Book Reviews and More: Meditations on Stations of the Cross - John Henry Newman

Sunday, 5 April 2020

Meditations on Stations of the Cross - John Henry Newman - CTS Devotions

Meditations on Stations of the Cross
CTS Devotions
John Henry Newman
Catholic Truth Society
ISBN 9781784690298
eISBN 9781784694289
ASIN B073H22XYT
CTS Booklet D792

At the beginning of each lent I pick a few different versions of the Stations of the Cross or Way of the Cross to be part of my Lenten journey. And since over the last few years I have read and reviewed over 100 books from the Catholic Truth Society I decided to pick up a few of their offerings. This specific version was published in 1927, it was revised in 2015. An eBook edition was released in 2017. And with his canonization in 2019 a new paperback edition has been released. The original description of the revised edition is:

“Blessed John Henry Newman's celebrated meditations on the passion of Our Lord have been edited and enhanced with illustrations. They remain a moving and enriching commentary on the details of Christ's sufferings and their bearing on our own human existence. An excellent companion to Lent and Easter for for use on Fridays of the year. Updated and revised by Donal Antony Foley.”

And the wording has not changed much for the latest edition.

The chapters in this volume are:
The Value of the Stations of the Cross
John Henry Newman
The Fourteen Stations
Additional Prayers and Examination of Conscience
Prayers of Cardinal Newman

This year I also read a new edition called Stations of the Cross from TAN Books. It is a slightly abbreviated variation on this one. A sample station from this one is:

“The Thirteenth Station

Jesus Is Taken From The Cross,

And Laid In Mary’s Bosom

The multitude have gone home; Calvary is left solitary and still, except that St John and the holy women are there. Then come Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, and take down from the Cross the body of Jesus, and place it in the arms of Mary.

O Mary, at last you have possession of your Son. Now, when His enemies can do no more, they leave Him in contempt to you. As His unexpected friends perform their difficult work, you look on with inexpressible thoughts. Your heart is pierced with the sword of which Simeon spoke. O Mother most sorrowful; yet in your sorrow there is a still greater joy. The joy in prospect strengthened you to stand by Him as He hung upon the Cross; much more now, without swooning, without trembling, do you receive Him to your arms and on your lap. Now you are supremely happy as having Him, though He comes to you not as He went from you. He went from your home, O Mother of God, in the strength and beauty of His manhood, and He comes back to you dislocated, torn to pieces, mangled, dead. Yet, O Blessed Mary, you are happier in the hour of woe than on the day of the marriage feast, for then He was leaving you, and now in the future, as a risen Saviour, He will be separated from you no more.”

This is an excellent version of the way of the cross. I love having a few different ones that I rotate through during lent, and most Fridays the rest of the year. I appreciate both versions I have based on the works of Newman.

A great devotional resource.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2020 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.

Link to other Lent Resources.
For other books in the CTS Devotions Series click here.