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February 20, 2008
Crosses on the 14 Stations Laypeople Distributing AshesROME, FEB. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university. Q: Are wooden crosses on top of depictions/paintings of each Station of the Cross required? These have been removed from our church. -- P.C., Laplace, Louisiana A: The principal document relating to the external form of the Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, is the Enchiridion of Indulgences, No. 63. The Church grants a plenary indulgence to a member of the faithful who practices the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross. In order to obtain this indulgence the exercise must be fulfilled before legitimately erected stations. For the legitimate erection of the Via Crucis, 14 crosses are needed, to which may be added images or sculptures that represent the station. According to the most common custom, the pious exercise consists of 14 pious readings to which are added some vocal prayers. However, in order to fulfill the pious exercise all that is required is a meditation on the Lord's passion and death without having to make a particular consideration of each station. It is necessary to move from one station to the next. But if the stations are done in a large group where moving is difficult, it is sufficient for at least the guide to move from station to station. The faithful who are legitimately impeded from making the stations may gain the same indulgence by dedicating about 15 minutes to meditating and spiritual reading on the Passion. Therefore, to answer the specific question at hand: A legitimate Way of the Cross consists of 14 crosses. These may be wooden, stone, metal or some other suitable material. The images are an optional, albeit very useful extra. The crosses may be relatively small compared to the images or representations, but they should be visible. They may also be located at any suitable place near the images -- above, below, beside or even incorporated within the frame. Possibly the local parish church could be encouraged to restore the crosses to its Way of the Cross. It could also be a wonderful teaching moment to explain the Church's doctrine on indulgences as well as foment the practice of the Via Crucis. As No. 133 of the Directory of Popular Piety says: "The Via Crucis is a journey made in the Holy Spirit, that divine fire which burned in the heart of Jesus (cf. Lk 12, 49-50) and brought him to Calvary. This is a journey well esteemed by the Church since it has retained a living memory of the words and gestures of the final earthly days of her Spouse and Lord. "In the Via Crucis, various strands of Christian piety coalesce: the idea of life being a journey or pilgrimage; as a passage from earthly exile to our true home in Heaven; the deep desire to be conformed to the Passion of Christ; the demands of following Christ, which imply that his disciples must follow behind the Master, daily carrying their own crosses (cf Lk 9, 23)." * * * Follow-up: Laypeople Distributing Ashes Our response to a Scottish reader regarding a layperson distributing ashes (Feb. 5) prompted another e-mail. A correspondent suggested that I had responded inadequately by referring to the "Shorter Book of Blessings" whose norms apply only to the United States and not to Scotland. Our reader has a valid point. The American "Book of Blessings," from which the Shorter Book is extracted, is approved by the Holy See and its use is obligatory in the United States. As is permitted for a book of this nature, the volume contains some original blessings adapted to the pastoral needs of the country and not found in the original Latin benedictional. These other blessings, among which is the blessing of ashes outside of Mass, have legal currency only in the country for which they have been approved. Priests and laypeople should use the translation of the Book of Blessings adopted by their own conferences. As the 2001 instruction "Liturgiam Authenticam" states in No. 83: "As regards the editions of liturgical books prepared in vernacular languages, the approbation of the Conference of Bishops as well as the 'recognitio' of the Apostolic See are to be regarded as valid only for the territory of the same Conference, so that these editions may not be used in another territory without the consent of the Apostolic See, except in those particular circumstances mentioned above, in nn. 18 and 76, and in keeping with the norms set forth there." All the same, one may use any approved translation if giving a blessing in third-language countries, for example, giving a blessing to an English speaker in Germany. In some cases it is probably also possible to use the original blessings for similar pastoral situation, such as the blessings for parents after a miscarriage. Regarding the use of laypeople to distribute ashes in Scotland, we may say the following: The Holy See's approval of the American Blessings Book means that, in principle at least, laypeople may be called upon to carry out this function. The approval, however, only covers the United States, and only the Scottish bishops may legislate for Scotland. If they have not done so (and I confess that my efforts to find out have met with failure), then the permission cannot be presumed. We are in a situation analogous to other special permissions, such as extraordinary ministers of holy Communion, female altar servers, and Communion in the hand. In principle, universal law permits all of these but it falls to the corresponding local authority to decide whether they may be legitimately exercised. * * * Readers may send questions to liturgy@zenit.org. Please put the word "Liturgy" in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive. |