I
hope this isn’t too far OT.
I’ve
just got back from walking the Stations of the Cross in my (Church of England)
parish church. And something struck me as a bit odd.
The
fourteen panels are arranged in order staring at the EAST end of the NORTH
aisle; seven stations later we are at the WEST end of the NORTH aisle. The final
seven stations start at the WEST end of the SOUTH aisle and continue to the EAST
end of the SOUTH aisle (and incidentally to the entrance to the Lady
Chapel).
Now
it struck me forcibly that we had been walking round the inside of a church
WIDDERSHINS!!! (Walking round the OUTSIDE of a church WIDDERSHINS – that is
counter-clockwise – is considered to be at best unlucky, at worst asking for
demonic trouble.)
Is
this a mistake by our predecessors (the Stations were put up some time in the
1950s.) and ought it to be corrected ?
I
have checked a number of websites but none of them describe the relative
architectural location of the images / pictures they employ.
Can
any of the list tell me
if
they have experiences a “widdershins” layout of the SoX in a church or is it
normally the other way round ? (ie clockwise)
Does
it matter ? Is there anything laid down about their configuration ? (I do know
that Stations must have a cross somewhere in the design.)
Any
other thoughts about walking round churches widdershins?