Drama As a Form of Expression in Catholic Christianity (AQA GCSE Religious Studies B): Revision Note

Dramatised prayer and Catholic beliefs

• A pilgrimage is a journey with a spiritual purpose, in which the destination is a spiritual place

• Catholics see their whole lives as a journey towards God, with meeting God in heaven after death as their destination

  • Therefore, Catholics view themselves as a pilgrim people

  • The Church document Gaudium et Spes calls this journey through life a pilgrimage towards the heavenly city:

• Living life as if on a pilgrimage towards God makes Christians more aware of their actions and attitudes in daily life

  • It means they are more likely to pray and act in a way that shows their lives are guided by God’s teachings

• One way that Catholics reflect the idea of pilgrimage is by taking part in a form of dramatised prayer called the Stations of the Cross

  • Dramatised prayer uses both words and actions to convey meaning

Stations of the Cross

• The Stations of the Cross are a form of dramatised prayer

• They are a series of fourteen images (some versions have fifteen images) showing the key events during Jesus’s last journey, when he carried the cross to his crucifixion

• The fourteen Stations of the Cross are:

  • 1. Jesus is condemned to death

  • 2. Jesus takes up his cross

  • 3. Jesus falls for the first time

  • 4. Jesus meets his mother

  • 5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross

  • 6. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

  • 7. Jesus falls for the second time

  • 8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

  • 9. Jesus falls for the third time

  • 10. Jesus is stripped of his garments

  • 11. Jesus is nailed to the cross

  • 12. Jesus dies on the cross

  • 13. Jesus is taken down from the cross

  • 14. Jesus is laid in the tomb

• Collectively, these events are known as the Stations of the Cross

  • The pictures are placed at intervals around the walls of the church

  • People move between each of the images in the church in order

  • They stop at each one, reflecting on the event that is shown and saying a prayer

  • They may do this individually or in groups

  • Making the Stations of the Cross is a common form of Catholic worship during Lent

• The Stations of the Cross allow Catholics:

  • To accompany Jesus on his final journey to the cross

  • To feel involved and share in Jesus’s sufferings and show they are grateful for his sacrifice

  • To remain focused on prayer

_{Image by ReneeWrites (opens in a new tab) via Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-4.0 (opens in a new tab)}