OLA School Students Present Living Stations Of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross are 14 Catholic devotions that commemorate significant moments of Jesus Christ’s last day on earth as a man, beginning with His condemnation and ending with His being laid in a tomb. OLA School interpreted this from the perspective of Jesus’ mother, Mary, and ends with the more joyful message of Christ’s resurrection and our eternal life.

The Lenten performance of the Living Stations of the Cross has been such a long-standing tradition at OLA School, that students entering the first grade already start dreaming of the role they will play seven and a half years later. Since students graduate from the school in eighth grade and move onto high school, the participation in the Living Stations of the Cross is seen by students as their final and most meaningful contribution to the school community. It is not a fancy school dance or a day at an amusement park that these young people look forward to most as they become the reigning elder statesmen of the school, but, in perfect alignment with their school’s Catholic foundation, it is the Passion Play of Christ. One student’s older brother -- now a college freshman -- took a bus, a train, a subway, and a car to get home in time to watch his brother’s performance this year.

As familiar as we are with the terms “from the mouths of babes” or “seeing through the eyes of a child”, nothing prepared those in attendance for this rendition of the Passion Play. Somehow, these middle-schoolers and their dedicated teachers unabashedly took on Biblical passages that display humanity at its worse and yet left its spectators with an understanding of faith at its best. Yes, it is a narration, it is a retelling, but most of all, it is a prayer.

Pictures by Marie Lagman. Jake Desmarais as Jesus; Shauna Moore as Mary; Synclair McGovern; and Daniel Bousquet and Vincenzo Prestia