Holy Week and the Stations of the Cross

A statue of Jesus carrying His cross amongst onlookers (in a garden).

In preparation of entering into Holy Week next week, we wanted to take time to reflect on what the week encompasses and also contemplate the importance of the Stations of the Cross.

Holy Week is always the 8 starting with Palm Sunday and ending with Resurrection (or Easter) Sunday. This year, Holy Week takes place March 29-April 5. 

The Dynamic Catholic has a detailed explanation of all the focused on events that take place during this most special week, but the following is a summary of the focus of each day (credit: Dynamic Catholic):

• Palm Sunday, Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem

• Monday of Holy Week, Jesus clears out the temple with a whip

• Tuesday of Holy Week, Jesus is anointed with oil at Bethany and preaches on the Mount of Olives

• Spy Wednesday, Jesus is betrayed by Judas

• Holy Thursday, Jesus celebrates the Last Supper, prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, and is arrested

• Good Friday, Jesus is sentenced to death, scourged, beaten, crucified, and dies on the Cross

• Holy Saturday, Jesus is buried in the tomb and descends into hell

• Easter Sunday, Jesus rises from the dead

The Stations of the Cross consists of 14 focused events taking places on Good Friday into Holy Saturday; these events are the last 12-16 hours of Jesus’s life, death and burial:

1. Jesus is Condemned to Death

2. Jesus Takes Up His Cross

3. Jesus Falls the First Time

4. Jesus Meets His Mother

5. Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry His Cross

6. Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

7. Jesus Falls the Second Time

8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

9. Jesus Falls the Third Time

10. Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments

11. Jesus Is Nailed to the Cross (sometimes called the Crucifixion)

12. Jesus Dies on the Cross

13. Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross

14. Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb

Emily’s post here from 2016 is a great short read about the Stations of the Cross with some of her keen insights. She also has a wonderful post called “Joy Depends on the Cross” that are her thoughts on the true gospel being steeped in suffering, but leading to eternal joy!

And finally, we would be remiss not to mention once more that Emily’s book, Living Memento Mori, is especially pertinent for Holy Week as each chapter is intertwined with a Station of the Cross. She does a beautiful job relating each station to her and encourages everyone in their own challenges. 

We hope you take some time to meditate on the incalculable sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ in His ultimate acts of love for us and that everyone has a blessed Resurrection Sunday!

Preparing for Lent 2026 🙏 📚

2026 Preparing for Lent header banner.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” - Ephesians 2: 8-9

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Thoughtful considerations for Lent

Happy New Year everyone! You might be thinking, “How can we already be talking about Lent??? It’s only the end of January!”, but in reality, Lent begins on February 18th this year. That’s less than 3 weeks away now!

So we wanted to take time to provide some wise past words from Emily and additional resources that will hopefully help you in thoughtfully making your plans this year.

Emily’s scriptural reading for Good Friday in 2023.

Lent Resources from Emily

Emily’s book, Catholics 101 does an excellent job explaining the Three Pillars of Lent. It’s available for purchase on Gumroad and she also has a blog series for free as well.

We also want to share a collection of the 6 Lenten Practices posts Emily wrote 10 years ago back in 2016 that are still relevant today:

Lenten Practice 1 : Fasting and Abstinence

Lenten Practice 2: Confession

Lenten Practice 3: Prayer

Lenten Practice 4: Stations of the Cross

Lenten Practice 5: Almsgiving

Lenten Practice 6: The Liturgy of the Hours

A wooden cross hanging over a church stage with a spotlight on it.

Other Great Lenten Preparation Resources

Maybe it’s your first time participating in Lent or it’s been a long time and you feel overwhelmed about where to start. There are excellent resources from Hallow about the rules for Lent and different want to commit to the Three Pillars of Lent through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Hopefully, this brings clarity on the purposes and helps you with deciding on how to move forward in your expression of Lent.

Past readings Emily mentioned she recommended for Lent were “A Time for Renewal”, by Mother Mary Francis, PCC; “Death on a Friday Afternoon”, by Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, and “On the Passion of the Christ” by Thomas a Kempis. She also mentioned her watch list included “Jesus of Nazareth” and “The Passion of the Christ”. 

Make a New Lenten Tradition

And finally, we just want to give a reminder that Emily’s book, Living Memento Mori, makes a great companion to this Lenten season and we hope you’ll pick up your copy to gain a new perspective as you walk through the Lent in 2026. Emily’s book also includes the Stations of the Cross and a study guide. If you already have a copy, thank you for your support, and we hope you will revisit Living Memento Mori this year!