The painters of sacred subjects for churches used to divide the stages of the Crucifixion into seven, and latterly into fourteen. The first importation of the stations into Europe was said to be by a citizen of Nuremberg, who returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy City in 1477, and soon after engaged Kraft, a friend of Albert Dürer, to execute seven sculptures for stone pillars to be erected in the city of Nuremberg. The fourteen stations afterwards came to be entitled as follows: (1) Jesus is condemned; (2) Jesus takes the cross; (3) Jesus falls for the first time; (4) Jesus meets His blessed mother; (5) Simon the Cyrenian appears; (6) Jesus meets St. Veronica; (7) Jesus falls for the second time; (8) the daughters of Jerusalem; (9) Jesus falls for the third time; (10) Jesus is stripped of His garments; (11) Jesus is nailed on the cross; (12) Jesus dies on the cross; (13) Jesus is laid in the arms of His blessed mother; (14) the entombment. THE CROWN OF THORNS, THE SPONGE, AND THE BLOOD. Not only the cross, but the crown of thorns, also had its history. The crown of thorns had been preserved for several centuries at Constantinople, and had been pledged to the Venetians for a large sum of money, as is stated afterwards in more detail. The crown of thorns was at last given by the Emperor Baldwin II. to St. Louis, King of France, in acknowledgment of the king's contributions to defend the holy places, and he redeemed it from the Venetians. It was carried in a sealed case by holy religious men from Venice into France; and St. Louis and his family, and prelates and princes, met the holy treasure five leagues beyond Sens. The king and his brother were barefoot and in their shirts, and were bathed in tears, and a great procession followed them. It was ultimately lodged in La Sainte Chapelle, the exquisite Holy Chapel at Paris, built for the purpose of receiving it. A part of the cross was also afterwards received and added to the deposit there. The holy sponge used at the Crucifixion was shown at Rome in the church of St. John Lateran tinged with blood. The holy lance was kept at Jerusalem with the main part of the cross. It was afterwards buried at Antioch to preserve it from the Saracens. It was at a later date taken to Jerusalem, and then to Constantinople. It was said the Emperor Baldwin pawned the point of it to raise money, and it was redeemed by St. Louis of France and taken to the Holy Chapel in Paris. At a later date, in 1492, the Sultan sent the lance as a present to Pope Innocent VIII., stating that the point was in the possession of the King of France. The blood of Christ was also shown in some places, particularly at Mantua. THE PAWNING OF THE CROWN OF THORNS (A.D. 1213).