- May 10, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
The Rev. David M. Svihel prepares for the walk.
Photo by Ian SwabyDave and Nancy Morgan follow along with the event through their booklets.
Photo by Ian SwabyChaplain Tom Pfaff, City Commissioner Kyle Battie, Men of the Redeemer leader Craig Burness stand by as County Commissioner Mark Smith speaks at the first station.
Photo by Ian SwabyThe Rev. David M. Svihel leads the walk
Photo by Ian SwabyLucy Sanchez, 9, and her mother Dorota Sanchez, listen to a speaker.
Photo by Ian SwabyDeacon Humberto Alvia speaks.
Photo by Ian SwabyJoshua Santos, 14, and his father Fernando Santos, came from Cathedral Church of Saint Luke in Orlando to attend the walk.
Photo by Ian SwabyThe Rev. David M. Svihel holds the cross as Ariel Blue of Evergreen Church and Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe sings, on the steps of First Sarasota.
Photo by Ian SwabyEleanor Bauer, 4, watches a speaker at one of the stations.
Photo by Ian SwabySuzanne Stamp prays at one of the stations.
Photo by Ian SwabyMichael Panebianco, Lola and Gina Hatenyi pray at one of the stations.
Photo by Ian SwabyThe crowd proceeds down Main Street.
Photo by Ian SwabyBonnie Daiello wanted to take the time in her life to “smell the roses,” after she was shaken by the experience of a recent cardiac arrest.
“It was very important for me to do it,” said Daiello, who was among the hundreds in attendance at the Stations of the Cross walk on the morning of Good Friday, March 29. “It meant a lot.”
A Good Friday tradition in countries around the world, the walk grew out of the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem and involves a journey between 14 stations along a path that represent different stages in the story of Jesus’ passion and death.
Established in Sarasota by the Men’s Breakfast Prayer Group at Church of the Redeemer in 1996, the event is held jointly by the church and the Sarasota Ministerial Association, while also involving clergy from different area congregations.
Although it originally took place on the church grounds, the walk grew in attendance and came to encompass the current route from Regal Hollywood to Church of the Redeemer.
Patrick Redmond was another pilgrim who felt compelled to come out to downtown Sarasota that morning, saying he wanted to join the community in a public display of faith during the Easter season.
“I think it’s something that is sorely needed in the world today,” he said. “It’s a beautiful thing to recognize Christ’s passion and suffering and death, and his rising from the dead."
