Holy Thursday Seven Church Pilgrimmage
April 6th 2023
7 pm- Midnight

Young adults from the Eastside Family and beyond are invited to join us for a centuries-long Holy Thursday tradition. The origin of the Seven Churches Visitation is typically credited to St. Philip Neri and is practiced by Catholics around the world. The devotion can also be traced back to the Station Churches of Rome, where the tradition is still practiced. 

The tradition of visiting Seven Churches on Holy Thursday grew out of this time of prayer and adoration that follows Mass. Jesus asked His disciples to stay and watch with Him while they were in the garden. This tradition of mindful watching is a sort of pilgrimage to various altars of repose in different churches that correspond to each of the seven places, or "stations", that were made by Jesus between the Last Supper in the Upper Room to His crucifixion on the cross.
The seven stations consist of: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus bound and taken before Annas, Jesus taken before the High Priest, Jesus taken before Pilate, Jesus taken before Herod, Jesus taken before Pilate again, and Jesus given the crown of thorns and led to His crucifixion.

If you are interested in participating, we would invite you to join us after the 7 pm Holy Thursday Mass at the Altar of Repose in St. Cecilia. We will gather as a group to pray the first "station", and then depart from there for the next six churches. The itinerary we will be following is listed below, and please feel welcome to complete as much of this schedule with us as you desire. This year we will be carpooling in a caravan to each church to make it easier on people to go at their own speed and "choose their own adventure." To get a sense of numbers and willingness to drive others, we kindly request that you fill out the brief form listed below. All are certainly welcome, however, if you do not get a chance to sign up!

Thank you for your desire to join us in preparing our hearts for Christ's Resurrection at Easter! Please feel free to reach out to Haley Wolfe (hwolfe@eastsideregion.org) or Gabby Kromer (kromer.gabby@gmail.com) with any questions.