Nine students recited Scripture and poetry to reflect on Holy Week March 31 at 7 p.m. in the Heritage Room. 

The Memorization Club hosted the event, with recitations divided into four different sections for reflection: the “Garden of Gethsemane,” “Crucifixion,” “Resurrection,” and “Life in Christ.” 

“It was an intimate setting, which was comforting for somebody who was doing this for the first time,” junior Ineka Pastermack said. “But also there’s a high standard of excellence. So I think that’s a good balance.”

Pastermack recited 1 Peter 2 during “Life in Christ.” 

“It’s a piece I had been working on a little bit, but it has very clear suffering and sacrifice themes,” Pastermack said. “It has the famous line, ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’ I felt like that would fit pretty well.” 

Pastermack said she heard about the recitation through her friend junior Ellery Toman and joined because she wanted accountability in memorizing Scripture. 

“This was a cool opportunity during Holy Week to really meditate on Scripture by having to memorize it,” Pastermack said.  

Toman, who will be the president of the Memorization Club in the fall, recited Part 4 of “East Coker” by T.S. Eliot during “Crucifixion.” Toman said she first encountered the poem in Great Books 2. 

“It’s 25 lines, and it’s about Good Friday, but Good Friday doesn’t come until the last line,” Toman said. “The rest of the poem is different images of what the work of Christ looks like. The first one is very powerful. It’s Christ as a wounded surgeon.”

Toman said she loved hearing what other people spent time memorizing, and the passion people poured into the recitation.

“Leading up to it, I knew who was gonna recite and what they were reciting, but it doesn’t have much meaning until you know the person and why they chose it, and you get to hear the work itself,” Toman said. 

Senior Abigail Stonestreet opened the event by reciting Isaiah 55 during “Garden of Gethsemane.” Junior Alexa Travis closed the event by reciting Wendell Berry’s poem “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” during “Life in Christ. Other recitations included Psalm 22, John 20, and “Death, be not proud” by John Donne. 

Junior Aryn Tomasetti recited a poem she wrote, called “I Am,” in the section about the resurrection. 

“It’s about God’s plan for creation,” Tomasetti said. “The first stanza is about creation and fall. The second is about the Israelite’s weakness and redemption, and the last is about Christ’s sacrifice that restored that.”

Tomasetti said the poem is written in iambic pentameter and will be in Tower Light this semester. 

“It encompasses the whole story of redemption for humanity,” Tomasetti said. “I thought that would be fitting for this.”