Serving Hyde Park’s Catholic Community since 1869


5472 South Kimbark Avenue,
Hyde Park, Chicago IL, 60615-5297
Phone: (773) 324-2626 Fax: (773) 891-0602

Lenten Soup and Stations at STA

Lenten Soup and Stations of the Cross – Fridays during Lent at 5 pm (Stations start at 6 pm)

Each Friday during Lent, the parish, with Catholic Charities, is co-sponsoring a simple soup supper at 5:00 p.m. in the parish hall followed by Stations of the Cross at 6:00 p.m. in the church. All are welcome!


Stations of the Cross

This ancient church prayer began in the fourth century when pilgrims were first openly able to go to Jerusalem and walk in the footsteps of Jesus on Good Friday. The Stations of the Cross in the form we know best are of comparatively recent vintage in Church terms, dating back to the year the U.S. Constitution was ratified.

Devotions to the Way of the Cross began in earnest after 1342 when the Franciscan friars were given custody of the holy sites in the Holy Land. The Franciscans have been closely identified with the devotion ever since; for years, Church regulations required a set of stations to be blessed by a Franciscan when possible.

The number of stations varied widely, with some manuals of devotion listing as many as 37! The term “stations” in describing the Way of the Cross was first used in the narrative of an English pilgrim, William Wey, who visited the Holy Land twice in the 15th century. In 1731, Pope Clement XII allowed all churches to have stations and fixed the number at 14, where it has been ever since.