Misión San Diego's annual Passion Play recalls Christ's crucifixion

Hundreds of people filled the streets of Palatine, participating in Misión San Diego's annual Good Friday Living Stations of the Cross.

The passion play marking Good Friday and recalling the Bible's accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ began at noon at St. Thomas of Villanova in Palatine with participants walking more than a mile to the Misión in Arlington Heights.

The Stations of the Cross is a 14-step devotion that commemorates Christ's last day on Earth. The procession lasted more than 90 minutes, with people singing and praying along the way.

The traditional Catholic stations are: Christ is condemned to death; he begins to carry the cross; he falls; he meets his mother; Simon of Cyrene helps him carry the cross; Veronica wipes his face; he falls again; he speaks to the women of Jerusalem; he falls again; his clothing is taken away; he is nailed to the cross; he dies; his body is taken down from the cross; and he is laid in the tomb.

Some Protestant churches omit the stations that are not recorded in the books of the Gospel (such as Veronica wiping his face) and substitute other stations.