Miz t. is doing the stations of the cross this evening.

[trof]

I asked her if she would be able to go up in the engineer's cab.
That would be pretty neat.
She said they weren't those kind of 'stations'.

So I found this little pome:
I Didn't Go To Church Today

I didn't go to church today,
I trust the Lord to understand.
The surf was swirling blue and white,
The children swirling on the sand.
He knows, He knows how brief my stay,
How brief this spell of summer weather,
He knows when I am said and done
We'll have plenty of time together.
-Ogden Nash

And in case you wondered, here are the 'stations':
Traditional form
The Stations themselves are usually a series of 14 pictures or sculptures depicting the following scenes:

1. Jesus is condemned to death
2. Jesus receives the cross
3. Jesus falls the first time
4. Jesus meets His Mother
5. Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
6. Veronica wipes Jesus' face with her veil
7. Jesus falls the second time
8. Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem
9. Jesus falls the third time
10. Jesus is stripped of His garments
11. Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
12. Jesus dies on the cross
13. Jesus' body is removed from the cross (Pieta)
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb and covered in incense.

[Suich]

1. When I was a kid in Catholic school,

we spent all day in church on Good Friday! When you got done with with the stations, you did them again, and again, and again. Had something to do with not having to spend less time in purgatory.

:shrug:

[trof]

2. Miz t. was Catholic. Now Episcopal.

I call it 'Catholic Lite'.
I think it's like being a Marine.
'Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.'

[trof]

6. Yeah, purgatory was supposed to be pretty boring.

This doesn't look like a fun place.

Purgatory in Roman Catholicism

Roman Catholicism is the only major Christian denomination that teaches the specific doctrine of purgatory as a "place or condition" experienced by some souls after death.

Heaven and Hell

According to Catholic belief, immediately after death, a person undergoes judgment in which the soul's eternal destiny is specified. Some are eternally united with God in Heaven, often envisioned as a paradise of eternal joy. Conversely, others are destined for Hell, a state of eternal separation from God often envisioned as a fiery place of punishment.<8>

Purgatory's role


In addition to accepting the states of heaven and hell, Roman Catholicism envisages a third state before being admitted to heaven. According to Roman Catholic doctrine, some souls are not sufficiently free from sin and its consequences to enter the state of heaven immediately, nor are they so sinful as to be destined for hell either.<9> Such souls, ultimately destined to be united with God in heaven, must first endure purgatory - a state of purification.<10> In purgatory, souls "achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven."<11>

[grannylib]

3. I'm not Catholic, but I went with my husband to his church one year

and went with the rest of the group around the sanctuary and it was very interesting and I was glad I got to experience that with him.
He no longer attends a Catholic church, so I'm really glad I did it then.

[trof]

4. Miz t. opted out on their position on birth control.

She was one of 6 children.
Her mom confessed to the priest that she was tired of having kids and didn't see how she and her husband could afford to have any more on what a carpenter makes.

The priest told her it was a sin to use contraceptives.
That's when she (and they) quit attending mass.

[grannylib]

5. Hubby left based on birth control issues and ordination of women

issues, for the most part, and disgust over the Church's failure to deal honestly and openly with the issue of celibacy and what appear to be its tragic results, in some cases.

[Suich]

7. I quit over that, too.

The church taught one thing, but a good friend, who just happened to be a Jesuit priest, told me to do what I needed to do. After having 2 "rhythm" babies, I was outta there....!