Holy Thursday Pilgrimage

There is an ancient tradition in the Church where people visit seven churches on Holy Thursday to spend a few moments in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.  We adopted this tradition last year and last night about 40 students joined me in visiting five churches in Manchester.  We began at Saint Anselm Abbey Church for Night Prayer with the monks.  Night Prayer is the last prayer of the day for the monks and lasts about 10 minutes.  Following this we went down the road to Saint Raphael's Parish.  Their Mass was still going on so we waited outside and snuck in after communion.  We were able to join the procession to the chapel of repose and spent a few moments in the chapel.  We then visited Saint Anthony's, Saint Joseph Cathedral, and finally Saint Catherine's.

We ended our evening with ice cream at the Backroom.  Their ice cream/take out area was closed so we went to the restaurant.  They said they could seat us but when I told them how many of us there were they decided to open the take out area just for us.  It was a great way to end the night.

I am grateful to Mr. Carnevale for all his help in encouraging the students to attend this pilgrimage.  The students are always surprised how much fun they have doing it.