Mystics like Sr. Anne Catherine Emmerick the greatest visionary, said that the Virgin Mary
and early Christians used to venerate the Via Delarosa, the way of the Cross, from the very
beginning. She also said that Mary also kept up the Stations of the Cross while she lived in
Ephesus.
Stations of the Cross date back to the fourth century
.- The Stations of the Cross in the form most American Catholics know best are of comparatively recent vintage in Church terms, dating back to the year the U.S. Constitution was ratified. However, their history goes back well before that, to the days when pilgrims were first openly able to go to Jerusalem and walk in the footsteps of Jesus on Good Friday.
The emperor Constantine permitted Christians to legally worship in the Roman Empire in 313 after 250 years of persecution. In 335, he erected the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the site where Jesus’ tomb was believed to have been.
Processions of pilgrims to the church, especially during Holy Week, began soon after its completion.
read the rest of the article; Stations date back to Fourth Century