On Holy Thursday we remember Jesus celebrating the Last Supper and washing the feet of his 12 Apostles. We also then remember Jesus going to the garden to pray before his arrest. After Holy Thursday Mass the Eucharist is placed on a temporary "altar of repose" and it is a tradition to travel to Seven churches for adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. As Jesus asked his apostles to stay with him and pray in the garden, he also asks us to spend time with Him in adoration. While this tradition is supposed to be done after Holy Thursday Mass, with little children it would be very difficult to visit seven churches starting at 8pm! After getting the tip from a few others, I decided that we could start this tradition in our own way and visit Jesus in adoration during the day time on Holy Thursday at Seven Churches! I would love to one day be able to do this tradition in the evening with our family, but until that time we can still enjoy making this a great Holy Week tradition!
As we visited each church we prayed 2 Stations of the Cross at each location and lite one candle for a loved one who has passed away. We also really enjoyed looking at the similarities and differences of each church, how they displayed the Stations of the Cross, etc. It was a great morning and definitely something I look forward to continuing in the future!
Church 1 - The Church of the Holy Spirit
Church 2 - St. Cecilia's Cathedral
Church 3 - St. John's Catholic Church
Our Son Ryan at the Baptismal Font where he was baptized over 7 years ago!
Church 4 - St. Peter's Catholic Church
Church 5 - St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church
Church 6 - Our Lady of Lourdes
This is the church were my husband and I were married and our children love visiting here and hearing stories of our wedding day!
Church 7 - Immaculate Conception
After dinner we read the Bible story of the Last Supper and the Washing of the Feet. Our little ones then loved reenacting the story in their own ways.
Our oldest son Ryan is getting ready for his First Communion in about 1 1/2 weeks and I loved this moment as he is learning to receive Our Lord on his tongue.
Our little priests wanted to get out their Chasubles for Lent and Easter to make their experience more "real"!
Afterwards we spoke of how the Altar is stripped after the Holy Thursday Mass as Jesus died and was laid in the tomb. We stripped our prayer table of all but the Stations of the Cross which we prayed on Friday and the Crown of Thorns as a reminder to us of the day to come.
After I helped put our children to bed I snuck away for a while to our new parish where they had Adoration at the Altar of Repose. It was beautifully set up and a beautiful time for me to have some special quiet prayer time as we entered Good Friday.
