Stations of the Cross – God’s guided imagery
No generation is without its pain and anxiety.
This Stations of the Cross audio is a powerful blend of meditation and prayer known to comfort and calm the soul. There’s a great deal of research supporting the physical benefits of prayer, also known as meditation or guided imagery, making this audio beneficial to the health and wellbeing of those searching for calm in a chaotic world. For centuries, Catholic saints and sages have created beautiful, prayerful guided imagery. When we include these practices in our lives, our souls come gradually into alignment with our Creator.
Julian of Norwich
Julian was born in Norwich, England in 1342 and lived into her seventies. Her world was terrifying: the kingdom convulsed with war, poverty, and the Black Death. Around age 30, Julian nearly died, likely from plague. During her suffering, she experienced profound visions of the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection. After Julian’s miraculous recovery, she spent the remainder of her life in prayer. She lived as an anchoress within her parish church and meditated on her visions, which she called “showings.” Loved and respected for her wisdom, Julian counseled English pilgrims with her insights into God’s love, suffering and salvation.
Julian’s writings are described as deeply reassuring in times of stress and fear. Her most noted line, spoken to her by Christ in a vision was, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
Julian’s book, Revelations of Divine Love, is a classic of medieval Christian meditation. Her serene, hopeful accounts of her visions describe the permanent reality of rest in the love of God. This rest is not dependent on our emotions; feelings come and go. In our own time, Julian’s book has been rediscovered and is now revered for its ability to calm the spirit and reorient us to the truth of Christ.
Revelations of Divine Love was translated from Middle English by Grace Warrack in 1901, although we have modernized the language here. In Julian’s well-known Hazelnut Vision, she writes:
[The Lord] showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut in the palm of my hand; and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereupon with the eye of my understanding, and thought: What might this be?
And it was answered generally thus: It is all that is made. I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to naught for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts, and ever shall [last] for that God loves it. And so all things have Being by the love of God.
… We are enclosed in this littleness, and all-things that are made in three manners: the first is that God made it. The second is that God loves it. The third is that God keeps it. For He is the Maker, the Keeper, the Lover.
Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross are rooted in Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem where, since at least the Middle Ages, believers have walked the path of Jesus’ passion (Via Dolorosa). As
travel to the Holy Land became increasingly difficult, replicas of the Via Dolorosa appeared in Europe as early as the 5th Century.
Christ’s Passion, or “Way of the Cross” pilgrimages became widespread in the 12th -13th centuries. In 1342, Franciscans were given custody of the holy sites in Jerusalem and formalized the Way of the Cross. In 1731 Pope Clement XII fixed the number of stations to 14 and extended the right to erect stations to all churches, effectively standardizing this Catholic devotion.
Based on Warrack’s translation of Julian’s writings, around 1988, the Poor Clare Sisters at Ty Mam Duw monastery in Wales composed a beautiful complement to the Stations of the Cross, with excerpts from the revelations paired with Bible passages. With gratitude to the sisters and Julian of Norwich, ChantWorks makes this masterpiece of truth and calm available to you. Music from Triduum – Contemporary Sacred Music by David Bevan & Neil Wright.
Revelations of Divine Love is available from Amazon.