Loose Creek I.C. School student got to be Jesus twice
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Bo Brandt volunteered to portray Jesus in Loose Creek’s Immaculate Conception School Shadow Stations of the Cross on a Wednesday in the middle of Lent this year.
Turns out, it wasn’t the first time he stood in for his Lord and Savior.
“I was born on Oct. 4, 2010, and got to be the baby Jesus for the Christmas program on Dec. 20-something,” said Bo, who recently graduated from Immaculate Conception School.
“So, I started out as baby Jesus and ended up playing him when he’s an adult,” Bo stated.
Bo heard from several audience members that the Shadow Stations helped them get into a proper mood for Lent — the season of deeper prayer, fasting and almsgiving in preparation for Easter.
He found that also to be true for himself as a participant.
“And if you understand more about Lent and what it’s all about, then when Easter comes around, it helps you appreciate why we always remember his death and celebrate that he was raised up,” said Bo.
His mother, Amanda Brandt, had seen the Shadow Stations several times previously.
“It’s always very moving,” she said. “But seeing our own son be Jesus — that’s very different.
“It kind of put me in Mary’s shoes,” she said. “You want to go up there and say, ‘Stop! Why are you doing this to my son?’ And you want more than anything to take away his pain.”
Into the shadows
Cindy Robertson has been helping children act out the Stations of the Cross since before Bo played the babe in the manger.
“I used to teach second and fourth grade at Immaculate Conception,” she stated. “During that time, I put together a Passion Play that we would do every year.”
Her students rehearsed vigorously, put on costumes and walked parishioners through each major step in Jesus’s journey to Golgotha.
“That was a pretty big event,” she recalled.
Later on, she started organizing activities for the parish’s Sunday School and children’s religious education (PSR) classes.
“We developed the Shadow Stations of the Cross as something a little easier to do,” she said.
In this format, each student, wearing a costume and carrying appropriate props, stands completely still in what looks like a freeze-frame when the spotlight goes on and their shadows go up onto the screen.
“It’s hard to stay in some of those poses and try not to move or shake,” said Bo. “You’re also taking it to heart and trying to give it deeper meaning.”
Because the PSR students were of a broad range of ages, Mrs. Robertson settled on having the eighth-graders at Immaculate Conception School present the Shadow Stations.
“It’s nice that they’re all one age and are all around the same height,” she said. “They do very well.”
Several adults help set up a white screen with a bright light behind it at the front of Immaculate Conception Church.
Adults announce the 14 Stations, along with a brief reflection, and lead the singing of a verse of “Were You There?” between each Station.
“We have some great behind-the-scenes helpers,” said Mrs. Robertson.
Top of the list
Some I.C. School eighth-graders are members of neighboring St. Louis of France Parish in Bonnots Mill and choose to participate in that parish’s own Stations of the Cross presentation.
Those who take part at Immaculate Conception submit on paper their top-three preferences for performing roles or positions on the stage crew.
Bo listed Jesus, a soldier, and a member of the lighting brigade.
“It turned out that I was the only person who put Jesus down first,” he said. “That surprised me, but it’s how I got to be Jesus.”
He was curious about what it would be like and whether he could do it all.
“It helped me develop more of a sense of what struggles he went through,” said Bo.
After the last Station — “Jesus is Buried in the Tomb” – the cast members, including Jesus, step back into the light and walk toward the screen.
“It was as if Jesus was raised up and they were all following him again,” said Mrs. Brandt.
There is no applause at the end of the Shadow Stations. Everyone departs silently to think about what they saw, heard and sang.
Labor of love
Mrs. Robertson said this year’s students were great to work with.
“I think they get more out of it than they realize until they’re behind the screen listening to the music,” she said. “As they’re singing the song, it kind of puts you in that moment.”
During the daytime presentation for fellow I.C. School students and parents, their teacher was in the choir loft at the back of the church, serving as narrator.
“So, the kids had to know when to get into place,” said Mrs. Robertson. “They couldn’t be goofing around behind the screen. No one was going to be there to direct them.
“So, they really took on an adult role in doing each Station on their own,” she said. “Making sure the props were in the right place and everything was done correctly.”
She said she hopes activities such as these help make the students’ faith strong, so that it stays intact through high school and whatever comes next.
“I pray that they work hard and make more good friendships along the way, that they keep all the things that they’ve done here in mind as they move on,” she said.
This year’s seventh-graders told her they’re eager to present the Shadow Stations as eighth-graders next year.
“They’re looking forward to having that leadership role and being able to take this on for their classmates, their town, their parish, and also for the whole school,” she said.
Many of Mrs. Robertson’s past students talk about how having been in the Passion Play still sticks with them.
“It’s interesting to see how many kids remember those things as influential moments in their grade school years,” she stated.
