On Holy Thursday, we joined a bunch of different friends' families around 9:00 to take a driving pilgrimage to different downtown Chicago churches to celebrate the few days prior to Easter. Our friend John researched different Chicago churches and came up with 5 to go and visit that were open to at least 12:00 and were within a couple mile radius of each other. What an amazing experience. There were about 26 of us- the kids' ages ranged from kindergarten up to 16 and I think I may have been the only non Catholic. The churches dated as far back as the 1880's and were representative of German, Polish, and Italian. Each one had its own uniqueness and lent itself to the whole amazing experience. Apparently this is a big deal as we would pull up amidst tour buses and massive amounts of people doing the same thing as we were doing. As we got to a church, we would go in and sit down and once the group was seated, one of the kids would start some prayers. After, we would just wander around in awe of the architecture and history, caught up in our individual thoughts until we were ready to go on to the next church. I am already looking forward to see what John comes up for us for next year.

When I read OSI's prompt for this week; tactile, I immediately thought of this interpretation based on my experience on the pilgrimage.

Can you feel it?
The pervading history
surrounding every nook and niche
the struggles,
the heartaches,
the sacrifices...
Can you feel it?
The austere, awe-inspiring beauty
erected through
blood, sweat, and tears...
brick by brick~
pane by pain...
Can you feel it?
The mood of the candles flickering~
casting ancient shadows...
transporting us back in time
to how it might have been...then
as full moon light -shining through
the intricately hued glass
casts colored light play on the floor and walls
Can you feel it?
The solemnity and hushed silence...
the collective hearts and souls gathered
all with their own stories
The chanting prayers of groups...
their mellifluous voices quiet as recite their decade
voices that span age groups, melded together and punctuated by
an occasional ethereal
song sung from some hidden balcony
Can you feel it?
The icons and statues
all whispering timeless secrets and mysteries
What do they know....
What have they seen....
as they gaze down on the night visitors~ wanderers, really,
These visitors, who make this journey
wanting only to feel it.


This is for my friend Anne, who wanted to know what I was going to do with the pictures I was taking that night.