In a pose reminiscent of Michelangelo’s sculpture ‘La Pieta,’ 17-year-old Tess Welles, portraying the Blessed Mother, and 18-year-old Peter Stec, portraying her son Jesus Christ, recreate the image of “Jesus taken down from the cross” during a dress rehearsal for the Living Stations of the Cross, which will be presented 7 p.m. on Good Friday, March 29, in St. Aloysius Church, Wilkes-Barre.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Lenten event is 50-year tradition at W-B church
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Dramatic lighting accentuates the 12th Station, “Jesus dies on the cross.”
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
During a Wednesday evening rehearsal of Living Stations of the Cross at St. Aloysius Church Peter Stec, portraying Jesus Christ, is called on to fall three times. Here, two of the young men portraying Roman soldiers pull him to his feet and adjust the cross on his shoulder.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
‘The women of Jerusalem,’ weeping with symphathy for the condemned Jesus, greet him during the eighth Station of the Cross.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
During the sixth Station of the Cross Veronica, portrayed this year by 10-year-old Gabrielle Ramiza, wipes the face of Jesus and was rewarded by an imprint of his face on the cloth. Gabrielle’s mother, Maria, had the same role during a 1997 presentation of the Living Stations of the Cross at St. Aloysius Church.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Three Stations of the Cross depict times when Jesus falls on his way to Calvary. Here 18-year-old Peter Stec, portraying Jesus, and the heavy wooden cross, fell with a thud during rehearsal of the Living Stations at St. Aloysius Church in Wilkes-Barre.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
In the presentation of Living Stations of the Cross at St. Aloysius there is a last “15th Station,” which depicts the resurrected Jesus, emerging from the tomb.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Some of the youngest participants in the Living Stations of the Cross at St. Aloysius Church depict angels, carrying Easter lilies on Easter morning.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
A smiling angel is on hand for Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, depicted as the 15th Station of the Cross during Living Stations rehearsal at St. Aloysius Church.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
The 11th Station of the Cross is the scene “Jesus is nailed to the cross.”
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
With the suffering of Calvary over, an angel appears with lilies on Easter morning.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
The young cast of the Living Stations of the Cross at St. Aloysius Church listens to instructions from their director, Tony Wozinski.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Director Tony Wozinski, standing, gives final instructions to the young actors who portray Biblical characters in the Living Stations of the Cross, to be presented at 7 p.m. on Good Friday, March 29 at St. Aloysius Church in Wilkes-Barre.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
“Just fighting back those tears,” 18-year-old Peter Stec said, answering a question about the most challenging aspect of portraying Jesus Christ in the Living Stations of the Cross.
Stec’s church, St. Aloysius in Wilkes-Barre, has been presenting Living Stations of the Cross for 50 years, always with a young cast. The public is welcome to attend this year’s anniversary event, slated for 7 p.m. Good Friday, March 29, and to watch the final hours of Jesus’ earthly life play out.
“It’s a very emotional thing,” said Stec, a Lake-Lehman High School senior who intends to enter the seminary next year and begin studies for the priesthood.
Speaking to the Christian belief that Jesus suffered and died because of the sins of every individual, Stec said, “He was innocent, and we betrayed him.”
The poignancy of that message “was really ingrained in us,” said Judy McCarroll, who attended the former St. Aloysius Elementary School in her youth and portrayed the Biblical character Veronica in 1980, when she was in eighth grade.
“It was an honor, and an eighth grade rite of passage,” said another mom, Maria Ramiza, who portrayed Veronica in 1997 and whose daughter, 10-year-old Gabrielle, has that role this year. “I think we all still remember every word of the narration.”
“It really helps people get into the spirit of Holy Week,” said 17-year-old Tess Welles, who is portraying the Blessed Mother for the third time.
“We come to see it every year,” said Frank Eick, who remembers portraying “the bad thief” in 1994. This year, his son has that role.
If by chance you aren’t familiar with all the characters, “the bad thief” is a criminal who is crucified next to Jesus, and taunts him. On Jesus’ other side is “the good thief,” who repents and is rewarded with Jesus’ promise that “this day you will be with me in paradise.”
Veronica, meanwhile, is a woman in the crowd, moved with compassion, who rushes to Jesus as he walks by and wipes blood and sweat from his face. Roman soldiers, in charge of the execution, pull another character, Simon of Cyrene, from the crowd and force him to help Jesus carry the cross, because Jesus, who has already lost a great deal of blood in a scourging, is becoming weak.
“Crucifixions were always bad,” said 18-year-old Michael Casey, who portrays a soldier. “But this one was extra brutal.”
St. Aloysius traditionally cast eighth grade students from its parish school in the Living Stations of the Cross, Judy McCarroll said. After the school closed in 2009, she said, music teacher Tony Wozinski “was really the one who kept it going.”
McCarroll said she’s enjoyed seeing her children take part in the Living Stations, including her son Andrew, who expects to be ordained as a deacon next year, and her son, Will, who is helping his father, Todd, work on smoke and lights for this year’s presentation.
This year, the cast of about 30 young people ranges from kindergarten all the way through high school, Wozinski said.