Each year after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the priest processes with the Eucharist to an altar of repose, a designated place away from the church’s main tabernacle. There, the body of Christ will reside until late into the evening. The altar is typically surrounded by greenery, flowers and candles. Worshippers pray before it, symbolically waiting with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Some participate in the traditional Seven Churches Pilgrimage, visiting the altars of repose at seven parishes. The Office of Youth, Campus, and Young Adult Ministries encouraged youths and families to make the pilgrimage, and provided reflections for different age groups. Youth and young adult groups, families, clergy and others were seen traveling around the diocese, visiting with Jesus on Holy Thursday.
After Mass at Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling, hundreds crowded into Atonement Hall to pray before the altar of repose, which was adorned with white lilies, blue hydrangeas and pink azaleas. At St. Veronica Church in Chantilly, families filtered in and out of the parish hall, taking a moment to pray in front of the tabernacle before setting off to another parish. At St. Joseph Church in Herndon, a small altar surrounded by white daisies was set up in the middle of the spacious hall. Pilgrims knelt or sat on the tiled floor, closing out the first day of the Triduum with prayer.
