Maundy Thursday

I know what I wrote at the start of this week but it was very humid and summer-ry hot this morning and I woke up late from our DVD marathon last night and I was, to put it plainly, too stubborn to do the Bisita Iglesia even if I promised to write my first hand experience if it. So sorry I messed up! Anyway, I’ll just share a couple of my thoughts and things I heard and learned from family and friends.

The Bisita Iglesia is traditionally carried out on this day which involves visiting a church or several churches to pray at the altar of repose or do the Stations of the Cross. Last week, I brought it up to a few friends who surprisingly shared different practices they observe during the bisita.

As far as I know and can remember, my lola (grandma) told me that nine churches are visited during the bisita, where in every church the Stations of the Cross is prayed. Some visits 14 churches since there are 14 stations in the Station of the Cross. Here in Manila, the bisita is typically observed walking from one church to another during broad day light.

On the other hand, my friend Dei (who is from a devout clan in the North and who formerly attended a seminary school) said that the bisita should be carried out after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, usually ending by seven or eight o’clock. His family only visits nine churches and prayed at the altar of repose where the Blessed Sacrament can also be seen. He further added that the bisita should be completed before the clock strikes midnight. When I asked him the rationale behind their practice, he averred that the essence of this practice is to keep the faithful awake and on watch for on this day Jesus Christ was ceased. I quote the following from his email –

After the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the consecrated host will be brought via procession to an altar of repose prepared for vigil. This ritual commemorates the praying and agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It must be remembered that Jesus was accompanied by apostles Peter, John and Andrew (I’m not sure with the last one) but Jesus went farther after He instructed His apostles to pray that their spirits might be strengthened. After some time, Jesus came back and found His apostles asleep. He was saddened with this sight and He woke them saying “Can you not watch even for an hour with me?”, hence the vigil for an hour or so during Maundy Thursday and all Thursdays before First Friday of every month.

I maintain that some Catholics practice bisita iglesia erroneously because of lack of guidance by their priests. We are supposed to keep watch to the Blessed Sacrament until midnight to accompany and comply with Jesus’ request to pray with Him in asking the Father for strength to fulfill His mission. Remember that those were one of the MOST IMPORTANT HOURS in Jesus’ life because it was during those hours that He pleaded God to take away the cup of suffering from Him if it were His will but finally decided to drink it for the love of you.

The conversations I had with Dei inspired me to look into the practices and traditions of my former faith. Maybe I’ll go about the celebration of this rite next year.