Friday is Soup, Bread, and Stations of the Cross.

Today is friday during the season of Lent.  What is special about this day?  During the season of Lent Catholics abstain from meat every friday until Easter.  We give this sacrifice up in prayer remembering the Passion of Christ Jesus.  Another wonderful part of friday is the Stations of the Cross. 
Stations of the cross was originated in the 4th century in Jerusalem.  Pilgrims from all over the world visited the Holy land to step in the footsteps of Jesus.  A woman named Egeria made a journal of her trip with other Roman Christians starting at the garden Gethsemane on Holy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter Sunday.  You can read her journal entry and picture.

Stations of the cross is a pilgrimage we can do right here in our homes, gardens, or church.  We walk the steps remembering the scripture, pain, and love of the that Jesus endured.  There are 14 stations during this prayer.
Station 1: Jesus is Condemned to Death.
Station 2: Jesus Bears His Cross
Station 3: Jesus Falls the First Time
Station 4: Jesus meets His Mother
Station 5: Jesus Helped by Simon
Station 6: Jesus and Veronica
Station 7: Jesus Falls the Second Time
Station 8: Jesus Speaks to the Woman
Station 9: Jesus falls for the Third Time
Station 10: Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments
Station 11: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
Station 12: Jesus Dies on the Cross
Station 13: Jesus is Taken from the Cross
Station 14: Jesus is laid in the Tomb
The stations are hung on the walls 7 on the left and 7 on the right.  Many churches have a garden with stations setup to walk in a more quite setting. 

 "What matters most in the Stations of the Cross is to follow Jesus Christ in his passion and to see ourselves mirrored in him. Whether we know it or not, we bear the imprint of his cross. We are judged unjustly, we fall, we find life's journey hard, we know the mystery of death, and we recoil from it. To face life's dark side in ourselves and in our world, we need images of hope, and Jesus offers images of hope in his passion."- Written by Victor Hoagland, C.P.

Every friday we had a soup and bread dinner with fellow members of our church.  After this wonderful time of fellowship we walk together to the chapel to pray the Stations of the Cross.  We love the mediation time and thoughtful remembrance of the trails Jesus endure for us.

For the Soup dinner we have a variety of  6-7 soups and breads.  You never know what will be there and last week my more picky daughter preferred to not eat any of them.   There was a very delicious variety of bean and vegetable soups.  We took this time to talk about self denial and sacrifices.  We are eating soup because we are giving up are favorite dinners to say I can sacrifices a little too.  That she is experiencing what some children go through who are hungry.  She eventually ate but she was not happy about it.  This week she is helping make a vegetable soup and the pretzel breads for tonight supper. 

Even though the church says that children under the age of 14 do not have to refrain from meat, we do.  There are so many wonderful options for protein that we can still enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner without meat.  Breakfast can include cold and hot cereals, yogurts, fruits, and breads.  Lunches can have nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, and be creative as you want.  The kids lunch today.

Sunflower seeds, apples and peanut-butter, carrots, cucumber, and pears. 

Free Printable Station Pictures can be found at Turn Back to God website.
Beautiful Outside Stations of the Cross In AZ.
Shrine of St. Joseph - Yarnell, Arizona
Our Lady of the Sierras Shrine Stations of the Cross - Hereford, AZ
Holy Trinity St David Monastery 
Finding a outside Station of the Cross is a wonderful experience.  You can find some in a small garden setting or some that can stretch for a mile. You can go on a nature walk and stop every 5 minutes to say each station.  You do not have to be in a church, this is a time and devotion you can take to walk with God. 

For children
Make a station Project

I absolutely LOVE LOVE "catholicicing.com"  She does a wonderful job celebrating Jesus with kids.  If you have children this is a blog you will enjoy to follow.

Free Printable Stations of the Cross for Children