Bringing His journey to life

Bringing the story of Jesus to life with the Living Stations of the Cross is a special project for students at many parishes and schools. Two schools within the diocese—Dickinson Trinity High School and St. Mary’s Academy— are just two examples of continuing the tradition of acting out the suffering and death of Christ and those He encounters on the way.
 
The Stations of the Cross commemorate Jesus’ final days on Earth as a man through a 14-step depiction of His ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Portraying those moments with Livings Stations can be supremely powerful for both the actors and the audience.
 
At Dickinson Trinity, Social Studies instructor and alumna, Amy Grinsteinner, says that all 32 seniors are taking part in the production this year. Plus, two junior students are helping as assistant directors and several more juniors help with the technical aspects.
 
“I am so grateful to be able to serve as the director of the Living Stations production at Trinity,” Amy said. “I performed in the Stations as a senior in 2007, and the experience had a profound impact on me and my classmates.”
 
Having participated in the production of Living Stations when she was a student and now as the advisor role, it’s a special project for her—one she was somewhat reluctant to take on at first. “I want to help provide the THS Class of 2019 with a similar experience. I was also pretty nervous to take on this role. I know the impact the Stations has on the community—one of my mom's friends actually converted to Catholicism after attending a performance. I was fearful that I would not be able to direct a production that lives up to past performances. At the advice of several people much wiser than I am, I've turned everything over to the Holy Spirit. It has been beautiful to witness the work He has been able to do in the last few weeks. I'm so proud of the kids and I know that, with some hard work and a lot of faith, they are going to put on an amazing, heart-stirring performance.”
 
At Bismarck’s St. Mary’s Academy, Sharol Haugen, algebra and religion instructor, serves as the advisor for the eighth graders who make up the cast for Living Stations. She’s been directing Living Stations for 28 years, most of which was at St. Mary’s grade school. In past years, the eighth graders at each of the three Catholic grade schools in Bismarck were putting on their own performances of Living Stations. Then, when the Bismarck schools went to the unified Light of Christ model, Haugen began working with the eighth graders at the academy.
 
This year, 17 students are participating. “I tell them it’s a privilege to take part,” Haugen said. “We’ll have fun preparing, but it’s a privilege to help others enter into Christ’s last hours. We are servants to help others visualize what Jesus has done for us.”
 
Over the years, Sharol has changed the script and added to it. When she came from St. Mary’s grade school to the academy, she made a point to meld portions of the scripts from each of the schools as the students from those schools came together to perform as one.
 
The academy students will perform the Living Stations at the three Bismarck parishes with schools—Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, St. Mary’s and the Church of Saint Anne—and at Christ the King in Mandan. Their final performance will be during Holy Week  at the St. Mary’s Academy.
 
Performing for the school children over the years has been a special mission of the project to help them to enter into the journey of Jesus’ last days on earth. The experience of watching the older children perform the Stations of the Cross in previous years was precisely what drew most of the students to sign up to perform this year. It’s especially meaningful for Sharol when she sees her former students, now parents or teachers, sitting in the pews watching the next generation of students carry on the tradition of the Living Stations.
 
Last year was the first year the group was asked to perform at Christ the King in Mandan. It was at the request of their principal, Derrick Nagel. He also happened to play the role of Jesus when he was an eighth grader at St. Mary’s grade school under Sharol’s direction. “That was a very special request for me, one I really took to heart,” she said.
 
Performances
 
The academy students’ performances are at 2 p.m. on April 10 at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, on April 11 at St. Mary’s, on April 12 at Saint Anne, and on April 15 at Christ the King. On April 16, they perform at 2:30 p.m. in the small gymnasium at St. Mary’s Central High School.
 
The Dickinson Trinity students will have two performances—April 14 and 15—both at 7 p.m. in the THS auditorium. There will be an opportunity to give a free-will offering at the door.
 
All performances are open to the public.