Via Dolorosa (via Cleveland, Ohio)

Stations along Christ's Way of Suffering—Via Dolorosa (via Cleveland, Ohio)

Traditionally, the usual number of events on Good Friday, that are memoralised of Jesus' last mortal footsteps, has been fourteen. There is a devotion amongst the faithful of meditation, and participation, in that awful journey; for a christian is connected to Jesus, he is therefore, at least, aware of His suffering and grief, and many christians find an appreciation and understanding in this procession. Here, in the Cleveland diocese, Christ is being bled of His parishes and churches.

Ubi enim sunt duo vel tres congregáti in nómine meo, ibi sum in médio eórum.
For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.—Matthew xviii-20.

That is the constitutional requirement for the formation of a parish. And, further canon law says that a parish is meant to be perpetual.* There is an on-going reduction in parishes, and with this reduction—there is sorrow.
Station I Jesus is condemned to death
St. James (Lakewood)
Status: to be suppressed 26 June 2010
Station II Jesus takes up His Cross
St. Ladislaus (Lorain)
Status: suppressed 27 September 2009
Station III Jesus falls for the first time
Saint Ignatius of Antioch (Cleveland)
Status: conditional reprieveStation IV Jesus meets His Mother
St. Colman (Cleveland)
Status: conditional reprieve Station V Jesus is helped by Simon the Cyrene
St. Stanislaus (Lorain)
Status: suppressed 27 September 2009 Station VI Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
St. Hyacinth (Cleveland)
Status: suppressed 19 September 2009 Station VII Jesus falls for the second time
Our Lady of Mercy (Cleveland)
Status: to be suppressed 09 May 2010 [and was so] Station VIII Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
St. Hedwig (Lakewood)
Status: to be suppressed 17 January 2010 [and was so]
Station IX Jesus falls for the third time
Sacred Heart of Jesus (Akron)
Status: to be suppressed 24 January 2010 [and was so]
Station X Jesus is stripped of His garments
St. Margaret of Hungary (Orange)
Status: to be suppressed All Saints 2009 [and was so]
Station XI Jesus is nailed to the Cross
St. George (Cleveland)
Status: suppressed 18 October 2009
Station XII Jesus dies on the Cross
Saint John the Baptist (Akron)
Status: to be suppressed 31 October 2009 [and was so]
Station XIII Deposition of Jesus from the Cross
Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cleveland)
Status: to be suppressed 02 May 2010 [and was so] Station XIV Jesus is entombed
Saint Procop (Cleveland)
Status: suppressed 30 August 2009
Now, I have said fourteen is the usual number. Saint Louis (Cleveland Heights) has fifteen small white marble tiles, cut with lines. The fifteenth is of the Resurrection, the victory of Jesus over death, suffering, the way of the world, and the devil. Some written versions of the Stations have a prayer and meditation for it, few churches have it marked on the wall. Unfortunately, the number of dolorous closings of parishes, and their churches, in this diocese alone, is far greater than fifteen. Perhaps, the first reader of this essay will come to it after the fifteenth suppression from March 2009 is tallied
Station XV Jesus conquers death by Resurrection
Saint Louis (Cleveland Hts)
Status: to be suppressed 24 January 2010 [and was so]
____________
* Can. 115 §1. Juridic persons in the Church are either aggregates of persons (universitates personarum) or aggregates of things (universitates rerum). §2. An aggregate of persons (universitas personarum), which can be constituted only with at least three persons, is collegial if the members determine its action through participation in rendering decisions, whether by equal right or not, according to the norm of law and the statutes; otherwise it is non-collegial.
Can. 120 §1. A juridic person is perpetual by its nature; nevertheless...

Postscriptum: several of the complete set of stations are available for purchase at Trader Richie's website:
http://www.church-inventory.com/index.php