MARILYN REESE BLAZE, "STATIONS OF THE CROSS," 1982

acrylic on aged wood panels, 19" x 51" each

Located: St. Aloysius Church, 220 N. Depot St., Wataga, Ill.

(Schedule an appointment with the Galesburg Civic Art Center (309/342-7415) or attend a Sunday Mass to view the interior of the church.)

Other works: McDonald's Restaurant, 1072 N. Henderson St., Galesburg, Ill.

Lining the nave walls of St. Aloysius Church in Wataga are an original interpretation of the Catholic Way of the Cross. Fourteen aged wood panels, each 19" x 51", are hung in a processional progression along the church walls between the stained glass windows. The panels are from the original church which was rebuilt in 1982 when Marilyn Blaze was commissioned to paint them.

Though separate in space, the panels are held together visually by simple design devices. Christ with two figures appears in each, as does a blue pointed dome shape for the heavens (that shape is repeated in the windows). Willowy branches frame the sides of each scene.

(Also called Way of the Cross, Via Crucis, and Via Dolorosa). These names are used to signify either a series of pictures or tableaux representing certain scenes in the Passion of Christ, each corresponding to a particular incident.

Formerly their number varied considerably in different places but 14 are now prescribed by authority. They are as follows:

1. Christ condemned to death;

2. the cross is laid upon him;

3. His first fall;

4. He meets His Blessed Mother;

5. Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross;

6. Christ's face is wiped by Veronica;

7. His second fall;

8. He meets the women of Jerusalem;

9. His third fall;

10. He is stripped of His garments;

11. His crucifixion;

12. His death on the cross;

13. His body is taken down from the cross; and

14. laid in the tomb.