Last Holy Thursday passed under a majestic full moon, and as has become customary, I went on the traditional Seven Churches procession. During Holy Week, on this day, the Blessed Sacrament is displayed in beautiful shrines for the worship of the faithful, and this takes place just before Good Friday, when the opposite occurs and only a cross remains in its place. This time my group was quite large; my wife, my mom, and my best friend came along, and honestly, we ended up walking until very late—some churches even closed on us 😅

Our Lady of Mercy Church

We started that Thursday at the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, and from there we planned to take our route through downtown; however, we took a slight detour to visit some churches we hadn’t seen yet. Here in Caracas, especially downtown, this route can be done without any trouble, since all the churches are very close together—at a certain point, there’s practically one on every corner. There are others a bit further out, but it’s just a 15- to 20-minute walk, depending on how fast you walk. After attending Mass, we headed to one of the more remote ones.

Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

It was better to visit the churches farther away first, so we could share stories with each other, plus we always end up taking a little longer than planned because I’m taking pictures. On the other hand, my mom doesn’t walk as fast as she used to, but we were all fine, since Caracas is a city of hills, which tires us out a bit more. But if there’s one thing about Holy Thursday night, it’s that magic in the people and the streets, where everyone you see is usually out on the procession. That particular night, there were also a lot of amateur photographers admiring the full moon.

Our Lady of Candelaria Church

The Church of Our Lady of Candelaria is becoming increasingly significant in Caracas, as it is the resting place of the remains of José Gregorio Hernández, Venezuela’s first and newest saint. The number of people attending that church is surprising, and that night the monument to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar looked lovely, as it was accompanied by the Doctor’s characteristic hat—a stroke of genius. This was the most remote church, but it was worth it, and we even took the opportunity to have dinner before continuing. We still had one more church to visit, a bit further away, so we took public transportation—since it was still running—and saved ourselves a good amount of time.

Basilica of Saint Teresa

The Basilica of Santa Teresa is home to the statue of the Nazarene of San Pablo, the focus of the country’s most important Holy Wednesday procession, which I mentioned just yesterday here on Hive. This would be the last church and the farthest from home, but from here we began our climb. Since it was past 10 p.m., we couldn’t find all the churches open; the Temple of San Francisco and the Cathedral of Caracas had already closed. However, at the latter, we ran into our friend Flor, the contralto in the choir, and together with Douglas (who is a bass), my wife (who is a soprano), and me (who am a tenor), we could easily have sung a sacred music quartet at one of these places 😍 It would be great, but wow, we were already so tired 😂

Minor Basilica of Sainte-Chapelle

The Minor Basilica of Santa Capilla was as beautiful as ever; as you know, it’s usually my favorite place and where I’d like to get married when the time comes. Since it was past 10 p.m., there were fewer people, but that’s always good for focusing on worship and taking better photos, although today I’m just giving you a summary of what that day was like. This is the exact area where you’ll find a church just around the corner; after leaving here, we headed to the Church of Our Lady of Altagracia, and we snuck in because the main doors were already closed, but not the side ones 🤣 Amid the commotion, we didn’t take any photos in front of the façade, but we managed to get inside and appreciate the monument.

Church of Our Lady of Altagracia and the Motherhouse of the Servants of God

It was a real pleasure to visit the Motherhouse of the Servants of God. It’s become another iconic place now that we also have the first Venezuelan saint, Sister Carmen Rendiles—someone whose fame is a bit more modest, but who was nonetheless among those canonized during our visit and the singing at the Vatican last year. I’m becoming more and more fascinated by her legacy and the things she did. This place is the smallest of them all and isn’t a church per se, but it does have its own prayer space. I might come to visit it more often, since it’s not too far from home.

Church of the Holy Trinity

Finally, as midnight approached, we arrived at the place closest to our building, the Church of the Holy Trinity—a small church, but I dare say one of the greatest in terms of the energy and faith of the local congregation. I’ve always thought this place should be bigger; it’s always packed for the few masses held each week, and many of us are left out, but I can’t deny that I have plenty of churches and times to choose from when I want to visit the house of God. This is the third year I’ve done the tour of the seven churches; it all began after my dad’s death in 2023, and excluding the year I was on tour in Spain with the choir, it’s one of the traditions I’m loving most during Holy Week—so much so that I’ve stopped going back to my home state of Aragua, where touring the seven churches is a bit more complicated for people without a car. I hope you enjoyed this tour, and I wish you all a wonderful Thursday 🙏