Prince of Peace Parish to offer Stations of the Cross in four languages on Good Friday

As part of its continued outreach to members of the Catholic immigrant community, Prince of Peace Parish in Lewiston will offer the Stations of the Cross in four languages on Good Friday: English, French, Kirundi, and Portuguese. The Stations of the Cross will be prayed at noon at the Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul, 122 Ash Street in Lewiston.

The Stations of the Cross is a devotion that recalls the 14 steps that Jesus took to his death, beginning with his condemnation by Pontius Pilate and concluding with his body being laid in the tomb. The stations are traditionally prayed during Lent and especially on Good Friday because that is the day that Christians reflect upon Christ’s suffering and death.

The decision to pray the Stations of the Cross in four languages came from a desire to serve the Lewiston area’s diverse Catholic community. Residents originally from countries such as Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda are more comfortable speaking and praying in French or Kirundi, while Portuguese is the official language of Angola.

“These communities have gotten larger. They are not insignificant. And being Catholic, they share the same faith that we have. They’re looking for a community to belong to, so why not the Catholic community, since they are Catholic,” says Father Daniel Greenleaf, pastor. “So, what we decided to do is to have Station 1 in English, Station 2 in French, Station 3 in Portuguese, Station 4 in Kirundi, and we’ll have different people reading each of the stations.”

Parishioners from those communities will lead the prayers in the various languages, and all in attendance will have a booklet that includes each station in each of the four languages so that they can follow along and join in the prayers.

In addition to the Stations of the Cross, Prince of Peace Parish recently added a Mass in Portuguese and now offers weekend Masses in six languages: English, French, Kirundi, Latin, Portuguese and Spanish. The Masses in English, Latin, and Spanish are offered every weekend, while the Masses in French, Kirundi, and Portuguese are each offered one Sunday a month.

Spanish was not included in the Stations of the Cross because members of the Hispanic community are gathering at Sacred Heart Church in Portland on 3 p.m. on Good Friday for the Living Stations of the Cross, which will be presented in English, French, and Spanish.