Prayers came. The church was built. How Cincinnati's praying the steps tradition started

Jeff Suess, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·2 min read
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Ninety-four steps. Ninety-four prayers.

Starting well before dawn on the Friday before Easter, Cincinnati’s Catholics offer a prayer on each step as they ascend the stairs from Gregory Street in Mount Adams to the doors of Holy Cross-Immaculata Church.

The praying the steps tradition in Mount Adams has taken place for more than 160 years.
The praying the steps tradition in Mount Adams has taken place for more than 160 years.

The pilgrimage starts at 12:01 a.m. on Good Friday, the day that commemorates Jesus’ death on the cross. The procession lasts throughout the day. Rain or shine.

The faithful have been “praying the steps” for more than 160 years, since before the church was completed.

The money came, the church was built

Archbishop John Baptist Purcell laid the cornerstone for what was then called Immaculata Church on Aug. 21, 1859. He had vowed to build a church on the city’s highest point, which was on the crest of Mount Adams near the Cincinnati Observatory.

“It is hoped that the Catholics of Cincinnati … will contribute liberally to the building as a monument to the Divine glory,” the Catholic Telegraph reported at the time.

Purcell asked parishioners to climb the hill and pray that money would be raised to build the church.

The money came, the church was built. Immaculata Church held its first mass on Dec. 9, 1860.

People pray the steps on Good Friday, April 4, 1953.
People pray the steps on Good Friday, April 4, 1953.

Still offering prayers every Good Friday

Thousands of people have returned, clutching rosary beads and offering prayers, every Good Friday since. Through the Civil War. Through the Industrial Revolution. Through seasons of celebration and sorrow, prayers were offered up.

"These steps, which have upheld numberless human feet and which have felt the dropping of many a tear shed over sin committed, seemed almost to vibrate with emotion, as if they bore the burden of human sorrow being carried to the feet of the crucifix,” The Enquirer wrote in 1928.

Thousands make the pilgrimage to pray the steps at Holy Cross-Immaculata Church in Mount Adams on Good Friday, March 29, 2024.
Thousands make the pilgrimage to pray the steps at Holy Cross-Immaculata Church in Mount Adams on Good Friday, March 29, 2024.

The worn-out wooden steps were swapped out for concrete in 1911. Photos of believers praying the steps in the 1940s show men in long coats and fedoras, women with their heads wrapped in scarves. In the 2000s, they wore Reds caps and jeans. Sometimes in raincoats or under umbrellas.

Fashions change. Styles change. Some things don’t change. They are tradition.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Cincinnati's Good Friday tradition started over 160 years ago