Welcome to this online retreat. 

For our second day we pause to reflect on two of the most beautiful Stations - Mary Magdalene in the Garden (Station III), and The Disciples on the Road to Emmaus and in the Inn (Stations IV and V).

Fr Brendan

We are used to following the Stations of the Cross, the Via Crucis, but in more recent years there have developed another set of Stations to supplement and complete them - the Stations of the Resurrection, the Via Lucis. 

There is no definitive list, but this is close to the typical one. 

Via Lucis: Stations of the Resurrection

1. Jesus is raised from the dead (Matthew 28:1-10)

 2. The Discovery of the Empty Tomb (John 20:1-10)

 3. Mary Magdalene meets the risen Christ (John 20:11-18)

 4. The Risen Lord Appears on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27)

 5. Christ is Known at the Breaking of Bread (Luke 24:28-35)

 6. The Risen Lord Appears to His Disciples in Jerusalem (Luke 24:36-43)

 7. The Risen Lord Gives the Disciples the Power to Forgive Sins (John 20:19-23)

 8. The Risen Lord Strengthens the Faith of Thomas (John 20:24-29)

 9. The Risen Lord Appears by the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-14)

 10. The Questions to Peter (Primacy of Peter) (John 21:15-17, 19b)

 11. The Great Commission on the Mountain (Matthew 28:16-20)

12. The Ascension of Christ (Acts 1:6-12a)

13.  Mary and the Disciples wait in Prayer (Acts 1:12-14)

14. The Holy Spirit Descends at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13)

To read more of its history:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stations_of_the_Resurrection

"O Mary, do not weep, look no further. The true Gardener is here and the cultivator of minds; seek in the garden of your own mind the worker of the mind. He is with you, he whom you love."

Philippe de Grève , 13th Century

If Jesus is, for Mary Magdalene, one who wants to cultivate her mind, how does Jesus express something similiar to the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus? 

The appearance to Mary Magdalene

John 11 - Meanwhile Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stood to look inside, 12 and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. 13 They said, "Woman, why are you weeping?" "They have taken my Lord away." She replied, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 As she said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognized him. 15 Jesus said, "Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him." 16 Jesus said, "Mary!" She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, "Rubbuni!" - which mean Master. 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." 18 So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.

The road to Emmaus 

Luke 24 - 13 That very same day, two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking together about all that had happened. 15 Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; 16 but something prevented them from recognizing him. 17 He said to them, "What matters are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped short, their faces downcast. 

18 Then one of them, call Cleopas, answered him, "You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days." 19 "What tings?" he asked. "All about Jesus of Nazareth," they answered, "who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; 20 and how the chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. 21 Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free. 22 And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astonished us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, 23 and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. 24 Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing." 

25 Then he said to them, "You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! 26 Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?" 27 Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself. 

28 When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; 29 but pressed him to stay with them. "It is nearly evening" they said, "and the day is almost over." So he went to stay with them. 30 Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; but he had vanished from their sight. 32 Then they said to each other, "Did not out hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?" 

33 They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, 34 who said to them, "Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35 Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognized him at the breaking of the bread. 

The above painting painted in 1606 is by Caravaggio and is at the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. There is another version at the National Gallery London.

(on the painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio)

The couple at the inn have worked

all day. He is red and sweaty,

his cap askew, jerkin unbuttoned.

She looks fit to drop.

Now, near nightfall, two turn up

for supper. No it's three.

They met a stranger on the road,

and have asked him in.

The guests are seated and the landlord comes

to wait on them, his wife behind

The stranger takes the bread

and blesses it.

His friends lean forward, tense;

one lifts a hand, the other

grips the table. The dawn of recognition

is just about to break…

Even the landlord, ignorant

of all that happened, all that has been said,

peers intently at the stranger's face

Outside the circle round the table,

eyes only for the food she carries,

the woman does not see the signs,

does not sense this is the moment

just before the vision.

They were never wrong,

the Old Masters. The event takes place

while a weary woman hopes

she will not stumble with the dish.

Joyce Sugg

Joyce Sugg was the author of John Henry Newman: Snapdragon in the Wall and Ever Yours Affly.