When they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull), they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And they divided his garments among them by casting lots. This was to fulfill the scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them; they cast lots for my clothing.”

10. Jesus is stripped of his garments—Donna Seelbach, painted silk

I have been painting on silk since 1991. I teach children art in the summers and I work at the Cabrillo Stroke Center during the school year. What the station brings to mind for me is how during Lent we are laid bare before God with ourselves as we are. When garments are ripped away from us we are vulnerable, we can no longer hide. We are vulnerable to His working in us.

I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light. He has besieged me and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. Though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes. “Remember, O Lord, my
affliction and bitterness, the wormwood and the gall!”

9. Jesus falls a third time—Charise Olson, watercolor and mixed media

I selected this station because the title of it struck me—Jesus fell a third time.

There followed after Jesus a great multitude of the people, and among them were women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”

8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem—Shealagh Devlin, mixed media

As I searched for the meaning in this station, I discovered how appropriate it was that I receive this station. I feel that this station expresses the importance of women’s leadership in the Church. In a Church that has been patriarchal for centuries, the feminine qualities

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. For the transgression of my people was he stricken.

7. Jesus falls a second time—Barbara Rowland, photo montage from Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa

Israel is…tourists. The…crucifixion. While walking there I experienced profound feelings. It felt as if the tourists all disappeared and I was there alone, filled with my quiet and grief. I looked to the ground to see Christ's blood feeling of being rolled back to that very time and place in history brought forth such feelings of anger and helplessness; these have been burnt into my soul and heart forever. Since my visit to Israel, I have worked on making productive use of these feelings and never fail in my belief of the man who died on the cross for me.

We have seen him without beauty or majesty, with no looks to attract our eyes. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of men. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.

6. A woman wipes the face of Jesus—Donna Ryder, fabric
Oddly enough, the first I ever heard of “Veronica’s Veil” was while reading Anne Rice’s Memnoch the Devil, one of the “Vampire Chronicles.” In it, the vampire Lestat is transported throughout Christian history and at one point is actually at the roadside as Christ passes by carrying the cross. After Veronica wipes Christ’s face, His image is perfectly preserved on her veil.