There are many Outdoor Stations of the Cross around western North Carolina, including these featured below in Charlotte, Hickory and Cullowhee. Inquire with a church near you to see if they have Outdoor Stations that you can visit.
Go to www.charlottediocese.org for a directory and map of parishes.
Pray the Outdoor Stations at the Catholic Conference Center
The Catholic Conference Center in Hickory has a walking path featuring Stations of the Cross on its beautiful grounds.
Experience the beauty of God’s creation while praying the Stations, reflecting on the last steps of Jesus on His way to Calvary. Enjoy the walking trails and two outdoor chapels also on the property.
One of the paths begins in the grass by the center, while other stations were recently set up on a half-mile path in the woods.
They were donated by Holy Family Parish in Clemmons and installed by Deacon John Harrison.
Call or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for inquiries and to inform them of your plan to visit.
For more information about the center, its facilities and upcoming events, go to www.catholicconference.org.
— Photo via Facebook
New outdoor Stations of the Cross, Rosary Walk beckon you
CHARLOTTE — Boost your prayer life and unite yourself with the Lord’s Passion by making the Way of the Cross or contemplating the mysteries of the rosary at new outdoor Stations of the Cross and Rosary Walk at St. Gabriel Church.
The 14 Stations of the Cross and the 20 Mysteries of the Rosary are nestled behind the Marian grotto adjacent to St. Gabriel Church and School, located at 3016 Providence Road in Charlotte.
The one-third-mile path is dedicated to parishioner, St. Gabriel School teacher and Belmont Abbey College alumna Ale Skinkle, who died after a seven-year battle with cancer on March 26, 2020.
Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari, chancellor of Belmont Abbey College, blessed the Stations of the Cross March 26 – two years to the day of her passing. More than 50 people attended the blessing and dedication ceremony.
“Ale was unique. She was amazing in her love of her faith and how joyfully she shared it. So many people have grown closer to Jesus and the Blessed Mother because of her,” said Darby McClatchy, parish communications director.
A granite marker inscribed with Skinkle’s name greets visitors to the greenspace behind the grotto and St. Gabriel Preschool playground, which has been transformed through generous donations from several parish families.
When the newly planted grass fills in, the landscaped greenspace will be a beautiful gathering place for all who visit the church during the day. A lighted gravel walkway illuminates the path to facilitate evening prayer.
McClatchy encourages all to “come pray and walk the pathway, asking our Blessed Mother to lead you to Jesus.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
More online
At www.stgabrielchurch.org: See more photos of the blessing of St. Gabriel Parish’s new outdoor Stations of the Cross and Rosary Walk
WCU students can ascend ‘prayer trail’ for outdoor Stations of the Cross
CULLOWHEE — Western Carolina University students looking to pray outdoors now have an updated “prayer trail” to hike behind the Campus Ministry center.
Thanks to donors from St. Mary Mother of God Parish in Sylva and the hard work of some WCU students, Campus Ministry now has new outdoor Stations of the Cross. There were even enough funds to replace the Stations of the Cross inside the center.
Deacon Matthew Newsome remembers praying the Stations of the Cross on the trail leading up the hill behind the center when he was in college there in the late ’90s. “But since then, it had fallen into disuse, and many of the Stations had been damaged or were missing altogether,” he explained. He arrived at WCU as campus minister in 2008 and always had hopes of restoring the trail.
Students provided the labor to install the Stations along the trail before Lent, and March 4, the first Friday of Lent, Father Paul Asoh, pastor of St. Mary Mother of God Parish, blessed the Stations before that day’s Mass.
Deacon Newsome noted that part of the ritual for blessing Stations of the Cross is that the Stations actually be prayed, so he and Father Asoh led a group of students through praying them on the newly restored outdoor trail for the first time.
“It was wonderful,” he said. “The trail goes up a hill, so you really feel like you are ascending Calvary with the Lord. I am so happy to see it brought to fruition through the support of our local parishioners and our students.”
He says there is still some work to be done. “My hope is to also be able to purchase a large crucifix to install at the end of the prayer trail and to get a bench or a couple of nice outdoor chairs to place by it for meditation.”
