Holy Week at Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary

Departing from St. Marys on Tuesday of Holy Week, the 9th Grade Boys' class was looking forward to spending the Triduum and Easter at the beautiful Seminary in Virginia. After sitting for twenty hours in the bus over two days, they arrived in Dillwyn just in time for Tenebrae on Wednesday evening. Nothing could have prepared them for such a thorough treatment of the Church’s beautiful Liturgy in the days to follow. For many of the boys, the highlight of the trip was the Chrismal Mass, in which the sheer magnificence of the Liturgy is revealed; to some perhaps for the only time. When there wasn’t a ceremony or office to attend, the seminarians (namely Mr. Skees) kept the boys out of trouble by putting them to work, organizing games, or giving them free reign in the rec room!

On Holy Saturday the boys took a day trip to Appomattox Court House to visit the location where the South surrendered in the Civil War. And after walking this place so steeped with our nation’s history, they headed back to the Seminary for a late lunch; and with feverish anticipation, awaited the beginning of the Paschal Vigil. Burned in their memories for years to come, the splendor and majesty of that Mass announcing the Risen Christ was not to be rivaled. An appropriately extravagant feast followed, and just hours later, a glorious sunrise.

Easter Day was spent in much festivity, and the following morning, directly after the solemn High Mass, the boys made for the busses and home once more. Many thanks to Fr. Le Roux and all the seminarians for hosting our boys for the pinnacle of the liturgical year. And thanks extend no less to Fr. Rutledge, who made such a trip possible!