By Joe Bukuras
Boston, Mass., Jun 9, 2023 / 14:10 pm
Eucharist processions are being planned across the country this weekend in celebration of the solemnity of Corpus Christi, a more than 700-year-old feast day that commemorates the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
The processions occur as the Church in America enters its second phase of the U.S. bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative by the prelates to inspire belief in the Eucharist following a 2019 Pew Research study that suggested only about one-third of U.S. Catholics believe the Church’s teaching that the Eucharist is truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
The second phase of the revival, the Year of Parish Revival, is meant to foster eucharistic devotion at the parish level.
Below is a sampling of locations across the nation where eucharistic processions are being held in honor of the solemnity this weekend. Check your archdiocese/diocese or local parish website for processions near you.
In the Archdiocese of Boston on Sunday, June 11, a collaborative of three parishes in Brockton will be hosting at eucharistic procession at St. Edith Stein Parish Church following the 10:30 a.m. Mass.
In the Archdiocese of New York, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat will be leading a large eucharistic procession along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, heading southbound starting at 202nd Street and ending at 151st Street. The pastors of the West Bronx parishes will join him in leading the procession, which starts at 4 p.m. on Sunday. The procession will include English and Spanish prayers and songs. Espaillat recently led a eucharistic procession through the heart of Manhattan.
Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan will be leading a eucharistic procession in St. Patrick’s Cathedral following the 10:15 a.m. Mass on Sunday. That procession will take place inside the cathedral due to an unrelated parade taking place outside.
In the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, several processions are taking place on Sunday. Another procession at the Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit begins at 4:30 p.m.
In the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen is hosting a Corpus Christi celebration Saturday, June 10, beginning with eucharistic adoration from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. A eucharistic procession will follow the 5 p.m. Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Adam Parker.
In the Archdiocese of Washington, the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., is hosting a procession Sunday beginning at 2:30 p.m. The procession will end with benediction at Immaculate Conception Church on 8th Street about a mile away.
The Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, is inviting the faithful to participate in its eucharistic procession at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville. The procession will take place following the 5:30 p.m. Mass on Sunday.
In the Archdiocese St. Louis, a candlelight eucharistic procession will take place on Saturday beginning at St. Francis Xavier College Church in midtown St. Louis. Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski will lead that eucharistic procession from the church to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and finish with benediction at 8:30 p.m.
In the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, a eucharistic procession will be held at St. Bartholomew the Apostle Catholic Church following the Saturday 5 p.m. Mass. The church, in Katy, is expecting more than 250 people to join. St. Bartholomew had its tabernacle stolen in May of last year. An arrest was made, but the tabernacle was not recovered.
Also on Saturday, there will be a eucharistic procession from St. Joseph Catholic Church to St. Stephen Catholic Church in Houston following a 9 a.m. Mass at St. Joseph’s.
In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Christ the King Parish in Hollywood, California, is hosting a Sunday eucharistic procession following both its English Mass at 10:30 a.m. and its Spanish Mass at 12:30 p.m. The procession will go around the local streets.
In the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, there will be a procession on Sunday following the 11 a.m. Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
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The Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, is holding a procession on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. from Sacred Heart Cathedral to Immaculate Conception Church.
In the Diocese of Honolulu, Hawaii, Bishop Larry Silva is leading a eucharistic procession on Sunday following the 10:30 a.m. Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, in Honolulu, with adoration and benediction to follow.
