CATHOLIC WORD BOOK - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council

most churches, chapels and in some other
places, beneath small crosses. A person
making the Way of the Cross passes before
these stations, or stopping points, pausing
at each for meditation. If the stations are
made by a group of people, only the leader
has to pass from station to station. A
plenary indulgence is granted to the
faithful who make the stations, under the
usual conditions: freedom from all
attachment to sin, reception of the
sacraments of penance and the Eucharist,
and prayers for the intentions of the pope.
Those who are impeded from making the
stations in the usual manner can gain the
same indulgence if, along with the
aforementioned conditions, they spend at
least a half hour in spiritual reading and
meditation on the passion and death of
Christ. The stations originated remotely
from the practice of Holy Land pilgrims
who visited the actual scenes of incidents
in the Passion of Christ. Representations
elsewhere of at least some of these scenes
were known as early as the 5th century.
Later, the stations evolved in connection
with and as a consequence of strong
devotion to the Passion in the 12th and
13th centuries. Franciscans, who were
given custody of the Holy Places in 1342,
promoted the devotion widely; one of
them, St. Leonard of Port Maurice, became
known as the greatest preacher of the Way
of the Cross in the 18th century. The
general features of the devotion were fixed
by Clement XII in 1731.
Statutes: Virtually the same as decrees (See
separate entry), they almost always
designate laws of a particular council or
synod rather than pontifical laws.
Stigmata: Marks of the wounds suffered by
Christ in his crucifixion, in hands and feet
by nails, and side by the piercing of a
lance. Some persons, called stigmatists,
have been reported as recipients or
sufferers of marks like these. The Church,
however, has never issued any infallible
declaration about their possession by
anyone, even in the case of St. Francis of
Assisi whose stigmata seem to be the best
substantiated and may be commemorated
in the Roman Rite liturgy. Ninety percent
of some 300 reputed stigmatists have been
women. Judgment regarding the presence,
significance, and manner of causation of
stigmata would depend, among other
things, on irrefutable experimental
evidence.
Stipend, Mass: An offering given to a
priest for applying the fruits of the Mass
according to the intention of the donor.
The offering is a contribution to the
support of the priest. The disposition of
the fruits of the sacrifice, in line with
doctrine concerning the Mass in particular
and prayer in general, is subject to the will
of God. Mass offerings and intentions were
the subjects of a decree approved by John
Paul II and made public Mar. 22, 1991: (1)
Normally, no more than one offering
should be accepted for a Mass; the Mass
should be offered in accord with the
donor’s intention; the priest who accepts
the offering should celebrate the Mass
himself or have another priest do so. (2)
Several Mass intentions, for which
offerings have been made, can be
combined for a “collective” application of a
single Mass only if the previous and
explicit consent of the donors is obtained.
Such Masses are an exception to the
general rule.
-67-