Good Friday ‘Stations’ take a spiritual route

By Clarion Herald Staff
(Click here for photos)

One of the unique traditions of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of New Orleans is the Good Friday walk to nine churches for prayer, silent reflection and contemplation on Jesus’ passion and death – an only-in-New Orleans Way of the Cross.

That decades-long tradition hit the pause button this Good Friday because of social precautions against the spread of the coronavirus.

While some churches along the traditional Nine Church Walk – including St. Louis Cathedral – were open this morning to allow a few individuals at a time to stop in for a prayer, others were not. 

Social distancing was at the forefront.

At the cathedral, one front entrance remained open, with someone stationed to monitor the door and limit the crowd to a maximum of 10. Clarion Herald business manager Mark Lombard walked into the cathedral at about 10:30 a.m., and there was only one other person praying – in the front pew to the right of the main aisle.

Lombard exited with an eight-page bulletin – “Celebrating the Easter Season at Home” – and a two-inch cross made of thin ribbon.

Belle Chasse man's grateful grandmother began family tradition

In the Irish Channel, staff reporter Beth Donze encountered husband and wife Toby and Cathy Wattigney of Belle Chasse, who have been making the traditional Good Friday walk to nine New Orleans churches from the time they began dating 32 years ago. But the story of Toby Wattigney’s devotion stretches back even further – more than two decades before he was even born.

“My grandmother started walking to these churches in 1941. Her three sons were drafted into the army,” Wattigney explained. “She met some other Catholics that told her for special intentions, you walk the nine churches and your prayers are answered. She started walking so her children would come home, and all three of her sons came home (from World War II) – my dad and his two brothers.”

Wattigney’s grandmother “kept the ritual going,” and Wattigney himself began taking part in the walk as a 4-year-old in the early 1960s. The Wattigneys’ walking route always starts at St. Mary’s Assumption Church in the Irish Channel and ends at St. Louis Cathedral.

“I usually bring about 150 family and friends with me every year, but I can’t do it this year because of social distancing,” said Wattigney, who with his wife attends St. Joseph Church on Tulane Avenue.

Brothers walk together

Associate editor Christine Bordelon was Uptown visiting St. Stephen and St. Henry churches, where in past years many had started their traditional Good Friday walk. Hardly anyone was in sight outside or inside the church at 8:30 a.m. Yellow barricade tape could be seen, so no one could sit in the pews. Holy water fonts were covered and signs asked people to be mindful of the six-foot social distancing rule.

The pandemic didn’t stop brothers Billy, Tommy and Jeffery Arnold from making their nine-church walk that always begins at St. Stephen Church on Napoleon Avenue and ends at Immaculate Conception Church on Baronne Street. 

“It’s just been a devotional tradition that we’ve been doing on Good Friday every year,” said Billy Arnold. “It’s a crazy time right now. We can’t go to normal Mass at our own church.”

“This brings us back to our faith,” Tommy Arnold said.

Alden Hagardorn, who is president of the Friends of St. Henry, said usually by 8:45 a.m., there are 500 people who pass through the church doors. On this 2020 Good Friday, there were 13 who had trickled in. One was Cary Livingston, who was carrying out a beloved tradition of his wife who died two years ago.

“I thought it was proper to keep the church open with everything we are going through,” he said. “At this time, we can all use a little prayer to get us back to normal.”

House-to-house Way of the Cross in River Ridge

The determination to do the Stations of the Cross in these challenging times extended beyond the traditional nine-church walk in New Orleans.

A group of 14 families who live in River Ridge quickly banded together and created the 14 Stations of the Cross in their neighborhood for Good Friday. The stations depict Christ’s journey on the last day of his life from being condemned to death to carrying his cross and falling on the way to his being nailed to the cross, dying on the cross and being laid in a tomb after his death.

Emily Stricker, a parishioner at St. Rita Church in Harahan, got the idea of creating a “neighborhood” Stations of the Cross after seeing it on Facebook from a community of 14 within close proximity to one another across Lake Pontchartrain in Covington.

“People started saying, ‘Absolutely, we’ll do it,’” Stricker said, and, in no time, they had 14 families – the Strickers, Smiths, the Forsythes, Richardsons, Bertuccis, Vandenweghes, Centannis, Plaisances, the Bents, Griletts, Forests, the Dreuils, Womacs, the Murrays, Tates and Bakers – a station at each of their homes.

The moms quickly volunteered to do different tasks. Stricker found the images of each station online; someone found a printer (Documart in Harahan) that was still open and could print out some stations; someone created a route that individuals or families could walk, bike or drive, recommending that people stay at least six feet away from each other.

Each of the families posted on social media their Stations of the Cross, with the designated route, and links to prayers for each station that could be followed (https://mycatholic.life/catholic-pra…/stations-of-the-cross) as well as an audio link (https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/stations.html).

In front of each house on the 3.8-mile trek was a 14-by-16-inch yard sign on a stake depicting one station; a basket of rosaries – that visitors could take – sat beside the signs. Children from that family’s home wrote the number of the station in chalk on the sidewalk so people could follow along.

“Chalk art is huge right now,” Stricker said. “Most of us have kids, so they are actually doing the numbering of stations.”

Sharing faith builds community spirit

Stricker had always wanted to do the 9-church walk, but her family – like so many others in the New Orleans area – usually travels to Florida with their children during spring break. The COVID crisis changed everybody’s plans this year, due to everyone having to remain in town.    

On Good Friday, many of the organizers started their walk at 7 a.m., keeping within the six-feet social distancing either on foot or by biking.

Jan and Lloyd Tate, who had a station in their front yard, were emotionally touched by the experience and think the Holy Spirit was behind the neighborhood gathering in prayer..

“Lloyd and I just finished praying the stations,” Jan Tate said. “Thank you for this beautiful day Lord! ...  I did not realize it would be so emotional for me to see groups and individuals standing in front of my house praying and singing and making the sign of the cross. The young on bikes, the older ones in cars ... the quiet way they stopped and prayed and really looked at each station. Truly this was a gift we could not have planned in its impact.”

Stricker said her group of moms are faith-filled Catholics – most are St. Matthew the Apostle Church in Ridge; she is the lone St. Rita parishioner. Yet, they didn’t want to affiliate with any church parish, so as not to encourage large crowds to gather at once.

They have been there for each other through good and tough times. 

“We have a religious group and we have supported each other through different things,” Stricker said. “One of us just went through breast cancer, and we went to pray with her. So, everybody jumping in to do this is no surprise.”

Stricker said so many people are suffering during the COVID-19. “Doing the Stations of the Cross is a reminder that Jesus suffers with us during this time when so many are suffering,” Stricker said. “It’s a reminder to put our trust in him. These are just good things to remember especially during this time.”

“I feel emotional and humbled on this beautiful day,” said participant Natasha Forest. “I can truly say the presence of Christ is evident on this Good Friday.”