The tradition of visiting seven churches after attending the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday hearkens back to 1553, when, as a countermeasure to the hedonistic celebrations of Carnevale, Saint Philip Neri began gathering the faithful to visit the seven major basilicas of Rome. Beginning in the pre-dawn hours, he would lead them in walking to all seven churches, with prayers, hymns and a brief sermon at each. Each year the number of those attending grew until it reached several thousand.
Over the centuries this tradition continued, becoming a popular practice year round among pilgrims visiting Rome, especially during Jubilee years. However, as this devotion has spread to other parts of the world, and local churches have come to substitute for the basilicas of Rome, it is most often practiced on Holy Thursday, since many churches remain open late into the night for visitation of the Blessed Sacrament at the altar of repose.
Following Christ’s admonition to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, “remain here, and watch with me,” (Mt 26:38) those who participate in this devotion recall the journey our Savior made after leaving the supper room, beginning with the garden of Gethsemane and ending at Golgotha.
This booklet of meditations and prayers has been carefully designed in the vein of the beloved Stations of the Cross by St. Alphonsus Liguouri, in order to lead the faithful in a fruitful reflection on these hours in which our Lord taught us the breadth and depth of His love for mankind.
This booklet has been submitted for an imprimatur but we are still awaiting the final approval. It has passed the review of two censors, so we have decided to post this version as a free download so that the faithful may use it this Lenten season. When the imprimatur is received, this file will be updated.
Printing instructions: when printing, use Adobe PDF's booklet printing feature! Go to File>Print and when the print screen comes up, look for the box labeled "Page Handling." There is a drop down for "page scaling" that offers various options. Choose "booklet printing" and double-sided printing. Fold and staple!
5.5" x 8.5" printable booklet 24 pages
