Before the pandemic All Saints by the Lake in Dorval had a tradition of keeping watch with the Reserved Sacrament all night, from the end of the Maundy Thursday service until midday on Good Friday.
In 2020, during lockdown, we held a “virtual vigil” before the Reserved Sacrament in my guest room, which many participants found surprisingly meaningful. I simply opened a Zoom link, lit a candle, and let people come and go throughout the night as they wished. Then I reverently disposed of the remaining bread and wine (from our last service in the church on March 15 of that year) and we didn’t have Eucharist again until Easter of 2021.
Since there was no sacrament on Maundy Thursday in 2021, there was also no vigil before it.
In 2022, after having installed an alarm system but with many still being somewhat cautious about leaving the house, we kept vigil before the sacrament from 9pm to midnight and 6am to noon, but not in the middle of the night.
In 2023, we planned a similar vigil, but it ended up being cancelled when the power went out.
It had occurred to me on Palm Sunday 2023 (with the force of revelation such that it was very difficult to get to sleep for my Pastor Nap that afternoon!): if the problem is that folks who are getting up in years don’t feel comfortable staffing a vigil in the chapel between midnight and sunrise, why not get a bunch of teenagers together (people notorious for being awake at antisocial hours) and have them do it?!
Hence, the idea for the Holy Week Youth Retreat was born.
Peter Lekx and I coordinated the planning and leading of the event. It was embedded within the existing rhythm of a parish Holy Week: we began with the Maundy Thursday dinner and liturgy at All Saints’, and concluded at a Good Friday Breakfast at Christ Church, Beaurepaire.
In between, about 15 teenagers and young adults took part in activities, prayer, and fellowship in the evening; slept overnight in the All Saints’ church hall; took turns watching before the reserved sacrament for an hour; and shared prayer, reflections, and snacks before packing up and heading to the breakfast.
The Rev’d Neil Mancor, Canon for Congregational Development, and Marie-Claude Martz, a parent and teacher from All Saints’, filled out the adult leadership team. We had participants from five parishes on the Island of Montreal.
After we shared an agape meal, washed feet, and celebrated the Eucharist with the congregation of All Saints’ by the Lake, we gathered and introduced ourselves and then spent a couple of hours in our activity groups. The options for activities included:
• Decorating the altar of repose in the chapel with me
• Making hot cross buns with Marie-Claude
• Working on Stations of the Cross with Peter (which were used the next day at the Good Friday event at CCB)
• Decorating the “Alleluia” banner which had been “buried” in the All Saints’ font on Shrove Tuesday.
In addition, the confirmation class (three kids from All Saints’ and one from St. John the Baptist, Pointe-Claire), rehearsed and recorded a video skit of the book of Jonah (an assignment for the class), which was then shown at the All Saints’ Easter Vigil.
During the night, adults from several parishes joined the retreat leaders in order to maintain a presence of at least three people in the chapel at all times. Devotional reading material was provided. Everyone else slept downstairs in the church hall on gym mats, air mattresses, and sleeping bags.
When we gathered at 8am – yawning, disheveled, and unshowered – to reflect on our experiences, many of the participants expressed a feeling of surprise at how quickly the time went and how meaningful it was to stop, reflect, and pray in this unique way.
We then cleaned up and headed over to Christ Church Beaurepaire, where we met with another cheerful group of people with whom we shared prayers and an excellent spread of food.
Our group had a great time and at the end of the retreat were already asking when we could do another inter-parish youth event. Peter and I look forward to planning another one soon!
