"As I have done…"

 Today is Holy Thursday and we marked the morning with our annual prayer service.  This year students from St. Joseph Regional Junior High School joined us.  For many years, we have had a Washing of the Feet service where our principal, Mr. Mailloux '72, washes the feet of 12 members of the school community.  The service began with a song by our choir, an opening prayer, then the singing of "Jesus the Lord" which is a canticle from the Letter to the Philippines.  It's one of my favorite songs and I had asked the choir if they could sing it this year, it's so beautiful.

Nick Capobianco '15 then read the gospel passage where Jesus washes the feet of His disciples.  He stopped at the point where Jesus had washed the feet and the 12 from the school went to the middle of the gym and Mr. Mailloux washed their feet.  The group included Trinity students, Trinity teachers, one of our cafeteria workers, and two students from St. Joe's.  It's always a touching moment and a reminder that in the end, we are all equal and we are called to love and serve everyone.

From here we transitioned into our Stations of the Cross ceremony.  We used to produce our own but last year, the Mystery Players asked if they could perform.  The Mystery Players is a group of high school students who act out the Sorrowful Mysteries on Fridays in Lent at local churches.  Half of the group is made up of Trinity students and are directed by Mrs. Tarr P'11, '13, and '17 among others.  They always do a magnificent job and you could have heard a pin drop in the gym.  Jon Mercurio '15 was Jesus, Shannon Menard '15 was Mary, Bryan Dufour '14, Jason Dufour '16, and Jacob Blomquist '16 were Roman soldiers, Molly Hayden '16 was a member of the crowd as was Kelsey Mercurio '17.  David Tarr '17 ran the lights and the rest of the crew were from other schools.

The choir concluded the prayer service with a final hymn.

This is always a powerful way to enter into the Easter Triduum.  Tonight we will have our annual Holy Thursday pilgrimage where we will visit five Manchester churches and spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.  We will meet on the front steps of Saint Anselm Abbey Church at 7:15pm and all are welcome.