The Way of the Cross originated in the 13th century when Christian pilgrims flocked to the Templar Knight's controlled Jerusalem in a desire to walk the Via Della Rosa to Golgotha in emulation of the last weary walk of Jesus to his death and resurrection.  By the early 15th century, Saracen forces had regained control of the Holy Land making it difficult for supplicants to fulfill their dreams of pilgrimage.​It was at this time that the Order of Franciscan Brothers provided a substitute devotional in every church.  It consists of meditating successively before fourteen Stations of the Cross, each representing a particular stage in the Passion of Christ, with icons depicting each station by paintings, sculptural bas-reliefs or some visual device as an aid to devotion.​​​​​The spark of an idea came to Aksel Pedersen over 50 years ago when he saw Barnett Newman's non-objective version of the Stations of the Cross.  Intellectually he found the large paintings of variegated stripes intriguing but not satisfying spiritually.  In 2009 his idea for the "stations" started to form culminating in these paintings.