What has become a Holy Thursday tradition in the Diocese of Cleveland returned April 17 as several hundred people participated in the Holy Night Hike. The weather was crisp, but dry throughout the hike.
Many began the evening by attending the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in St. John Cantius Church in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood. After Mass, they paused for prayer and then took to the streets, where they walked to six additional Catholic churches. At each church a brief reflection was read, the faithful were invited to stop inside, take a look around the churches – which were a century or more old – and spend a few minutes in prayer before moving along to the next sacred site. Some pilgrims joined the hike in progress while others visited only a few of the participating parishes.
Father Damian Ference, vicar for evangelization, said many of the hikers were from the diocesan Young Adult Ministry, led by Deacon Mike Hayes. Two groups, Catching Fire and Grapevine, helped coordinate the event.
(See photo gallery above.)
Among the hikers participating this year was Charbel Khachan, a Maronite Catholic, who is a member of the Catching Fire group. He was joined by about 14 fellow Maronite Catholics.
“I love this idea,” Khachan said. The Maronite Catholics are unable to have a hike since they have only one parish church in the area, he said, so they decided to participate in the diocesan event.
This year’s hikers visited the following churches:
- St. John Cantius
- St. Wendelin
- St. Emeric
- St. Malachi
- St. Patrick (Bridge Avenue/OhioCity)
- St. Augustine (Tremont)
- St. Andrew Kim (Korean Catholic Church)
Father Ference guided the hikers-- there were an estimated 150 in his group -- through the neighborhoods as they traveled between churches. A police car also kept watch over the group during parts of their pilgrimage.
At each stop, the group was greeted by parishioners and the pastor, when possible. Father Richard Bona, St. Emeric pastor, gave each hiker a holy card with a picture of St. Emeric, the son of King Stephen I of Hungary.
St. Patrick Parish welcomed the hikers with luminaries lining the sidewalk in front of the church. At nearby St. Malachi Church, hikers took time to view the Timothy Schmalz statue “Homeless Jesus” that was installed a few years ago in front of the church.
Father Ference, who studied in Rome, said it is a custom there to visit seven churches on Holy Thursday night.
The Blessed Sacrament is moved to an altar of repose that night after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, which commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, so the churches stayed open until 11 p.m. to allow the faithful to spend time in adoration and silent prayer, much like the apostles who kept watch with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion.