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| Earlier in the day, my friends and I delivered thirteen sepulcru to Rev. Msgr. Thomas Caserta, Pastor of the Shrine Church of St. Bernadette in Dyker Heights |
After evening Mass at the Shrine Church of Saint Bernadette in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn last night, I joined my friends on their customary pilgrimage to Saint Francis Cabrini Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and Saint Finbar Church in Bath Beach, Brooklyn for the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.*
Each church had its own beautifully decorated Altar of Repose, which represents the Holy Sepulcher, or Christ’s tomb. We lit a few candles, made our donations and said our prayers at all of them. My friends also made the traditional southern Italian offering of potted wheat sprouts grown in the dark. Called
sepulcru, the pallid plants symbolize life born in darkness and the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday.
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The Altar of Repose at the Shrine Church of Saint Bernadette
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| After "the watching," when the Eucharist is processed to the altar of repose, hundreds of parishioners lined up to light candles and say their prayers |
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The Altar of Repose at Saint Francis Cabrini Church in Bensonhurst
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| Pietà inside St. Francis Cabrini Church |
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The Altar of Repose at Saint Finbar Church in Bath Beach
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* For many the visitation of three churches on Holy Thursday has become the norm, however it was originally suppose to be seven, to correspond with the seven stops Jesus made on his way to Calvary.
