On Thursday, April 2, thousands of Tapatios will go to church seven times for the “Visit to the Seven Churches,” a Roman Catholic tradition dating back to medieval Spain.
In Guadalajara, pilgrims tend to visit seven of the oldest churches in the city center: the metropolitan Cathedral and the churches of San Agustin, Santa Teresa, Nuestra Señora de la Merced, Santa Maria de Gracia, San Francisco and Santa Aranzazu. Most Catholic churches in the city hold their Maunday Thursday services around 7 p.m.
The seven-church visit commemorates Christ’s departure from the Last Supper and his walk through the Garden of Gethsemane, where he was ultimately betrayed by Judas Iscariot. After taking communion at their starting church, worshippers amble through the streets to their next chosen destination.
Because fasting is customary on Good Friday (the following day), vendors of traditional Easter empanadas (pastries filled with a variety of stuffings) do a brisk trade. In fact, the empanadas are so famous that it is claimed many people take part in the seven-church visit just to sample the different varieties.