During the Lenten season, the forty days of preparation for Easter, in the Educational Institutions of the Province of West Africa, our young Catholics take this opportunity to fully live out their faith through acts of devotion such as the Stations of the Cross every Friday after class. Seeing their enthusiasm, other non-Catholic students also join them, along with Catholic families from the neighborhood where our school is located. The young people, according to their level of study, take turns preparing the 14 stations of Christ’s Passion, from His condemnation to His burial, with faith and creativity.
For our young people, leaving the classroom and taking time for this “spiritual pilgrimage” is an opportunity to express their faith in God, who became incarnate in His Son Jesus to save all humanity. At the end of each station, we reflect with them on the key moments of the suffering of Jesus, adapting them to their reality as adolescents and young people. Here is an example of a meditation from one station of the Stations of the Cross for 6th-grade students:
“Jesus, you stand alone before Pilate. No one speaks for you. No one helps you defend yourself. You devoted your whole life to helping others, listening to the little ones, and caring for those who were ignored by others. They do not seem to remember this as they prepare to put you to death. Like a child, sometimes I feel alone. Sometimes I feel that others do not come to help me when I am afraid. Sometimes I feel I am not treated fairly, especially when I am scolded or corrected. Help me to be grateful for what you have done for me. Help me to accept criticism like you, without complaining. Help me to pray for those who have hurt me. Amen!”
In this way, with our adolescents and young people, the Stations of the Cross becomes concrete and touches their lives. Most of them say it helps them to go deeper into the love of Jesus and to make acts of penance. It is truly an opportunity for them to share in the suffering of Jesus and to unite their own trials to His cross.
As Religious of the Assumption, dedicated to making Jesus Christ known and loved through education, our goal is to accompany them in this spiritual journey during Lent. May God hear and answer their prayers. Following March 10, we invoke the intercession of Saint Marie Eugénie of Jesus for our young people seeking direction.
Sr. Marie-Madeleine. R.A
Burkina Fasso