Thomas Aquinas College’s new Stations of the Cross run uphill

The following comes from a Mar. 17 story on the site of the Cardinal Newman Society.

Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula dedicated new Stations of the Cross on the first Friday in Lent, according to the College’s website.

“To walk along and meditate upon these Stations is a profoundly moving experience,” said college president Michael McLean. “This Via Dolorosa will grace the lives of our students — and, indeed, anyone who sees them — for many years to come.”

The College reports:

As head chaplain Father Joseph Illo guided the procession, he stopped to bless each Station before leading the worshippers in prayer. Surrounded by oak trees and redwoods, the group contemplated the 14 scenes from Our Lords’ Passion and death…

The Stations are a gift of college governor Robert Barbera. Each one contains a statuary tableau — e.g., Our Lord with Simon of Cyrene, or Our Lord meeting His mother — housed in a shelter of Mediterranean columns supporting Spanish-tile roofs. Their course, which begins by the original Ferndale Ranch gate at the entrance to campus, runs alongside the College’s three spring-fed ponds and slopes uphill, like the road to Calvary. The Stations alternate across the drive, with the odd numbers on the west side and even numbers to the east, mirroring the sequence of the Via Crucis in Jerusalem.

Tor read the original story, click here.