading them to evangelical faith.

 In 1891, Modin left Utah, returning to Minnesota where she founded Kvinnornas Allians Missionshem, the Women’s Alliance Mission Home, in St. Paul.  This was a period of time when female evangelists were active in the Free Mission, especially in Minnesota. Women ministers were encouraged by Fredrik Franson of the newly founded Scandinavian Alliance Mission—later known as TEAM—and August Davis of the newly founded Scandinavian Mission Society of Minnesota—the first Minnesota district of the Free Mission.  Modin was active with the Scandinavian Mission Society and took it upon herself to travel throughout the country raising funds for her school where she would serve as instructor.  The Women’s Alliance Mission Home offered Bible training courses exclusively for female workers, at a time when some churches called only women to conduct revival and mission meetings, and at least one, called women to serve as pastors.

In 1897, the building of the Mission Home in St. Paul was sold and Ellen Modin arranged for the purchase of a property in Minneapolis. She continued as president of the Scandinavian Women’s Alliance Mission Home “until the brethren no longer encouraged the mission.”  Consequently, in 1907 it was discontinued.  Modin sold the property and transferred the assets to the newly founded Skandinaviska Skyddshemmet, Scandinavian Home of Shelter—a ministry for “fallen women.”  This home provided refuge for women and children, particularly for Swedish girls who were pregnant out of wedlock. It was a place for them to stay during their pregnancy and birth of the child.

The home then arranged for children to be adopted. Modin adopted a son herself, namely, Roy N. Modin, “a poor boy” who went on to become a trombonist in the Fort Snelling Army Band.  During her years in Minnesota, Ellen was an active member of the Scandinavian Free Mission Church, known later as First Evangelical Free Church in Minneapolis.

From 1909 to 1932, Ellen used her talent in writing to publish a monthly periodical titled Räddningslinan, The Life Line—the official organ of the Scandinavian Home of Shelter. The organization’s name was later changed to the Scandinavian Rescue Mission.  Over the years, Ellen was assisted by editors such as Rosine Widfeldt, Josephine Princell, and Hannah E. Johnson.  Modin’s publication of the monthly periodical, as well as her three books and several poems, earned her a place among George M. Stephenson’s seventeen noted Swedish-American female authors.  In the 1920s she published the work about her life and ministry titled Det gjorde Gud (God Did It) that contains accounts about “God’s wonderful leading and his glorious answers to prayer in ministry.”  In 1930, she published Varifrån och varthän? (Wherefrom and Wither), a book of her reflections on “living on earth’s streets in light of God’s Word.”

Ellen Modin, the Swedish lady missionary, was not faint in heart. She was an activist with the Southside Citizen’s Committee that worked to close down Minneapolis’s “red light district.”  She was known as a feisty woman with a passion to take the gospel in word and deed to others, whether to Swedish women in Salt Lake City or to distressed women and children in Minneapolis.  In our day when many speak of “missional living” and what it means “to engage in one’s context with word and deed,” Ellen Modin is an example of a Swedish lady who lived a missional life.

Biblical Stations of the Cross

First Station: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane 

The Agony in the Garden by Filippo Lauri

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, "My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me." He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:36-39

Prayer: Lord, grant us your strength and wisdom that we may seek to follow your will in all things.

Lead Me to Calvary

May I be willing, Lord, to bear; Daily my cross for Thee;
Even Thy cup of grief to share, Thou hast borne all for me.

Lest I forget Gethsemane; Lest I forget Thine agony,
Lest I forget Thy love for me, lead me to Calvary.

The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio, ca. 1602

Second Station: Jesus, Betrayed by Judas, Is Arrested

Then, while [Jesus] was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying, "The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him and lead him away securely." He came and immediately went over to him and said, "Rabbi." And he kissed him. At this they laid hands on [Jesus] and arrested him.  Mark 14: 43-46

 

Christ Before Caiaphas, Niccolo Frangipane

Third Station: Jesus Is Condemned by the Sanhedrin

They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. …Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”  But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”  “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death.  Mark 14:53-64

 

 

Fourth Station: Jesus Is Denied by Peter

Denial of St. Peter by van Honthorst 

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about!" As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." Again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man!" A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away." At that he began to curse and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: "Before the cock crows you will deny me three times." He went out and began to weep bitterly. Matthew 26: 69-75

Prayer: Lord, we confess our sin when we have denied you in word and deed. Forgive us and draw us nearer to you.

Draw Me Nearer

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith, And be closer drawn to Thee.

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, To Thy precious, bleeding side.

 

 

Gerrit van HontFifth Station: Jesus Is Condemned to Death by Pilate

Christ before Pilate by Mihály Munkácsy

All the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. … ^.So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.  Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. … Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”  But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor….  When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” All the people answered:

All: “His blood is on us and on our children!”          Matt. 27: 1-2, 11-14, 24-25

Sixth Station: Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns

Flagellation of Christ by Rubens

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly.  John 19: 1-3

Lead Me to Calvary

King of my life, I crown Thee now; Thine shall the glory be;
Lest I forget Thy thorn-crowned brow, Lead me to Calvary.

Lest I forget Gethsemane; Lest I forget Thine agony,
Lest I forget Thy love for me, lead me to Calvary.

Seventh Station: Jesus Bears the Cross

Christ Carrying the Cross by Lorenzo Lotto

[Pilate] delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. John 19:16-17

Prayer: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Eighth Station: Jesus Is Helped by Simon the Cyrene

Simon from Cyrene and Christ by Titian

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. Mark 15:21

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ,

 All:  Not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.     

Draw Me Nearer

Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, And my will be lost in Thine.

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, To Thy precious, bleeding side.

Ninth Station: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

1922, Salamanca

A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children."  Luke 23: 27-29

Prayer: Lord, grant us gentle spirits that we may comfort those who mourn, and weep with those who weep.

Tenth Station: Jesus Is Crucified

Raising the Cross by Charles Le Brun

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”).  Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.  It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left.  Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days come down from the cross and save yourself!”  In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!  Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.  Mark 15:23-32

Prayer: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Were You There?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Eleventh Station: Jesus Promises His Kingdom to the Thief

Christ and the Good Thief by Titian

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23: 39-43

Twelfth Station: Jesus Speaks to His Mother and the Disciple



Crucifixion by James Tisssot

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. John 19: 25-27

Prayer: Lord, grant us constancy that we may be willing to stand by those in need.

Thirteenth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross

Crucifixion by Nicholas Tournier

It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit"; and when he had said this he breathed his last. Luke 23: 44-46

Prayer: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Holy Communion by Intinction

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died;

My richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown.

His dying crimson, like a robe, Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the world, And all the world is dead to me.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

Fourteenth Station: Jesus’ body is prepared for the Tomb

Descent of the Cross by Rubens

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” … One of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. .. Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. … As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 
Matthew 27:54-60; John 19:31

 

Were You There?

Were you there when they pierced him in the side? Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
 
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?  Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?

[Go in silence.]