A.M.D.G.
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A.M.D.G. |
Latest News - 6 Dec 2002 Project Finished - last two stations rehung. Our thanks to all who contributed in any way.
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| HISTORY OF THE PAINTINGS The Bavarian artist Peter Rauth of the Post Nazarene School was commissioned in 1870 to paint the 14 Stations of the Cross, depicting scenes of Christ's trial, crucifixion and death, to further embellish the interior of the church. They are a unique feature of the Church - 14 large paintings (8 feet x 16 feet - 2.44 m x 4.88 m). |
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Because the Stations were beginning to show obvious signs of age and decay, it was decided to approach the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to help in the conservation and restoration of the pictures. This application was successful and a grant has been awarded of 75% of the cost of the five worst affected Stations with a possibility of 50% of the cost of restoration of the remaining nine.
The congregation has to find the remainder - approximately £90,000 over a period of 3 - 4 years.
Work started in 1999 on the worst affected Station (No 9 - Jesus falls the third time) and this was reinstated in the church in December 1999.
At the short service of rededication, Clare Meredith, who is in overall charge of the project of conservation and restoration explained how the paintings had been affected.
The paintings had suffered in two ways. Firstly the effect of gravity on these large areas of canvas had started affecting the fabric of the canvas. To combat this, the original canvas had been bonded on to thicker, stronger canvass.
Secondly, three effects had severely darkened the paintings. Firstly the original varnish used by Peter Rauth had darkened and yellowed over the years. One of the effects had been to turn the blues of the paintings into green. This effect is very noticeable when comparing the colours on restored Station No 9 with its unrestored neighbours No 8 and 10. Secondly, the burning of candles in the church for over 100 years had deposited soot on the canvas. Thirdly, soot from the use of domestic coal fires in the vicinity of the church had also been deposited.
This latter source is now removed with the widespread use of gas, oil and electricity but visitors to Edinburgh will appreciate the effect must have been quite large - one of its nicknames was 'Auld Reekie' which translates into standard English as 'Old Smokey'. Try standing on the Castle Esplanade looking over the Grassmarket and imagine the smoke pouring out of the forest of domestic chimneys.
An organ concert was held in the Church as part of the restoration fund-raising on Sunday 9th April. Clare Meredith gave a discourse in the interval and expanded on the work that had been done. Station No 9 had been treated as the pilot for the whole project. Like several of the other stations it had a large gilded area. The gilding was now very fragile and had required very careful handling. They had discovered that previous work of repair had resulted in varnish being painted over dirt and previous layers of varnish. Removal of this was also time consuming. A detailed visual examination of fragments of paint had been carried out prior to cleaning. (This subsidiary page is 300 kB.)
Although not so obvious compared with the dark appearance, the state of the framework supporting the canvas was very important. The stretcher to which the canvas was pinned had been found to be in a weak condition and its joints had expanded. It would be prudent to assume that the stretchers for all the other stations would be in a similar state.
Work on the next Station (No 4 - Jesus meets his afflicted Mother) is due to start just after Easter 2000 followed by another three to be completed by the end of 2000. All being well, five stations would be restored in 2001 with the remaining 5 being finished by Christmas 2002.
Anne Lanna of Theatre Alba gave an introduction to each piece in the concert and the organ was played by the well known Edinburgh musician, Brian Heep. As well as works by Buxtehude, Bach, Widor and others, the concert included two pieces by Brian himself.
'Gethsemane' had been written as incidental music for the Holy Week drama 'To the Cross' which Theatre Alba had performed in the church in previous years. The second of his own works 'Mater Dolorosa' received its first performance that evening. It drew its title from and was inspired by a phrase - Sorrowful Mother - from the traditional hymn sung between each Station during the celebration of the Stations of the Cross.
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Clare Meredith completed the post-graduate paintings conservation course at the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1977 and first established a studio at Hopetoun in 1984. She is a fellow of IIC and ABPR and the studio, which moved to its present premises in 1994, is listed on the Conservation Register.
Her clients include:
Viewing Arrangements and Current Programme
The work of restoration is carried out in the Parish Hall next to the Church and you can view the work by arrangement with the Parish Secretary (0131 229 9821)
Programme for 2002 is:
Programme for 2001 was:
 | Station No 4 (restored in 2000) in the hall after initital cleaning and prior to shipping to London to have the extra canvas bonded on. You get a good idea of the size of the painting by comparing it with the adjacent door. |
Programme for 2000 was:
24 May 2000: Stations 4 and 5 sent to London
19 July 2000: Stations 1 and 7 taken down from wall; initial restoration
16 August 2000: Stations 1 and 7 sent to London; Stations 4 and 5 return for final restoration work
15 September 2000: Stations 4 and 5 rehung on wall of church
These Stations are now back in place fully restored.
 | A closer view of Station 4 (Jesus meets his mother) in the Hall |
  | This is how the left hand wall of the church appears with four stations removed (July 2000) |
 | Initial cleaning work on Station No 1 (Jesus is condemned to death)(July 2000) You can see closeups and details of this station showing comparison between cleaned and uncleaned areas. This page is quite large (approx 500 kB) since there are five photos of reasonably large size and good resolution so you can see the details clearly. |
 | Station No 7 (Jesus fall the second time) in the hall. This Station has a large gilded area. You can see the contrast between the uncleaned square area and the other area which has been cleaned (July 2000) |
 | Initial cleaning work underway on Station No 7 (July 2000) |
If you would like to contributing toward the conservation and restoration of these unique paintings which are of such artistic importance to our Church, to Edinburgh and indeed to Scotland, please complete the form below and send it to Sacred Heart Church, 28 Lauriston St, Edinburgh EH3 9DJ, UK. Please make cheques payable to 'Sacred Heart Stations'. You can find out here how our fundraising is going. The project is now comlete and you will find a detailed set of accounts here.
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A Mass will be offered monthly for the intentions of all benefactors to the Fund.
All names will be recorded in recognition as was the case when the paintings were executed in 1871 - 73. Name ........................................ Address ................................................................................ ...................................................................................... |
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If you are a taxpayer you can use the Gift Aid system. If so please notify us and a form will be sent to you.
Thank you for your support.
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You can see how many Stations we will be able to restore with the funds raised so far. The project is now comlete and you will find a detailed set of accounts here. |
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This section is primarily for those of our visitors who are not of the Catholic faith and have been wondering what "The Stations of the Cross" is and what place it holds and has held in Catholic life and worship.
Firstly, a word of explanation: the phrase devotion in this context refers to an act of worship or prayer which is essentially a private event - even though it may take place in public, in a church and may be led by a member of the clergy! In other words it is not part of the 'official' liturgy of the church - even though it may be regulated by ecclesiastical authority and would certainly have to be if it took place publicly in a church.
The official liturgy of the church comprises primarily the Mass (also known as the Eucharist), the Liturgy of the Hours (Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and the other hours), the Sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion etc) and events such as the Installation of Abbots and Abbesses. All Catholics are required to celebrate some (the Sunday Eucharist) and are strongly encouraged to celebrate the others.
Devotions are left to the individual to use depending on his/her own personal piety and spiritual needs.
Although devotions are therefore optional, there is a strong tradition of the laity using them even as a significant portion of their worship. This reflects the fact that the official liturgy in the Western Church was mostly in Latin until the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and consequently most people found the various devotions (which were in the vernacular) answered their spiritual needs. Such a devotion is the 'Way of the Cross'. Given that the Good Friday Liturgy was celebrated in Latin early on Good Friday morning, it is hardly surprising that most people attended Stations of the Cross instead on Good Friday afternoon or evening.
The object of the Way of the Cross is to help the faithful to make in spirit, as it were, a pilgrimage to the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death, and this has become one of the most popular of Catholic devotions. It is carried out by passing from Station to Station, (hence the use of the word 'Station') with prayer and meditation on the various incidents at each.
Inasmuch as the Way of the Cross, made in this way, constitutes a miniature pilgrimage to the holy places at Jerusalem, the origin of the devotion may be traced to the Holy Land. The Via Dolorosa at Jerusalem (though not called by that name before the sixteenth century) was reverently marked out from the earliest times and has been the goal of pious pilgrims ever since the days of Constantine although the use of 'Stations' was a much later development and the number and incidents varied considerably over the years.
Erecting the Way of the Cross in churches became common in the late 17th and early 18th centuries at about the same time as the definitive number of stations was fixed at 14. The main impetus for the beginning of the devotion came from the Franciscans who were and still are Guardians of the Holy Places in Jerusalem.
Physically, the essentials of the Stations come down to one thing - a wooden cross for each of the Stations. There doesn't actually need to be a representation of the incident and, where there is one, it can be in any medium - a fresco, painting, statues etc. The stations do not need to be in the church itself - they can be in the grounds of the church or in the cloisters if a monastery.
There are nowadays 14 Stations as listed below. They are a mixture of events recorded in the Gospels (e.g. Simon of Cyrene) and events based on piety and tradition (e.g. Veronica)
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1. Christ condemned to death; 2. the cross is laid upon him; 3. His first fall; 4. He meets His Blessed Mother; 5. Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross; 6. Christ's face is wiped by Veronica; 7. His second fall; |
8. He meets the women of Jerusalem; 9. His third fall; 10. He is stripped of His garments; 11. His crucifixion; 12. His death on the cross; 13. His body is taken down from the cross; and 14. laid in the tomb. |
There are no set texts for the Way of the Cross. One of the most frequently used was composed by St Alphonsus Liguori. Sacred Scripture also forms a good basis for this devotion. However, the main essential is a meditation by the individual on the event depicted at each Station and how the event relates to her/his life.
The Way of the Cross is, of course, a celebration of the sacred humanity of Christ and a reminder that he was fully human living a human life in all its aspects including immense suffering and despair.
Although the 14 Stations are purely concerned with incidents telling us of Christ's suffering and death, it is traditional to conclude a celebration of the Way of the Cross with prayers before the Tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved - a reminder that the story does not end in the tomb but continues with the Resurrection.