At the start of the Lenten journey, 40 days seemed like a
long time. But while they passed too quickly, I look forward now to these holy
days of the Paschal Triduum. Each year I marvel at the graces that flow during
each of the Holy Week observations.
A year ago I made my first Holy Thursday pilgrimage to seven
“Altars of Repose.” Here is a story I wrote about my experience.
Spending time with our Lord: Visit to seven Altars of Repose an ancient tradition
BROWNSVILLE — This past Triduum my husband and I shared a
new pilgrimage experience, new to us as it is actually an ancient tradition of
visiting seven Altars of Repose on Holy Thursday. The practice is linked to the
early Christian custom of visiting sites which were significant to Christ’s
Passion.
In Rome, pilgrims visit seven basilicas (St. Peter, St. Paul
Outside the Wall, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme,
St. Lawrence Outside the Walls and St. Sebastian). In recent times, when seven
churches are not possible, making it to at least three suffices.
I had heard about the tradition, but had not paid much
attention until an intern last year recounted how he and his friends delighted
in their visit from one church to the next. Bishop Emeritus Raymundo J. Peña
for years practiced the tradition, and Bishop Daniel E. Flores shared photos of
his own visits on his blog one year.
Bishop Flores said it gives him great joy to see how the
faithful prepare a place to receive the Lord after the Sacrament is taken in
procession at the end the Holy Thursday liturgy, and to see young people and
families spending time in adoration and prayer. The procession with the
Sacrament symbolizes the Lord going out to face the Passion.
For my husband and me it was a grace-filled experience and a
perfect start to the Triduum. God’s graces overflowed that evening as we
visited the Altars of Repose at seven different churches. We started at the
Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville and made our way to our home
parish St. Anthony Church in Harlingen. My husband and I chose churches that connected us to our
families and sacraments.
Among the churches we visited were Our Lady of
Guadalupe Church where I was baptized; St. Joseph Church where my husband
received all his sacraments of initiation and St. Luke Church, my parish church
until I moved away and where we were married 26 years ago. The pilgrimage
filled us with immense joy. We also visited Holy Family Church in Brownsville
and St. Benedict Church in San Benito.
As empty nesters we are still adjusting to our children,
young adults now, living away from home. I miss our family tradition of walking
the Stations of the Cross together on Good Friday and preparing Easter baskets
and painting cascarones in the days leading up to Easter.
Our Thursday pilgrimage took us on a nostalgic “This is your
life” tour. Fue un recordido de memorias. As we visited the different churches
in Brownsville we drove past places bursting with history from our youth and
growing years. We drove by both our elementary schools and playgrounds that are
nearly gone now; we passed by my husband’s middle school and our high school –
Homer Hanna High; we passed by old neighborhoods, favorite hamburger joints,
streets where I learned to drive.
Each Altar of Repose afforded us time with Christ, time for
prayer, and time to remember the blessings in our lives, and always the Lord
was at our side. During our drive time from one church to the next, we shared
stories and talked about how some things have changed and how some remain
intact.
Some churches felt particularly like home. At Our Lady of
Guadalupe Church, where I was baptized, I could hear my mother’s voice. I
remember the pews we sat in at the time toward the back of the church. I
remember she pointed to the altar and told me Christ was behind the closed
doors in the gold tabernacle. “Ahi esta Cristo,” she said. Maybe I was four or
five. I remember I puzzled about her comment for a long time, trying in my
child’s mind to make sense of what she meant.
I wanted to spend more time in each of the churches, but
conscious of the time, we had to move on to make sure we made it to all seven
before midnight when Adoration ends on Holy Thursday. Each altar was surrounded
with bouquets of flowers and candles that flickered to give light in the
darkness. Each carefully prepared and adorned so that the faithful could spend
time in silence and meditation before the Lord. No one was sleeping. Everyone
was keeping watch in the “Garden of Gethsemane.”
Along the way we saw people we knew who were taking part of
the ancient tradition of visiting the different Altars of Repose that evening.
You could feel the joy that lifted each of us on our Maundy Thursday
pilgrimage.
At St. Luke Church, it was comforting to hear the familiar
voice of Helen Vargas, who was leading the children in prayer before the Altar
or Repose. It felt like home. Helen was my confirmation teacher and the choir
director 32 years ago when I attended there. How beautiful that she continues
to teach new generations the traditions of our faith.
When we arrived in Harlingen, we ended at St. Anthony
Catholic Church, our home parish where our son and daughter received their
sacraments. The Altar of Repose was set up in the original church which is now
used as a parish hall and as a cafeteria for the Catholic school. The doors
opened out to the street where passing cars could glimpse the glimmering candles
before the Blessed Sacrament.
What a blessing to see so many keeping watch with Christ,
and continuing the ancient tradition. Our pilgrimage reaffirmed how God has
been constant in our lives and remains so. I pray for the grace to honor the
days he provides and that I may be constant in my attempts to listen and follow
his direction in the days to come.
(Originally published in May 2014 edition of The Valley
Catholic newspaper)
