Youths participate in a devotion based on the Scala Sancta, or Holy Stairs, at a local park in Union County on the evening of Palm Sunday, March 28, 2026. COURTESY OF BETH HENDRICKSON
Youth provide ancient Lenten prayer experience at local park
BY WKC STAFF
Brave Catholic Youth, the shared youth group of the parishes in Union County, held a Scala Sancta devotion at a local park on March 28 in the evening before Palm Sunday.
The Scala Santa, (or Holy Stairs), located in Rome, Italy, are traditionally venerated as the steps that Jesus ascended during his Passion as he was led to Pontius Pilate’s praetorium in Jerusalem.
According to tradition, these marble steps were brought to Rome in the fourth century by St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine. They remain preserved and venerated today in a church managed by the Passionist order, located near the Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.
For centuries, the faithful have ascended these 28 steps on their knees in prayerful remembrance of Christ’s suffering and humility during His Passion. It has since become customary for stairways modeled after the Scala Sancta to be constructed in other parts of the world, to continue the devotion for those who cannot visit Rome.
Brave Catholic Youth set up their devotional experience on the steps at the local park, complete with prayers on signs, which had been donated by the Knights of Columbus.
Adult volunteer Beth Hendrickson said Brave Catholic Youth took its name from the local high school team, the Union County Braves: “So it was a great name; the kids named it.”
The Brave Catholic Youth members “also do most of the planning for the events… they have really taken a leadership role,” she said.
She said that as the sun went down that evening, “the effects were much more powerful. We had several young high school men that came after dark around 8 p.m. and they went through it twice. They were not Catholic…that melted my heart.”
Originally printed in the May 2026 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
