Popular radio and television personality during the years surrounding and following the Second Vatican Council, the Servant
of God, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979)
established himself long ago as the foremost spokesman for the Catholic Church in America and one of its most prolific
writers. The last few years of his life were dedicated to preaching retreats to priests and promoting the daily Holy Hour
of adoration as the key to one's personal sanctification and spiritual growth. These Stations of the Cross are the fruit of
a lifetime of prayer and study, revealing the profound wisdom and insight into the nature of Christ's suffering and death,
as was ultimately also exemplified in the life and death of the author himself, whose cause for canonization has been
introduced in Rome.
Reviews
Sheen's Stations: First composed in 1932, the late Archbishop (then Father) Fulton J. Sheen presented
The Way of the Cross for Palm Sunday. Filled with his own personal faith and thinking, The Way was published
in 1932 by the National Council of Catholic Men and later, in 1982, was published nationally. The prayers are now available
again in a new booklet. Fully developed as a program for personal devotion or public worship, The Way of the Cross is
dedicated to Mary and begins with a prayer before the prayers of the stations. Each station begins with a short, two phrase
prayer -- the same one repeated 14 times. Following the prayer is a brief reflection and ends with two prayers. One, a short
one, is repeated with each station, and one longer one that speaks specifically to the issue brought up in the stations.
After the 14th station, Jesus being laid in the tomb, a prayer is offered to close the session for the intention of the
pope. Perfect for personal reading, and another way to keep the commonality and brilliance of Fulton Sheen in your prayer
life. --Crux of the News, May 29, 2006
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