Bonifacio High Street’s Walkway: Stations of the Cross

Last Thursday saw me at the office, working the whole day because our team’s down one person and the markets I handle don’t go on holiday until Good Friday. I missed my family’s annual Visita Iglesia and our traditional dinner at Shakey’s Katipunan afterwards. It was DW’s 2nd Visita Iglesia too and missing it made me feel so much more worse. I was having my own pity party at my workstation the whole day 😛

So, I welcomed Good Friday with open arms although a bit hesitantly. Any Catholic knows the gravity of this day and so I proceeded with caution. When I was growing up, I really believed that because Jesus has died that all the demons would come out and take over and steal souls. You can’t imagine the dread I felt when 3pm came.  Another thing I dreaded on that day was the radio because the only radio stations open during Good Friday when I was growing up were those that played sappy love songs. Suffice to say, I have memorized Charlene’s Never Been To Me without ever meaning to. The song is hopelessly lurking in my subconscious and I’ve been known to quote that song in regular conversations (“Hey lady, you lady, cursing at your life…”) but I digress.

The Lenten season for me is always a time for reflection and a time to give thanks. Between Good Friday and Christmas,I am much more thankful and reflective during Good Friday. This year, we hied off to Bonifacio High Street to see “Walkway:Stations of the Cross”. I’ve been reading about it on twitter and how the exhibit was moving and “different”.

And boy was it different. Doing the Visita Iglesia in a regular church is enough to get me teary-eyed but the “Walkway:Reflections on the Stations of the Cross” left me breathless. I was muttering a million thanks to our good Lord for “taking our place”and for ensuring our salvation while I walked from one station to the next. The Stations of the Cross are all marked and presented so differently. Each station had a brief explanation and an ACT. This last part is the  most important because it encourages (challenges?) the reader to act on the message of that station.

Each visitor can take a red bead and a black strip of cloth at the beginning of Walkway. Both would be used as one goes through the stations.

The verdict asked visitors to donate to a program that supports the education of indigent children.

Jesus is Judged by the Sanhedrin

The Whip

The Crown of Thorns

People walking a short stretch carrying a cross. Some had tears in their eyes when they laid their cross down at the end of the lane.

“Be a Simon to Someone Else”

The Crucifixion. Jesus died for our sins on the cross. Visitors were asked to hammer in the black strips of cloth, representing sin onto the wooden cross. By early evening, there was a line of people waiting to hammer in their “sins”.

What are you thankful for?

The red beads all formed into…

I applaud Church Simplified for their alternative presentation of the Stations of the Cross. It was relevant, current and interactive. It allowed people to experience the Stations in a way that I have never seen and experienced before. This is a must stop now for our family every Lenten season.

This experience refreshed my soul and my spirit and it made me hopeful (I have issues with the Church but not with my faith but that’s for another post and for another time and that is if I feel like talking about it). I am so thankful to the people behind this wonderful project.

To learn more about Church Simplified visit their site:

From my family to yours, I wish you and your family a blessed Easter 🙂