Stations of the Cross refers to a series of images depicting
Jesus Christ on the day of
his crucifixion and also to the
prayers Christians say when contemplating those images. Often a series of 14 images will be arranged in numbered order around a church
nave or along a path, and the faithful travel from image to image, in order, stopping at each "station" (Latin:
statio) to say the selected prayers and reflections. This will be done individually or in groups. Occasionally the faithful might say the Stations of the Cross without there being any image, such as when the Pope leads the Stations of the Cross around the
Colosseum in
Rome on
Good Friday. This practice is common in
Roman Catholic, as well as in a number of
Anglican,
Lutheran and
Methodist churches.