In addition to running a series of special services and Lent Lectures throughout February and March, the Cathedral is hosting a new ‘Stations of the Cross’ exhibition until April.
Each Lent, Holy Week and Easter, the Cathedral exhibits a set of images which depict Jesus’s journey to the crucifixion. This year, a special set of photo montages has been commissioned that captures some of the scenes in contemporary Jerusalem on the Via Dolorosa (the Way of Sorrows). Evocative images of the crowd and bystanders are combined with traditional images of Jesus’ last days on earth. These are selected from the Cathedral’s own windows as well as churches in the Holy Land.
The work has been undertaken by David Healey ARPS, one of the Cathedral Photographers who photographed the two recent Cathedral pilgrimages to Israel/Palestine; and James Burnham and Alec MacDonald, students of King Edward VI School who designed the display and layout of the exhibition.
David Healey says: “Depicting faith is challenging. The aim was to capture what Christ would have seen had his suffering, death and resurrection happened in the beauty and pain of today’s Holy Land. We have attempted to communicate photographically, the necessity of Christ’s sacrifice and the ever-diverse reactions of people to it.”
The Very Revd Adrian Dorber, Dean of Lichfield says: “We are delighted to exhibit these moving and thought-provoking images. They will serve as one of our devotional foci this Lent and Easter, and help us to connect the Gospel story with the reality of life in contemporary Jerusalem.”
The Stations of the Cross exhibition will be on display until 11th April 2016. There will be a devotional service of the Stations of the Cross on Palm Sunday, 20th March at 18.00.
