‘Beautiful testimony that the church is alive’: Baltimore Catholics join tens of thousands in Eucharistic procession

INDIANAPOLIS – A sense of unity came over Celine Thomas as she walked through the streets of downtown Indianapolis on July 20, amid a sea of ​​more than 50,000 pilgrims.

Following a float pulled by a truck bearing a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament, the parishioner of the Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City, along with more than 100 others from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, publicly testified of their devotion to the Eucharist.

“I think the church in the United States is so alive,” Thomas said. “It feels so great to be with the whole church — the bishops, the priests, the seminarians, the sisters, the laity. You know, this is the church — this is a great church that we are a part of. We are all the same and we all love Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”

Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., led an emotional and jubilant procession that moved some to tears. He was the driving force behind the three-year National Eucharistic Revival led by U.S. bishops, culminating in the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 in Indianapolis. The bishop was accompanied on the flower-laden truck by Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis.

More than 100 bishops and cardinals, including Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore and Auxiliary Bishops Adam J. Parker and Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., walked in procession with thousands of other Catholics.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the US, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pope Francis’ special envoy to the congress, also participated.

Bishop Cozzens said the procession “could be the largest Eucharistic procession in the country in decades.” But speaking during prayer during adoration at the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza, he also said their immense numbers were still “too small.”

“There are millions of people in our own states, in our own dioceses, who do not know you yet,” said Bishop Cozzens, chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc. In his prayer, he encouraged the crowd of people kneeling in the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza to become missionaries to those who need to be brought to Jesus.

During the procession, children on their parents’ shoulders or standing on the ground gave high fives to clergy as they passed. Some threw flowers into the street. Groups carried religious banners and small crucifixes. One group carried a cross covered in yellow notes with prayer intentions to be taken along the route.

At the very front of the procession were children dressed in white dresses and suits, who had recently received their first communion. They carried baskets of rose petals, which they spread on the ground for the Eucharist.

Immediately following the Eucharistic float, music was provided by some of the “perpetual pilgrims” who had recently completed the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, an eight-week journey from the four corners of the United States with the Eucharist that culminated in the convention.

Joining them in the Indianapolis procession was Will Peterson, whose nonprofit Modern Catholic Pilgrim organized the pilgrimage. Behind them walked closely together the Knights of Columbus, Knights and Dames of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and other perpetual pilgrims of the national pilgrimage. The procession also included Catholic dancers who reflected their cultural traditions.

The float turned right onto Maryland Street and then left onto Meridian Street, a central corridor of Indianapolis, past storefronts, office buildings and restaurants, and looped around the Monument Circle traffic circle. When it reached the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza, Archbishop Thompson and Bishop Cozzens stepped out.

Bishop Cozzens walked with the monstrance, followed by Archbishop Thompson, to a podium at the foot of the monument, where musicians sang the Divine Mercy Chaplet. When they reached the podium and the temporary altar, they placed the monstrance in the base for adoration and knelt before Jesus in the Eucharist.

As people entered the park, many knelt on the grass or sidewalks as a soprano sang “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent.” As the hot July sun beat down on the sidewalk, people knelt, wept, raised their arms, or simply contemplated the Blessed Sacrament.

Felician Sister Melanie Marie Bajorek of Pennsylvania marched in the Eucharistic procession along with several others from her religious community. Bishop Lewandowski invited them to participate in the Eucharistic Congress with the delegation from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Bishop Lewandowski’s sibling, Sister Mary Francis Lewandowski, is a Felician based in Michigan.

Sister Melanie Marie said she felt supported in her religious vocation by the many words of encouragement from the crowds along the procession route.

“They thanked us,” she said. “It was very impressive and I was really moved – moved by the crowd that was waving and thanking the sisters.”

Sister Melanie Marie, who has been in religious life for 58 years, noted that the founder of the Felicians asked the pope for permission to hold daily adoration in the religious community’s main houses. The sisters have a deep love for the Blessed Sacrament, she said.

“The Eucharist is very central,” she said. “I feel encouraged, strengthened to really spread the word (and to) emphasize the real presence (of Christ in the Eucharist) … and the need to be more like Christ.”

Holly Novotny, a parishioner at St. Mark’s in Catonsville, called the Eucharistic procession a “beautiful testimony that the church is alive.” Novotny’s husband, Adam, who walked alongside his wife, added that “Baltimore is in the house.”

The Novotnys serve as liaisons for the Charismatic Renewal of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Dan Gahagan, a parishioner at the Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City, was inspired by the large crowds of people sharing the same devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

“To be here with 55,000 pilgrims – all with the same thought in mind, to glorify the Lord – is simply amazing,” he said.

Peggy Gahagan, his wife, added that she hopes to “take back the fire of the Holy Spirit” upon her return to Maryland.

Contributors to this article were: OSV News and George Matysek Jr. in Baltimore.

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