WAYLAND CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF THEIR ICONIC WAY OF THE CROSS WALK

BY SUZIE WELLS

Each year since 1973, Christians from Wayland and surrounding areas celebrate Easter by symbolically retracing the steps Jesus took to his cruci xion on Calvary. Midday Good Friday each year, residents meet at the Wayland Town Hall to begin the 2-1/2 mile trek to and then up Selbig Hill, renamed Calvary for the occasion.

Along the way, walkers stop for prayers and hymns at 14 stations, where volunteers read from the liturgy. e pilgrimage ends at the base of a 25-foot-tall I-beam steel cross erected atop the hill in 1974 by John Landino. Typically, a priest will then give a Sermon on the Mount at the hilltop.

Landino, then a village trustee, got the idea for this “Way of the Cross” walk while hiking with his sons to the peak of the hill now called Calvary Hill on County Line Rd., overlooking the community. Landino explains that in about half a mile, the hill rises 500 feet, which makes for quite an incredible sledding hill. While walking it with his kids, though, Landino, a devout Catholic, said he re ected on Christ’s walk to his death.

Landino saw the hill as a challenge for the faithful, and so presented to the Council of Churches the idea of having participants walk up Selbig Hill for such a Cross Walk. One of the priests at the time suggested making it a community walk from the town hall, and helicopters ying overhead to record the event. Other years, when there’s major rain or other bad weather on Good Friday, only a dozen or so people make it out.

Regardless of the weather, and even at age 84 now, Landino himself makes the walk up the hill each and every year. ey host whomever from the community wants to join them each year (other than 2020 due to COVID). Landino says, “ ere’ve been some faithful who come every single year.” ere were a few ladies in their late 80s who did the entire walk and were such an inspiration to others, Landino says. One year, a young adult from Rochester came to this event saying it was on her list of things to do and she had such youthful energy, it a was a bit surprising that by the end of the trek, she was utterly exhausted. It’s de nitely an undertaking for those who choose to participate, he says. Hence the varying levels of participation.

Landino nds his Catholic faith inspires him, calling him to do this one thing while he’s alive. “Religion is a tough thing,” he says, “and it’s changed a lot. I feel I’ve been blessed. I like to give back for my Christianity before I die.” He feels this Cross Walk is his way to give back.

Many participants in the early days especially chose to carry their own crosses or cruci xes as evidence of humility, according to reporter Al Wilson. Landino describes those early crosses as e crosses and the number of participants may have shrunk over the years, but the dedication of faithful participants has not wavered. Landino says he has walked the hill each and every Good Friday for the past y years, and almost every year he has had a community of Christians with him.

In its heyday, this Cross Walk brought hundreds of Christians of all denominations to the unique occasion each year. According to 1975 D&C coverage, “ ose who are able, walk the full distance. Others drive to the 14 stations to meditate, pray, and sing. Others wait at the top of the hill and watch the pilgrims as they make their way up the steep incline to the summit.”

Landino says that is how the event works to this day. He says some years, there were so many participants, they had news reporter

Landino says the Cross Walk is a bit more casual today compared with that in the early years because it is such an undertaking for the faithful, but those who stick with it feel deeply connected to their faith as he does.

Headdsthatmaybethisyear,they’lldosomethingspecialbecause it’s the ieth anniversary of the walk, so if you’d like to stay in the know, check out the town of Wayland’s website or social media. But meanwhile, this Cross Walk is one of Wayland’s special stories.

MARCH 2023

This celebration is a great opportunity to learn more about mother nature.

In ancient times, kingdoms in Babylon, Egypt, and Persia spent a huge amount of their cities’ wealth on constructing elaborate gardens. What’s more, they pioneered the technology of irrigation systems, which became a vital part of modern-day gardening.