Last night I participated in a 7 Churches Pilgrimage.
"After Mass on Holy Thursday, the Blessed Sacrament is placed on an Altar of Repose for Adoration by the faithful at participating Parishes. The tradition of visiting seven churches is typically credited to St. Philip Neri. The faithful are encouraged to visit seven parishes and adore the Lord in the Eucharist.
There is something powerful about making a late-night pilgrimage to our Eucharistic Lord," especially combined with fasting.
There is an optional guide that you can print off and take with you on your adventure, where you focus on one aspect of the Agony of our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. I found these reflections to be wonderful and a few of them brought out aspects of our Lord’s agony in the garden that I never really considered.
After each devotion, I would Pray for someone who has passed, who has had an impact on my life as a Christian.
If you complete 7 (out of ten) Churches, Attend Mass either on Holy Thursday or Good Friday (or both) and have gone to Reconciliation within a week of the pilgrimage, there is a Plenary Indulgence that the pilgrim may receive. If you would like to read more about indulgences (which are sometimes seen negatively, because of the buse of indulgences in Marth Luther’s day), I would point you to paragraph 1478 in the Catechism.
Does your Diocese or area have this tradition? I was listening to the radio on my way home and heard one lady say that she has been doing this since she was 3 years old, but I had never heard of it before. I will definitely do it again next year.
It was adorable, there was a toddler at one of my stops and he knelt and was really into it.
A College-aged kid in passing said he only had three more to go and I told him that he is ahead of me. I know what he was thinking. How are you going to finish by midnight? “Good luck to you,” he said before turning and adding, “The next city up has a few great stops, but one is quite dark, so if you are doing the devotional, it is tough to read unless you kneel up front.” I thanked him for the tip and we asked the Lord to bless one another on the rest of our journey.
I liked doing it on my own. Some do it in groups. I might ask a friend to do it with me next year. I think he would really enjoy it.