For the final Friday of Lent, the Downtown Kenosha Catholic parishes will offer a special Stations of the Cross at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, April 11 at St. Elizabeth Church. Come and pray with us for an unforgettable experience!

Amelia Spierer (soprano), Kaisa Herrmann (mezzo-soprano), Kevin Burrow (organ), and the DTKC strings will present individual movements from Stabat Mater by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi after the appropriate station during the evening’s devotion using the prayers from St. Alphonsus Liguori’s The Way of the Cross.

Composed in 1736, shortly before Pergolesi’s untimely death at the age of 26, this musical setting of the medieval Latin hymn reflects on the sorrow of the Virgin Mary as she stands at the foot of the cross during the Crucifixion of Jesus. The title, Stabat Mater, comes from the opening line of the text, which translates to “The sorrowful mother stood.”

The vocal melodies are lyrical and direct, often tinged with chromaticism to heighten the sense of mourning, while the interplay between the two voices in the duets—such as the famous “Stabat Mater Dolorosa” and “Quando corpus morietur”—creates a dialogue-like intimacy, drawing the listener into the Virgin Mary’s sorrow at the foot of the cross with consummate elegance, intricate dissonances, and a poised equilibrium of anguish and grace.

Preview "Stabat Mater" by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi by CLICKING HERE.