On Holy Thursday, after the Eucharist is removed from the main tabernacle to an “altar of repose,” many Catholics will embark upon an ancient pilgrimage of visiting seven churches that evening.
It is a practice that many say hearkens back to St. Philip Neri and a tradition in Rome of visiting the seven basilicas as an act of penance during Lent.
Following Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the church asks its people to spend some time in private prayer before the Blessed Sacrament just as the apostles joined Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion.
There is no hard and fast rule for the pilgrimage. People can visit fewer than seven churches or more.
“It’s all about pilgrimage,” said Vincentian Father Chris Robinson, professor of religious studies at DePaul University. “The whole thing is about being in motion, especially Holy Thursday, while you go and pray with Jesus who is in the garden, if you will.”
Pilgrims journey to where Jesus is, which puts them at the foot of the cross and leads them to the Resurrection, Robinson explained.
“The church has a very ancient tradition of pilgrimage. We see evidence of that in the stations of the cross,” he said. “If you can’t make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, you visit the Via Dolorosa through the stations of the cross.”
At its core, visiting seven churches on Holy Thursday is about spending time with Jesus.
“Jesus says, ‘Stay here. Pray with me. Watch and wait,’” Robinson said. “That’s what people do on Holy Thursday night. They are waiting and praying with Jesus and they symbolize this by going from one church to another.”
In some parts of the country, like New Orleans, the tradition is visiting nine churches — nine being the number of days for a novena.
Visiting the different churches is an opportunity for people to get out of their neighborhoods and explore the different churches in Chicago, Robinson said.
It is also an opportunity to get closer to Jesus as the Triduum begins, he said.
When people walk into a church they will notice that the tabernacle door is open and it is empty. They will also notice the stripped altar and subdued lights, Robinson said.
“You look into this starkness, then off to the side is this beautiful decorated altar with candles. It’s like beauty in the darkness,” Robinson said. “If people are willing to really enter into it, all of the non-verbals, all of the stuff of being Catholic really comes to a crescendo.”