Christians at Elon University joined together Friday to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ with a noontime Catholic devotion around Fonville Fountain in the heart of campus.
Under cloudy skies with just a few drops of drizzle, dozens of Christians remembered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in a Good Friday afternoon gathering that has become a staple of Easter Weekend at Elon University.
Led by the Rev. Gerry Waterman, Elon’s associate chaplain for Catholic Life, with assistance from students and staff in the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, campus faithful circled Fonville Fountain as a cross was moved around the perimeter for each of 14 prayer stations representing the biblical account of Christ’s trial before Pontius Pilate, his subsequent death sentence and his resurrection.
Waterman said that praying the Stations of the Cross gives Christians a moment to reflect on life, death, and the way in which members of a faith community sustain each other during their life journeys.
“We are living in a society where media wants us to think we’re immortal, that death isn’t around us,” Waterman said. “The dying and rising process is part of our lives as humans, and this is Jesus Christ sacrificing himself for us. We commemorate it because God gave us his only son.”
Elon University junior Kelsey Badmaev, a nondenominational Christian from Columbia, South Carolina, said the March 25 gathering was her first Stations of the Cross prayer. The sport and event management major was accompanying her boyfriend, Elon junior Charlie May of Boston, to the service.
“This is something good for the community,” Badmaev said. “Jesus died for our sins and this is a reminder. … And Father Gerry is awesome. I like him a lot.”
Elon University’s main campus is closed Monday, March 28, following the Easter Sunday holiday.