Editor’s Note: We are pleased to reprint this reflection by Father Joseph Marcello, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Trumbull, originally published in April 2022.
One of the cherished customs of Holy Week, which many people describe as one of the highlights of their entire year, is the practice of visiting Christ in the Blessed Sacrament at seven churches on the night of Holy Thursday. In recent years, many people have discovered or rediscovered this ancient and beautiful custom, one which speaks deeply to the heart on a most holy night which is filled with graces and blessings.
Every year on Holy Thursday, at the conclusion of the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Mass does not end as usual; instead, the celebrant, servers, and the assembled faithful process with the Blessed Sacrament from the altar to a beautifully decorated repository usually located outside the church’s sanctuary—either at a side shrine, in the lower church or elsewhere.
This movement from the altar to the repository is an entering into the moment at which Jesus and the Apostles left the Upper Room, crossed the Kidron Valley, and made their way into the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ underwent his agony of anguished prayer.
During his time in the Garden of Gethsemane, an additional suffering for Christ was that he found his disciples asleep during his hour of need. “He said to Peter, ‘So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’” (Mt 26: 40-41).
Through the centuries, generations of Catholics, moved by this haunting and poignant question of Christ, have responded to him from their own time and place, accompanying him in his agony in the Garden by maintaining a vigil of prayer and presence with him at the repository, which represents the Garden of Gethsemane, on Holy Thursday night. There they are present before the same Christ, now in the Eucharist, who suffered in the Garden on Holy Thursday.
Some people prefer to remain in prayer at one repository, perhaps in the same church where they attended the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Others visit the Blessed Sacrament at and pray in seven churches. The practice of visiting seven churches on Holy Thursday seems to trace its origins to St. Philip Neri (1515-1595) who, to foster the faith and devotion of the people of Rome, organized pilgrimages to visit Christ in the Eucharist in churches around the city on Holy Thursday.
As they walked from church to church, the group would sing and pray while fasting, uniting themselves with Christ in his agony. St. Philip Neri’s pilgrimage itinerary included the four major basilicas of Rome: St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls, as well as three of its minor basilicas: St. Lawrence Outside the Walls, Holy Cross in Jerusalem, and St. Sebastian Outside the Walls.
In St. Philip’s time, and until the Holy Week reforms of Pope Pius XII in 1955, the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper was celebrated in the morning, so this pilgrimage extended through most of the day.
In our own time, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper is fittingly celebrated in the evening, and adoration at the repositories is maintained for a prolonged period after Mass, with many parishes extending it until midnight.
College student Patrick Dineen describes his experience: “The tradition of visiting the seven churches has been powerful for me because it gears you to dive into the Triduum. Visiting Jesus in the different repositories with family and friends is a deeply moving experience which always results in great prayer time and a collection of self for what is really happening each Holy Week.”
Fellow college student Benjamin Van Tine concurs: “The peace of God is encountered in a unique way at the repository because one is surrounded by the beauty of nature, the silence of the night, and above all the physical presence of Christ. What a privilege it is to pray with Christ as he experiences something we all do as humans: pain and stress. At the repository, we encounter Christ’s humanity and divinity in a very physical, visual and intimate way that is not experienced in many other places.”
Parishioner Kelly Anne Murphy echoes this: “The Holy Thursday pilgrimage is a cherished tradition in our family. It is a self-directed journey suitable for all ages with time for questions and explanation all along the way. For the children, it is an exciting adventure under a full moon, visiting Jesus fully present in each church. We quietly marvel at the beautiful altars, say a prayer, and move at their pace to the next church—or home as time and attention allow. The children’s pace, always quicker than mine, reminds me that after his arrest, Jesus did not have the luxury of prayerful contemplation in one place either!”
