Devin Moore (seen here) and about 25 volunteers put in 416 hours to clean and paint the Stations of the Cross at St. Patrick Parish in Washington for his Eagle Scout project. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)

WASHINGTON — Those who want to meditate on the Stations of the Cross during a late summer afternoon may want to visit St. Patrick Church, where the outdoor Stations have been refurbished. The Eagle Scout project was directed by parishioner Devin Moore, a member of Boy Scout Troop 163.

“I wanted something that was close to Washington, not in East Peoria or Peoria,” he told The Catholic Post after the 9:30 a.m. Mass at St. Patrick last Sunday. “And I wanted to do something that wasn’t as small as clearing a trail, but also wasn’t as big as making a helicopter memorial.”

His mother, Beth, suggested working on the Stations of the Cross, located along a sidewalk behind the church. They had been the project of another Eagle Scout and parishioner, Matthew West, more than 10 years ago, and were now in disrepair.

With the permission of Father Steve Willard, pastor, Devin and a group of volunteers removed the Stations, which had accumulated mold and dirt, and power washed them. Then they stained the wood again and painted each of the 14 plaques depicting the passion and death of Christ with gold and silver paint. A protective Plexiglas panel was added to keep as much rain off the images as possible.

They placed a light at the top of each Station so people could continue to pray, even as the sun was setting.

Fresh mulch was placed around the plants at the base of each one.

The entire project required about 416 volunteer hours, with 200 hours given to painting the plaques alone.

Devin, who is already a Life Scout, has one more requirement and one merit badge to earn before he can attain the rank of Eagle Scout. He must also finish the review of his project.

“I really like how it turned out and I’ve been getting a lot of compliments from people who say they like how they look now,” he said.

In addition to singing in the choir at St. Patrick Church, Devin made a TEC weekend last year and has already served on a TEC team. He just started his senior year at Washington High School, where he sings in the choir, is involved in the school musical, and plays snare drums in the marching band.

He is considering attending Illinois Central College for two years to work on his general education requirements and would like to study social work at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville after that.