St. Joseph Shrine Parish, Brooklyn at 8743 US-12, Brooklyn, MI 49230 US - History of our Outdoor Stations

Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

The construction of the outdoor stations began in 1932 and was completed four years later. The length of the journey is 3,303 feet as determined by Adrichomius, a 12th century churchman. Each of the fourteen stations features a mosaic of Christ's suffering. Detroit artist Alfred Wrobbel, copying Fugel's "Way of the Cross" did them with metallic colors on copper. The steps, archways and railings were sculptured from wet cement to look like stone and timber. Stones were gathered from all over the world and used in the construction of the scenes of several of the stations to represent that Christ died for the whole world. Some examples are: a meteor found near Hudson; precious stones from the "Bad Lands" of South Dakota; abalone shells from the Pacific Coast; blood-red stones from the Ozark Mountains in Missouri; gray stones from the Lake Erie district; amethyst from the Black Hills; petrified wood from California; bits of stone from foreign lands, including the Holy Land; and bits of rock from Ft. Serra's old missions in California. The hill upon which St. Joseph stands very closely approximates in size and contour the Mount of Calvary. Historically, the distance from the crucifixion to the tomb is only 65 paces, the exact distance in the Irish Hills Way of the Cross!

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