Churches throughout Western New York hosted Holy Thursday Mass, commemorating the Lord’s Supper, His final supper before his betrayal and crucifixion the next day.
Churches remained open following Mass to allow Catholics the opportunity to renew the tradition of the Seven Churches Visitation. Each church visited on Holy Thursday night represents one of the stops Jesus made between His Last Supper and His death: going to the garden in Gethsemane to pray, being brought before Annas upon his arrest, then being taken before Caiaphas, then to Pontius Pilate, then to Herod, then back to Pilate, and finally to Golgotha (or Calvary) where Jesus was crucified.
Those organizing the excursion from St. Leo the Great Parish in Amherst decided to keep their visits within the family. All six churches within Parish Family #16 were included on the route. Juliet Lobo–Alfonso coordinated the trip. This was her third year doing so, but it was her sixth time participating in a Seven Churches Visitation.
She recalled her first time going on the tour.
“It definitely was an eye-opener to see each of the churches decorated so differently, and coming from different backgrounds, like the Polish backgrounds, and the Irish, and the Italian,” Lobo-Alfonso said. “There was a lot to take in over that period of time. It was so appealing and so beautiful. Everything was so beautifully done.”
In order to visit seven churches, St. Joseph University in Buffalo was added to the route. It was the first stop after worshippers left St. Leo the Great’s Holy Thursday Mass. Upon arriving, visitors could see a unique three-dimensional cross on display in a chapel space. The cross is made up of many painted panels and chambers which could be opened from all sides. At center was the Blessed Sacrament, displayed for adoration. The doors and panels, when opened, provide images representing the Stations of the Cross.
Immediately noticeable is the darker, more grim portrayal of Jesus’ path to crucifixion and death. The artwork was created by Wes Olmsted, a Buffalo native and devout Catholic. His son, Matthew, was there to greet visitors and further explain the tone of his late father’s Stations of the Cross.
“He always had a rather visceral view towards that event in Christ’s life,” Olmsted said. “It was very important to him to share his view on it, that it was a brutal thing. He was abused, and it was a bloody thing.”
It’s much different than the more traditional images of the Stations of Cross displayed in churches. Olmsted admits when his father first created it, it was not often warmly received.
“People weren’t happy with his work. He was doing it in the 1960s and ’70s, but he stuck to his point. He felt as a Catholic it was his responsibility to share his feeling about this week and what it really means,” he said.
The St. Leo delegation then departed for Christ the King Church in Snyder, followed by SS. Peter & Paul in Williamsville, Infant of Prague and St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Cheektowaga, St. Benedict in Eggertsville, and then back to St. Leo the Great.
Richard Rogenstein, a member of SS. Peter & Paul Parish, was among those on this excursion.
“This is a time of year that is very spiritual, very thoughtful, very much bare bones so to speak. At the same time it’s at the heart and soul of our religion, the heart and soul of our Catholic tradition. Being so quiet and introspective, it feels so spiritual,” he said. “And just two days down the road, we’ll be having our redemption and resurrection of the Good Lord, and we’ll be on our way to a better life, so to speak. We will be born again as Christians.”
Listen to Michael Mroziak’s report below.