Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

18 February, 2026

The Way Of The Cross. The First Station. The Perfect Undertaking For Lent.



“O, Beloved Wood”.
“O, Blessed Nails”.
“O, Sweet Burden”.
Illustration: PINTEREST


Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Indulgences: One Plenary Indulgence each time; another Plenary Indulgence if Holy Communion is received on the same day, or ten times within the month following that exercise.

If it remained unfinished, Ten Years and Ten Quarantines for each Station visited.

(20 October 1931).


Conditions:

1. To visit each Station, unless it is impossible owing to the crowd.

[Pictures of the fourteen several Mysteries are very useful, but are not indispensable. Wooden Crosses, indicating the fourteen Stations of The Cross, are sufficient and are absolutely required.]

2. To meditate, as best one can, on The Passion of The Saviour.

No vocal Prayers are required. The Popes recommend the recitation of a Pater, an Ave, and an Act of Contrition, at each Station (April 1731).

When The Way of The Cross is made in public, a Verse of “The Stabat Mater” may be sung between each Station.


The Priest, kneeling before The Altar, says as follows:

O, Jesus, our adorable Saviour, behold us prostrate at Thy feet, imploring Thy mercy for ourselves, and for the Souls of all The Faithful Departed.

Vouchsafe to apply to us the infinite merits of Thy Passion, on which we are now about to meditate.

Grant that while we trace this path of sighs and tears, our hearts may be so touched with contrition and repentance, that we may be ready to embrace with joy all our Crosses, sufferings, and humiliations, of this our life and pilgrimage.

Versicle: Thou shalt open my lips, O, Lord.

Response: And my mouth shall show forth Thy praise.

Versicle: O, God, come to my assistance.

Response: O, Lord, make haste to help me.

Versicle: Glory be to The Father, and to . . .

Response: As it was . . .

The Priest and people move in procession to The First Station.



The First Station.

Jesus Christ Is Condemned To Death.

Versicle: We adore Thee, O, Christ, and we bless Thee.

Response: Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.


Priest.

Leaving the house of Caiphas, where He had been blasphemed and the house of Herod, where he had been mocked, Jesus is dragged before Pilate.

His back torn with scourges, His head crowned with thorns; and He, Who, on The Last Day, will judge the living and the dead, is, Himself, condemned to a disgraceful death.

Prayer.

It was for us that Thou didst suffer, O, Blessed Jesus; it was for our sins Thou wast condemned to die.

O, grant that we may detest them from the bottom of our hearts, and, by this repentance, obtain Thy mercy and pardon.




An Act of Contrition.

O, God, we love Thee with our whole hearts, and above all things, and are heartily sorry that we have offended Thee.

May we never offend Thee any more. O, may we love Thee without ceasing, and make it our delight to do in all things Thy Most Holy Will.

Our Father . . .

Hail Mary . . .

Glory Be To The Father . . .

Have mercy on us, O, Lord. Have mercy on us.

Versicle: May the Souls of the Faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Response: Amen.




This Act of Contrition is to be repeated after each Station.

While passing from one Station to another, a Verse of the “Stabat Mater” is sung or said.

Versicle:

Stabat Mater dolorósa,
Juxta crucem lacrimósa,
Dum pendébat Fílius.

Response:

Sancta Mater, istud agas,
Crucifíxi fige plagas,
Cordi meo válide.

Proceed to The Second Station.

Lent Begins.



Illustration: HALLOW

Wells Cathedral (Part Twelve).



The Great West Front,
Wells Cathedral.
Photo: 30 April 2014.
Source: Own work.
Attribution:
Photo by DAVID ILIFF.
Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Author: Diliff
(Wikimedia Commons)


Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

At the Eastern end, there is a proliferation of Tracery with repeated motifs in the Reticulated Style, a stage between Geometric and Flowing Decorated Tracery.[96]

The Great West Front is 100 feet (30 m) high and 147 feet 
(45 m) wide,[97] and built of Inferior Oolite of the Middle Jurassic period, which came from the Doulting Stone Quarry, about eight miles (13 km) to the East.[98]

According to the architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor
it is “one of the great sights of England”.[99]



The Nave, Wells Cathedral.
Photo: 23 July 2018.
Source: Own work.
This file is made available under the
(Wikimedia Commons)

Great West Fronts, in general, take three distinct forms:

1. Those that follow the elevation of the Nave and Aisles;

2. Those that have Paired Towers at the end of each Aisle, framing the Nave;

3. Those that screen the form of the building.



Wells Cathedral’s exquisite architecture,
vaulting, mouldings, and statuary.
Photo: 11 February 2008.
Author: IDS.photos from Tiverton, U.K.
(Wikimedia Commons)

PART THIRTEEN FOLLOWS.

Supplementum Missarum Per Angliam Propriarum. Supplement To Masses For England Proper. Missale Romanum MDCCCLXI (1861) Vindobonæ (Vienna, Austria).



Text and Illustrations, unless stated otherwise, from
Missale Romanum MDCCCLXI (1861)
Vindobonæ (Vienna, Austria).
Author: Zephyrinus.


Festa Decembris.
(Feasts in December).

Die V.
(Day 5).
Festum S. Birini, 
Conf. Pont.
Feast of Saint Birinus,
Confessor and Bishop.


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Die XVIII.
(Day 18).
Festum Epspectationis Partus Beatæ Mariæ Virginæ.
Feast of the Expectation of Delivery 
of The Blessed Virgin Mary.


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Die XXIX.
(Day 29).
Festum Sancte Thomæ Cantuariensis.
Martyris Pontificis.
Feast of Saint Thomas of Canterbury.
Martyr Bishop.


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Festa Januarii.
(Feasts in January).

Die V.
(Day 5).
Octava Sancte Thomæ Cantuariensis.
Octave of Saint Thomas of Canterbury.


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Die XIX.
(Day 19).
Festum Sancte Wolstani.
Conf. Pont.
Feast of Saint Wulfstan.
Confessor. Bishop.


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Die XXIII.
(Day 23).
Festum Desponsationis Beatæ Mariæ Virginæ.
Feast of the Betrothal of The Blessed Virgin Mary.


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Die XXVIII.
(Day 28).
Festum Sancte Raymondi de Pennefort.
Conf.
Feast of Saint Raymund of Pennefort.
Confessor.


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Festa Martii.
(Feasts in March).

Die I.
(Day 1).
Festum Sancte David.
Conf. Pont.
Feast of Saint David.
Confessor. Bishop.


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Saint Chad
(Sancte Ceaddæ).
Confessor. Bishop.
Monastic Chapel, Holy Cross Monastery, 
West Park, New York.
Photo: 9 July 2007.
Source: Flickr
Author: Randy OHC
(Wikimedia Commons)

Die II.
(Day 2).
Festum Sancte Ceaddæ.
Conf. Pont.
Feast of Saint Chad.
Confessor. Bishop.


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Saint Felix of Burgundy.
Statue of Felix, part of Reredos by J.P. Seddon (1885) 
at Saint Peter MancroftNorwichHe was also known 
as Felix of Dunwich and was the first Bishop of the 
Kingdom of the East Angles.
Photo: 5 June 2010.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The following eight paragraphs are from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Felix of Burgundy ( 8 March 647 A.D.), also known as Felix of Dunwich, is a Saint and the first Bishop of the Kingdom of the East Angles.

He is widely credited as the man who introduced Christianity to the Kingdom. Almost all that is known about him comes from The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed by the English historian, Bede, about 731 A.D., and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

The Venerable Bede wrote that Felix freed “the whole of this Kingdom from long-standing evil and unhappiness”.[2]

Felix came from the Frankish Kingdom of Burgundy, and may have been a Priest at one of the Monasteries in France Founded by the Irish Missionary, Columbanus — he may have been Bishop of Châlons, before being forced to seek refuge elsewhere.

Saint Felix travelled from Burgundy to Canterbury before being sent by Archbishop Honorius of Canterbury to Sigeberht of East Anglia’s kingdom in about 630 A.D., (travelling by sea to Babingley in Norfolk, according to local legend).

Upon his arrival in East Anglia, Sigeberht gave him a See at Dommoc, possibly at Walton, Suffolk near Felixstowe, or Dunwich in Suffolk.

According to The Venerable Bede, Saint Felix helped Sigeberht to establish a school in his Kingdom “where boys could be taught letters”.[3][4]

Felix died on 8 March 647, having been Bishop for seventeen years. His Relics were translated from Dommoc to Soham Abbey and then to the Abbey at Ramsey. After his death, he was Venerated as a Saint; several English Churches are Dedicated to him. Felix’s Feast Day is 8 March.

Die VIII.
(Day 8).
Festum Sancte Felicis.
Conf. Pont.
Feast of Saint Felix.
Confessor. Bishop.


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Die XVIII.
(Day 18).
Festum Sancte Gabrielis.
Archangeli.
Feast of Saint Gabriel.
Archangel.


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Die XX.
(Day 20).
Festum Sancte Cuthberti.
Feast of Saint Cuthbert.
Confessor. Bishop.


Saint Simeon. Bishop And Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 18 February. Red Vestments.


Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Simeon.
   Bishop And Martyr.
   Feast Day 18 February.

Simple.

Red Vestments.


Saint Simeon of Jerusalem.
Bishop and Martyr.
Source:: Illustration originates from
the days.ru open catalogue ([1]).
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Simeon, son of Cleophas and Mary, who was so closely related to The Blessed Virgin as to be called her sister, "was anointed with Holy Oil" (Gradual) and became Bishop of Jerusalem, after Saint James the Less.

A Disciple of Christ, Whom he had known, he was for this reason arrested and crucified (Gospel). Although he was 120 years of age, the venerable old man “suffered this cruel punishment with constancy and received the Crown of Life which God prepares for those who love Him” (Epistle).

His Martyrdom took place in 106 A.D.

Like Saint Simeon, let us unite ourselves to Jesus by dying to sin at this Holy Season of Penance.

Mass: Státuit. (Of a Martyr Bishop.)

“Madonna di Loreto”. By: Caravaggio.



English: “Madonna di Loreto”, by Caravaggio.
Deutsch: Altargemälde der Cavaletti-Kapelle
in Sant’Agostino in Rom, Szene: Madonna der Pilger.
Date: 1603 - 1605.
Current location: Church of San’Agostino, Rome.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project:
10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.
DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202
Distributed by 
DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
Permission: [1]
(Wikimedia Commons)

Ash Wednesday. The Lenten Station Is At The Basilica Of Santa Sabina. Violet Vestments.



Peterborough Cathedral.
© Chel@SweetbriarDreams
www.sweetbriardreams.blogspot.co.uk



Artist: René de Cramer.
"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".
Used with Permission.


Basilica of Santa Sabina:
Rome’s First Lenten Station Church.
Available on YouTube



Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Ash Wednesday.

Station at Santa Sabina.

Indulgence of 15 years and 15 Quarantines.

Privileged Feria.

Violet Vestments.


English: Santa Sabina, Rome.
Česky: Interiér baziliky Santa Sabina, Řím.
Photo: February 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Rumburak
(Wikimedia Commons)




Today’s Station at Rome is at Saint Sabina, on The Aventine, in a Sanctuary built on the former site of the Holy Martyr's house. Having been converted by her maid-servant, she was beheaded for the Faith and secretly buried. It is to this Church that, in former times, the Pope used to go barefoot "to begin, with Holy Fasts, the exercises of Christian warfare that, as we do battle with the Spirits of Evil, we may be protected by the help of self-denial" [the Prayer at the Blessing of the Ashes]. In the 5th-Century A.D., this Church was one of the twenty-five Parishes of Rome.


Following the example of the Ninivites, who did Penance in sackcloth and ashes, The Church today, to humble our pride and remind us of the sentence of death, which, as a consequence of our sins we are bound to undergo, sprinkles ashes on our heads with the words: "Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return". 

[Ashes are a symbol of Penance and, having become a Sacramental by The Church's Blessing, help to develop within us the spirit of humility and sacrifice.] We come from dust and unto dust we shall return ! Here, indeed, is a thought that should humble our pride.




In this custom, we have the remains of an ancient ceremony referred to in the Roman Pontifical. Those Christians who were guilty of grave faults had to undergo public Penance. Accordingly, on Ash Wednesday, the Bishop used to Bless the sackcloth, which was to be worn by the penitents during the Holy Forty Days, and place upon their heads ashes made from palms used the previous year in the Palm Sunday Procession.

Then, while the Faithful were singing the Seven Penitential Psalms, “the penitents were expelled from the Holy Place on account of their sins, just as Adam was driven out of Paradise because of his disobedience”. [Roman Pontifical.] 

They were not allowed to put off their penitential garb or to re-enter the Church before Holy Thursday, after they had gained their reconciliation by toil and Penance, and by Sacramental Confession and Absolution.



Santa Sabina,
Aventine, Rome.
L’église de Santa Sabina, 
Aventin, Rome.
Photo: 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Ursus
(Wikimedia Commons)

At the Council of Beneventum (1091), Pope Urban VI commanded that the ashes should be received by all the Faithful, indiscriminately. Let us receive them in a spirit of humility and Penance, that, by this powerful Sacramental, we may obtain from Almighty God the Blessings which The Church implores in the act of Blessing them.



For, truly, “God overlooks the sins of men for the sake of repentance” (Introit). He is “rich in mercy” to those who are “converted to Him with all their heart in Fasting and in weeping and in mourning” (Epistle). 

We must not, indeed, like the Pharisees, rend our garments as a sign of grief, but, rather, our hearts (ibid.), for it is not men who are to testify to our Fasting, but Our Father, Who sees our innermost Souls and will repay us (Gospel), as Our Lord, Himself, tells us in the Sermon on The Mount. [According to Tradition, this Mount is Kurn Hattin.]

Let us, then, draw from the Eucharist the help which we need (Postcommunion), so that, celebrating today the institution of this Sacred Fast (Secret), we may “perform it with a devotion which nothing can disturb” (Collect).




THE BLESSING OF THE ASHES.

Before Mass, Ashes are Blessed. 

These Ashes are made from the Palms which were Blessed in the previous year’s Palm Sunday Procession. The formula used in the Blessing dates from about the 8th-Century A.D.

After the Office of None, the Priest, Vested in Alb and Violet Stole, with or without a Violet Cope, with Deacon and Sub-Deacon in Vestments of the same colour, goes up to the Altar and the Choir begins singing.

After the appropriate Prayers have been said by the Priest, he sprinkles Holy Water on the Ashes and then Incenses them, three times. The Faithful then receive the Ashes on their foreheads.

Mass then commences.

Mass: Miseréris omnium.
Collect: Praesta Domine.
Other Collects: Until Passion Sunday: A cunctis and Omnipotens.
Preface: For Lent.
The Dismissal: Benedicamus Domino, as at any Mass without the Gloria.



Cathedral of 
Our Lady Of The Atonement,
Baguio, Philippines.
Photo: 29 March 2024.
Source: Own work.
This file is made available under the
Author: Galaxiaria
(Wikimedia Commons)



Wells Cathedral.
Photo: August 2006.
Source: Own work.
This file is licensed under the
Author: Steinsky
(Wikimedia Commons)
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