Drawing on the ancient spiritual devotion of the Stations of the Cross, we invite you to participate in a journey of reflection and discovery in the city of Oxford.
Drawing on the ancient spiritual devotion of the Stations of the Cross, we invite you to participate in a journey of reflection and discovery in the city of Oxford.
You can experience the Stations of the Cross trail also on your mobile device. Download the Alight app, developed by Bristol-based company Calvium.
Alight: Art and the Sacred
Alight will introduce you to works of art across New York City, London, Washington DC and Oxford in a way that explores the story of the Passion in challenging and contemporary ways.
Use the map to direct you to locations where key works can be found – in both religious and secular spaces, from cathedrals to museums, and even national monuments.
The music before the readings is composed by Tim Boniface. The featured track is entitled “The Sixth Word”. Below the composer explains the meaning of the song.
The Sixth Word
‘Woman, here is your son … Here is your mother.’
(John 19:26-27)
Here, Jesus’ words ‘turn us to intimacy’. Jesus is pointing John, his beloved disciple, and Mary, his mother, to one another, and asking both of them to care for the other as family. Somehow, his horrendous death – hundreds of times more horrendous, I can’t help feeling, because his mother witnesses his torture – doesn’t stop him giving them to each other, as it were. This utterly desperate scene is still the place of gift – towards real, open, loving human relationships. This is a song of sadness and of gratitude for love.