In August, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament will float down the Mississippi River, one of the longest and richest rivers in North America, in a Eucharistic procession.
The procession, which will include houseboats, tugboats and steamboats, will depart from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 14, and arrive in New Orleans the following night.
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The almost 210 kilometer procession, known as the Corpus Christi of Mississippi (Mississippi’s Corpus Christi), has caught the attention of state and local officials who are encouraging attendance. The event is a fusion of the National Eucharistic Revival with a local tradition organized by the Religious Community of Jesus Crucified (CJCfor its acronym in English).
“The historic river procession is planned in conjunction with the three-year National Eucharistic Revival taking place in the United States and is intended to be a missionary effort that follows in the footsteps of the recent National Eucharistic Congress held in Indianapolis last July. ” indicates a press release dated August 4.
“For the past three years, the Catholic Church in the United States of America has been experiencing a Eucharistic Revival,” acclaimed speaker and Baton Rouge parish priest Father Josh Johnson said in a statement to CNA. from EWTN News. “Now the bishops are sending all Catholics on a mission to share our Eucharistic Lord with everyone in our neighborhoods, on the roads and even in the water.”
Jesus in the Eucharist will be accompanied by at least 14 boats.
While a foot procession is usually led by a cross bearer, this procession will have a dedicated boat to carry a specially designed 5 meter high crucifix. Another boat that will carry historic bells will announce the arrival of the Blessed Sacrament, while a floating house will carry the monstrance about 4 meters high.
Beyond the swamp
Although the traditional procession takes place on the Bayou Teche, this year’s 10th annual procession will float down the Mississippi River, blessing the state of Louisiana and the river itself.
Louisiana’s governor and local mayors have encouraged residents to attend the procession, citing its historical and religious importance.
“The mighty Mississippi, once called the River of the Immaculate Conception, has been a blessing to our great state, with all types of industry, commerce, worship and recreation occurring in its waters and along its banks,” said the governor. of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, in the news release.
Landry said the procession is “a historic moment in our state, highlighting the strong faith of our people and giving us an opportunity to ask for God’s protection.” “This historic event not only celebrates our faith, but also unites our community in a spirit of reverence and reflection,” added Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Broome.
The Archbishop of New Orleans, Bishop Gregory Aymond, in a July 31 letter shared with CNA, called the event “one of a kind,” calling it “an extraordinary public testimony to our faith” and encouraging lay people, religious and clerics to participate.
The Bishop of Crookston, Minnesota, Msgr. Andrew Cozzens, who led the Revival and the National Eucharistic Congress, endorsed the event, encouraging people to attend Masses and processions.
“As the bishop of the diocese where the Mississippi begins, I am delighted that the wonderful tradition of the Corpus Christi of Mississippi continue to grow. As we saw in the pilgrimage and National Eucharistic Congress, whenever we honor Our Lord in the Eucharist, he showers blessings on us and our country,” Bishop Cozzens said in a statement.
More than 200 kilometers along the Mississippi
This year’s procession will begin with a Mass at St. Joseph’s Cathedral celebrated by Baton Rouge Bishop Michael Duca, followed by a walking procession to the river.
“My prayer is that the men and women who participate in any part of the procession route will be living witnesses of Christ, awakening a fire of faith and inspiring those around them to love one another as He has first loved us,” expressed Bishop Duca in the press release.
Along the Mississippi River, there will be meeting places for the Eucharistic Revival, where talks, prayer and mobile confessions will be offered while participants wait for the flotilla to pass. The Blessed Sacrament will travel through Plaquemine, Donaldsonville, Convent, Luling and Audubon Fly before reaching its final destination in New Orleans.
Local businessman Kurt Crosby, of Crosby Tugs, offered his houseboat to carry the Eucharist, as well as a tugboat to push the “floating church” that will carry sisters, brothers and priests in the procession down the river.
“We are looking forward to the event, and the most important thing is to show people the Eucharistic Lord alive on the Mississippi River in this hungry world,” Crosby said in the news release.
When the boats arrive at Convent at the end of the day, participants will process to the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, where prayer will be offered all night. Father Vincent Dufresne, parish priest of St. Michael’s, has been organizing more than 100 volunteers in preparation for the event.
“My prayer is that all participants, young and old alike, will be strengthened by this experience of communal devotion to Our Lord and Savior; that they will continue to work to maintain awareness of the real presence of Jesus with us in our local churches,” expressed in the press release.
The first blessing of the Mississippi River and the state of Louisiana will take place on the Solemnity of the Assumption at Audubon Fly, as the flotilla moves down the river.
The event will also feature a Holy Hour on the Steamboat Natchez, where participants can pray and do a Holy Hour on the water. According to an archdiocese spokesperson, the ship will join the flotilla late on August 15.
The flotilla will arrive in the French Quarter around 4:25 pm (local time), where there will be a blessing on the boardwalk at 5:15 pm in front of Jackson Square, followed by a procession to St. Louis Cathedral, where the Archbishop Aymond will celebrate a Mass.
The historical procession
The procession is an extension of a traditional procession known as Corpus Christi of Teche (Corpus Christi de Teche), which has been celebrated annually by the Community of Jesus Crucified and local Catholics.
“For 10 years, The Corpus Christi of Teche has led Eucharistic processions along the waterways of southern Louisiana. Each procession has been a unique celebration of the Catholic faith and Cajun and Creole culture,” Father Aquinas Guilbeau, a Louisiana native and chaplain at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, said in an email to CNA.
The Bayou Teche procession is in honor of the Feast of the Assumption and carries a statue of the Assumption of Mary along with the Blessed Sacrament. The procession makes occasional stops, disembarking to celebrate the blessing at makeshift altars along the waterways.
“What I like most about Fête “It reminds me of the Gospels, when people came from all over to see, hear and touch Jesus… Hundreds of people waiting for the arrival of the Lord… It is as if you opened the Scriptures and immersed yourself in them,” said Courtney Chrisholm, annual participant in the procession Celebrates Godin a press release.
The annual procession is part of a series of creative ways of evangelizing developed by the CJC as part of the new evangelization: Bible marathons, which involve 100 hours of the Bible being read in turns; ambulance-style mobile confession units; and even a “friar truck,” a recycled red fire truck containing a massive pulpit.
The boat procession recalls local history, honoring the journey made by the Acadians, who were exiled from Nova Scotia for their Catholic faith, many of whom settled in Louisiana, according to organizers of the Corpus Christi of Teche.
“This year, just a month after the National Eucharistic Congress, the procession will descend the mighty Mississippi, which Catholic explorers and missionaries first crossed nearly 450 years ago. The two-day procession from Baton Rouge to New Orleans will again claim the river, its lands and its people for Christ and his Church,” said Father Guilbeau.
“I pray that all the cities and towns through which the Lord ‘passes’ receive abundant graces of conversion and renewal. I hope to see everyone – in the words of the ancient spiritual – ‘down by the river’!” he added.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
Kate Quinones
Kate Quiñones is a staff writer for Catholic News Agency and a member of College Fix. She has publications in the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Catholic Register and CatholicVote. She graduated from Hillsdale College. She lives in Colorado with her husband.