Children's Stations of the Cross

Posted by Molly

This is the fourth year that I have had a son in nursery school at St Raphaels, but it marks the first year that I have taken my boys to the children's Stations of the Cross.

I talk about how wild my boys are a lot and that they are! When you see them coming get out of the way because they are definitely made of sticks and snails and puppy dog tails! The interesting thing about my children, though, is that for all their toughness and roughness, they are such sensitive souls. Especially my oldest son, Mac. Mac's soft heart is the reason it took us so long to attend the children Stations of the Cross.


The first two years he was at SRNS, I knew that the crucifixtion story was going to be too much for him. He was very concerned about death as a small child and I tried to shelter him as much as I could from the harshness of reality.

Because he has a late birthday, Mac went to nursery school for 3 years. Last year, when he was in 4+, I thought he might be old enough to handle the stations. I signed us up to attend but decided a few days in advance that I should try to prepare Mac for it so he and I sat down together to read a book about the stations that I had bought. We made it to station 7 when Jesus falls the second time and Mac burst into tears and said he didn't want to hear anymore. He was a devestated mess, sobbing and shaking inconsolably. It was heartbreaking. Needless to say, we did not make it to the stations that week.

This year, Mac is in kindergarten at SRS and they have been learning about the stations in class (thanks Ms Greaney and Mrs Novajosky!) so he really wanted to go. The night before, I asked him if he was still sure he wanted to go because it would be sad. I tried to explain how the people who persecuted Jesus were sort of like bullies but he was having none of that. He teared up again and said "They were worse than bullies. They were mean, mean people". I started to worry that it was going to be too much for him but decided that we should give it a try and if he got upset we could always leave.

Mac was great during the pizza dinner before Stations but as we started to walk over to the church he got quiet and nervous. We sat in a pew rather than following the procession because I was afraid my little son Charlie would run around and distract other kids. At one point one of Mac's friends came walking past with the procession and he asked if he could go with Chris. And I watched my sweet little man, walk into line and put an arm around his friend and go off without me to praise the Lord. I would have cried but Charlie and his nursery school friend Victoria were singing "Were you there (when they crucified my Lord)" so loud it was as if Johnny Cash was sitting next to me which was awesome and made me smile.

And in that moment I stopped worrying about my sensitive child. I have often been scared that his sensitive nature will make life hard for him but now I know that his faith in God will make it easier. When something makes Mac sad I always tell him that being so sensitive is "his gift and his curse - just like Spiderman". Love is a superpower. And there is no better place to find love than in the church at Easter.