De sacrarum stationum veteri instituto a Xisto Quinto pont. max. revocato oratio habita in templo S. Sabinae in die Cinerum

If, however, honesty, utility, the dignity of the matter, the prospect of benefit, and the most abundant fruits do not move us in the least, what, I ask, could be brought forward to stir us? Must we flee to what is pleasant and attracts only by delight? Shall we think that sacred institutions should be rejected by us only because they are unpleasant and filled with no sweetness? Yet, it is not fitting that the body be delicate under a thorny head, and when Christ has appeared, oppressed by the most heavy weight of the Cross and crowned with the sharpest thorns fixed into his sacred head, should he who professes himself a follower of Christ immediately appear lying on feathers, overflowing with luxury, and surrounded on all sides by roses and violets? But we are engaged in this matter, Fathers, in which there is also room for joy. For although we concede that many works of Christian piety are entirely devoid of human pleasure and delight, we certainly affirm that this custom of sacred Stationes Stations (stational churches) is so sweet and pleasant that nothing could seem sweeter or more delightful, not even if it were sought in fervent vows. The journeys are short and pleasant: we either do not leave the city walls, or only as much as one would go out for the sake of the spirit; we travel through various regions of the same city; we look upon the monuments of antiquity; we repeat the rites, institutions, and ceremonies of the primitive Church; we visit the houses, oratories, and cemeteries of the most ancient Pontiffs; we recall the memories of the most holy martyrs. Hence those most sweet voices of the pious: here, in those ancient times, the Christian people were accustomed to pray, to hear the word of God, and to receive the Eucharist. Here the Emperor was baptized and cleansed from leprosy. These are those thresholds of the Apostles, most celebrated in the whole world. On this wooden altar, in crypts, in cemeteries, in private houses, when they could not stay in a fixed place, the Pontiffs performed sacred rites. Here Peter was affixed to the Cross; here Paul was beheaded; here they were struck with rods