Holy week typically is filled with many traditions and observances, beginning with Palm Sunday, marking Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, carried by a colt. The week has seemed stripped bare this year. Today was no different, although Anna and I participated in an online Maundy Thursday observation tonight with our church family back in Illinois, remembering the night of the Last Supper.

However, one very meaningful addition to holy week this year has been our regular visits to the walking paths at the University of Notre Dame. The campus is just a few miles from our apartment building.

There we’ve paused regularly at the fourteen Stations of the Cross that have lined the path on the west end of Saint Joseph’s Lake for nearly a century. The story of Jesus’s crucifixion two thousand years ago seems particularly poignant this year. After all, it is ultimately a story of sacrifice. And this too is a season of sacrifice.

I thought I’d share pictures of the first five of the stations tonight, a series in cast bronze bas relief,

Look for more in tomorrow’s blog post.