Stations of the Cross

We took our kids to Holy Hill to view the Stages of the Cross. It's a GORGEOUS place to go and walk around. We had never done this before, (I actually never knew about it) but after going the kids now want to do it every year. It's definitely a neat little tradition not just for Catholics, which we are not.

You can view more images here of Holy Hill. I wish I took more pictures of the grounds and beautiful scenery. It's just absolutely gorgeous.

I found some printable coloring pages where you can Walk With Jesus on the Way of the Cross if there isn't a place you can go to view the stations.

I stumbled upon this blog post and tailored the ideas a bit. This was a great little way to remind our kids the stages we just walked through. We found a little area and sat down once we were done to go through these. The kids had a lot of fun with it.

Station 1 Jesus is Condemned to Death – a piece of yarn to represent the rope used to tie Jesus’ hands
Station 2 Jesus Carries His Cross — a small cross
Station 3 Jesus Falls the First Time — three band-aids to represent Jesus’ three falls.
Station 4 Jesus Meets His Mother Mary – Picture of Mary
Station 5 Simon Helps Jesus — We traced & cut out a hand to visualize hands are made to help
Station 6 Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus —piece of cloth
Station 7 Jesus Falls the Second Time – bandaid 2
Station 8 Jesus Comforts the Women of Jerusalem — a tissue for their tears
Station 9 Jesus Falls the Third Time – bandaid 3
Station 10 Jesus is Stripped of His Garments — a cloak cut out from a piece of paper
Station 11 Jesus is Nailed to the Cross — 3 nails (2 in each hand & one in his legs)
Station 12 Jesus Dies on the Cross — a picture of Jesus
1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Station 13 Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross — spices & strips of linen John 19:40
Station 14 Jesus is Buried – a stone/rock to represent the stone rolled in front of the tomb

I would recommend reading Matthew 26 & 27 as well.