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Stations
"Stations" is a catalytic collection of art and poetry that retells the story of Christ’s crucifixion through modern, often stigmatized, crosses. With fourteen original pieces of poetry and multi-media art, this book narrates the story of Jesus’ passion through the trials of every day people. It is intended to challenge and disquiet its reader.
This book contains adult themes and language. Please use discretion.
This book contains adult themes and language. Please use discretion.
- GenresSpiritualityFaith
126 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 28, 2021
I’ve been feeling wildly uninspired by the Church lately. Shoving people into preconceived boxes of “holiness” and picking and choosing “harder” Crosses to carry has left me feeling unseen, exhausted, and alone in this already difficult journey of my own.
Enter Stations. Beautiful, raw, authentic art, depicting the Stations of the Cross. Words of candor describing the Crosses many carry but few share audibly, communally.
Miscarriage, being an LGBTQ Catholic, receiving a terminal illness, getting older and being forgotten, addiction, suicide, and more.
These Crosses are isolating. Clare and Ryan have given them a chance to be prayed with/for in a community of faith.
I highly recommend this. Adult content, certainly. However, Christ’s Crucifixion was full of adult content, wasn’t it?
Enter Stations. Beautiful, raw, authentic art, depicting the Stations of the Cross. Words of candor describing the Crosses many carry but few share audibly, communally.
Miscarriage, being an LGBTQ Catholic, receiving a terminal illness, getting older and being forgotten, addiction, suicide, and more.
These Crosses are isolating. Clare and Ryan have given them a chance to be prayed with/for in a community of faith.
I highly recommend this. Adult content, certainly. However, Christ’s Crucifixion was full of adult content, wasn’t it?
April 2, 2021
This stirred something deep in me. James Baldwin said, “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” This book is like that, but in reverse. You think the pain and sorrow of the cross is unparalleled in the state of world now, but then you read. And you see how modern day struggles are ancient and how ancient struggles are modern.
December 22, 2021
This collection of poems and art has left me feeling raw. Reading these poems feels as though the author is going inside you and taking everything you’ve been hiding from others and yourself and bringing it to the surface, but with a twist: in doing so, she is also connecting you to the stations of the cross and the pain that Jesus felt that horrible Friday. Which also tears at your emotions. Relating the pain of the stations to real life situations helps you feel the pain more deeply since it’s something we know. These are poems that I will return to on dark days, when my cross becomes heavy, because I know Jesus can use these experiences to speak to me and help me. Even on the pages left blank for the station where Jesus dies, so much reflection happened that I just stared at the pages in thought for a few minutes. Who knew blank pages could be so full?
March 20, 2021
I cried. A lot.......I felt the pain, the anger, the joy, the love, the forgiveness, and the future of hope in these poems/stories.
BUT I WEPT........like ugly fricken cried at Station 13. The paper turkey got me.
I LOVE THIS BOOK. I WANT TO FRAME IT. I WANT TO GIVE A COPY TO EVERYONE I KNOW. Because I feel as though this book was written for me (even though I know it wasn’t) I found myself within these pages.
Between Clare’s ability to make you feel something through storytelling and Ryan’s artwork making you feel something entirely different. I SERIOUSLY CANNOT PRAISE THIS ENOUGH. Thank you Jesus for these two authors God given talents. For they make the world a different place for the better.
BUT I WEPT........like ugly fricken cried at Station 13. The paper turkey got me.
I LOVE THIS BOOK. I WANT TO FRAME IT. I WANT TO GIVE A COPY TO EVERYONE I KNOW. Because I feel as though this book was written for me (even though I know it wasn’t) I found myself within these pages.
Between Clare’s ability to make you feel something through storytelling and Ryan’s artwork making you feel something entirely different. I SERIOUSLY CANNOT PRAISE THIS ENOUGH. Thank you Jesus for these two authors God given talents. For they make the world a different place for the better.
April 26, 2021
Read this after Lent/Easter but it was still so profound and heart-piercing. I'll be the first to regrettably admit how often it is that I overlook the power of the Stations of the Cross and how monotonous it had become to me after years of passive participation in the liturgy prayers. But this collection of poetry challenged me to see the Stations of the Cross from a new lens; one that reveals that even 2000 years after the events of the Stations, they are significantly ever-present in our daily sufferings, whether or not they are known to those around us.
The raw reflections explore the undoubted parallels between Christ's redemptive cross and our modern-day crosses — those of familial abandonment, addiction, mental illness, social injustices, and more. The contemporary retelling of the Stations of the Cross highlights that Christ is intimately familiar with our sorrows, that He accompanies us in the lonely cycles of suffering and rising from trauma and pain, and that we can trust that He carries the weight of our crosses with us and look to Him as a pillar of strength and hope through redemptive suffering. I especially appreciated how it explores topics that are often overlooked, neglected, stigmatized and/or are considered taboo by the Church, and how it authentically represents life — not as perfect and free from struggles, but rather inclusive of suffering, trials, and heartbreak, even if they are not often spoken of. I'll definitely be re-reading this again and again, and highly recommend it to both my Catholic and non-Catholic friends alike.
"We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because, by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world."
The raw reflections explore the undoubted parallels between Christ's redemptive cross and our modern-day crosses — those of familial abandonment, addiction, mental illness, social injustices, and more. The contemporary retelling of the Stations of the Cross highlights that Christ is intimately familiar with our sorrows, that He accompanies us in the lonely cycles of suffering and rising from trauma and pain, and that we can trust that He carries the weight of our crosses with us and look to Him as a pillar of strength and hope through redemptive suffering. I especially appreciated how it explores topics that are often overlooked, neglected, stigmatized and/or are considered taboo by the Church, and how it authentically represents life — not as perfect and free from struggles, but rather inclusive of suffering, trials, and heartbreak, even if they are not often spoken of. I'll definitely be re-reading this again and again, and highly recommend it to both my Catholic and non-Catholic friends alike.
"We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because, by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world."
March 18, 2021
Outstanding
March 21, 2021
A beautifully crafted work, sharing stories of real and personal crosses carried by "friendsandstrangers". Both heartbreaking and soul-filling. I'm sure I will come back to it often.
March 29, 2021
extremely moving
April 20, 2021
True, good, and beautiful. Incredible poetry and artwork.
November 13, 2021
Beautiful imagery. Thought provoking topics, but, ultimately, thought the advertising for it was misleading.
Just wished it actually mentioned Jesus.
Just wished it actually mentioned Jesus.
March 26, 2021
Absolutely amazing.
Fearfully and wonderfully made.
Stunning.
Gorgeous.
Messy.
Daunting.
A whole new way of looking at crosses. When I used to think of Stations of the Cross, I would always think of gathering in my Catholic school’s Church peaus, reciting the same lines every Friday. Now, I think of Stations. Stations brings a whole new meaning to the practice of Stations of the Cross.
I never would’ve thought that, in a book made by modern catholic artists, would I ever see my own cross as an LGBTQ catholic be represented in such a real, tangible, and authentic way.
Clare and Ryan, you are modern saints. Unafraid to contradict the norm and ruffle a few feathers. That is what is so so needed. THANK YOU. Now let me head to Confession and Adoration, and read this in front of the monstrance at Adoration and cry.
Fearfully and wonderfully made.
Stunning.
Gorgeous.
Messy.
Daunting.
A whole new way of looking at crosses. When I used to think of Stations of the Cross, I would always think of gathering in my Catholic school’s Church peaus, reciting the same lines every Friday. Now, I think of Stations. Stations brings a whole new meaning to the practice of Stations of the Cross.
I never would’ve thought that, in a book made by modern catholic artists, would I ever see my own cross as an LGBTQ catholic be represented in such a real, tangible, and authentic way.
Clare and Ryan, you are modern saints. Unafraid to contradict the norm and ruffle a few feathers. That is what is so so needed. THANK YOU. Now let me head to Confession and Adoration, and read this in front of the monstrance at Adoration and cry.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2021
Beautiful and tragic collection of poems.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews