Enchiridion · Grant 13, 2°; provisions 1–4
Stations of the Cross
Via Crucis
Make the Way of the Cross before legitimately erected stations.
Time required About 20–45 minutes; no fixed timed minimum
- When
- Any day
- Where
- Before legitimately erected stations of the Cross
- Who
- All eligible faithful
- Application
- Self or the departed
The prescribed work
- Use a legitimately erected Way of the Cross with fourteen crosses.
- Meditate devoutly on the Lord’s Passion and death. No particular set of readings is required.
- Move from station to station. In a public celebration, if movement by everyone is inconvenient, it suffices for the leader to move while the others remain.
- Meditating separately on each individual station’s particular mystery is not required.
The work and its conditions
A plenary indulgence also requires complete detachment from every sin, sacramental confession, Holy Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions, subject to the grant’s stated exceptions. The ordinary limit is one plenary indulgence per day.
Conditions common to every indulgence
The person gaining an indulgence must be baptized, not excommunicated, and in the state of grace at least when the prescribed works are completed. There must be at least a general intention to gain indulgences, and the prescribed work must be performed at the time and in the manner required by the grant.
Read the full conditions and norms. The cited grant and its specific provisions govern.
Time required
Read each branch with its own conditions. An editorial estimate is not a prescribed minimum.
Prescribed prayer or work
Editorial estimate
About 20–45 minutes
Editorial planning estimate, not an indulgence requirement; no fixed timed minimum is prescribed. Editorial range for a customary fourteen-station devotion; approved readings, meditation and movement vary. Completion of the prescribed work governs, not this estimate. The linked historical reader gives separate estimates for the printed text and for reciting all repeated responses; movement, pauses and additional meditation take extra time.
What the time estimate excludes
- Ordinary travel to and from the venue, and waiting outside the prescribed work
- Preparation and separately fulfilled sacramental conditions, except where the prescribed work itself includes Communion or a liturgical celebration
Prayer texts and resources
Follow the prayer count and formula specified in the requirements.
Source and exact reference
- Enchiridion indulgentiarum, fourth edition (1999)13, 2°; provisions 1–4
- Manual of Indulgences, approved USCCB English edition (2006), hosted copy13, 2°; provisions 1–4
Prayer texts and grants have separate source histories. Consult the grant source for the prescribed work, occasion, and conditions.