St. Thomas More takes the Stations to the streets

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NARRAGANSETT — While the cloudy, cool and gray weather on Good Friday matched the somberness of the sacred day, it didn’t hinder the faithful of St. Thomas More from participating in the parish’s annual “Stations in the Streets” procession.

About 200 pilgrims — the youngest, a baby in a stroller, to the elderly walking with canes — gathered inside St. Thomas More Church as they prepared to embark on the prayerful annual tradition. Leading the group was Father Marcel Taillon, pastor of St. Thomas More. Joining him was Father Vijay Kiran, assistant pastor of St. Thomas More; Father Brian Morris, assistant pastor of St. Luke’s Parish in Barrington; four seminarians who were visiting the parish during holy week from Bismarck, North Dakota: Ryan Martiré, John Windsor, Grant Dvorak, and Isaiah Fischer; and several altar servers.

According to Mrs. Sandra Martiré, mother of Seminarian Ryan Martiré, each year the seminarians are assigned to different parishes for Holy Week. This year they were sent to St. Thomas More where she said they were warmly welcomed and were excited to be a part of the event.

Parish communications staff member Patty Paolella said this tradition began about 10 years ago when Father Taillon was appointed pastor of St. Thomas More. Coordinated in conjunction with the director of religious education, the main goal of Stations in the Streets is to serve in the formation of the parish’s confirmation candidates, some of whom take the lead in reading the Stations meditations during the service, with pilgrims of all ages also encouraged to participate.

Father Taillon greeted everyone inside the church at noon and described how the “Stations in the Streets” would proceed. After acapella soloist Pat Wright prayerfully sang the hymn “Were you There,” Isabella Vacca, a sophomore at South Kingstown High and a confirmation candidate, read the First Station. A large wooden cross, symbolic of the one that Jesus carried down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, was carried out of the church on the shoulders of a strong parishioner, followed by the priests, seminarians, servers and the faithful. Various parishioners had the privilege of carrying the cross during the approximately mile-long walk.

The faithful were escorted by Narragansett’s finest with a police car, complete with flashing blue lights at the front and back of the procession. Behind the first police car was the parish’s own red pick-up truck equipped with a sound system so everyone following behind, or coming out from their homes to watch, would be able to hear the meditations.

The group paused at different points along the route with each stop representing a Station of the Cross. Father Morris started off each Station in the traditional manner by praying “We adore you, O Christ and we bless you,” and the faithful responded with “Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.” After genuflecting and rising, confirmation teens, under the direction of their new religious education director, Scott Johnson, stepped forward to the microphone and took turns reading their assigned Station meditation.

The meditations for the “Stations in the Streets” were provided by a written work of Life Teen. Although written from a teen’s perspective, the meditations also easily resonated with adults. As an example, the meditation for the First Station, when Jesus was condemned to death, read in part “How often do my words condemn you in the way that I speak about others? It was not only the Jews and Pontius Pilate who condemned you, but I stand next to them shouting just as loud, ‘Crucify Him!’”

Colby Corson, is a confirmation candidate and a sophomore at Narragansett High School. This year marks the fourth time he has attended the Good Friday procession.

“I really enjoy coming to ‘Stations in the Streets’ each year,” said Corson, who read the meditation for the Fifth Station during the service.

“It’s nice to help my community,” he added.

A segment of the route traced a path along the water’s edge on Ocean Road and continued through the town’s iconic stone Towers. Although the procession took up only the right lane of the road, cars coming in the other direction would often slow down or stop in respect for the seriousness of what they witnessed.

A moving aspect of this tradition was the sincere respect of its participants. Between each Station the faithful walked in prayerful silence communicating to onlookers the solemnity of this sacred day. The silence also served as a powerful witness to the young people in the procession who are still learning their faith.

The final station was prayed once everyone re-entered the church, followed by another acapella hymn sung by Pat Wright, “How Deep Our Father’s Love for us.” A line from this final hymn, “His wounds have paid my ransom,” helped to sum up the message of Good Friday and the message that was instilled in the hearts of all who attended, or observed, this moving “Stations in the Streets.”