2 June: Pope Francis and world-wide, coordinated Eucharistic Adoration

I just received the newsletter of the USCCB’s Committee for Divine Worship. There is an item of interest for our observance of the Year of Faith:

The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ and the Year of Faith

Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, has announced a special event to mark the centrality of the Eucharist in the observance of the Year of Faith: a worldwide Solemn Eucharistic Adoration on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) will take place on Sunday, June 2. [Ehem…. it is really on Thursday.  Going on…]

From the Annus Fidei website:

On the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Holy Father will preside over a special Eucharistic adoration that will extend at the same time all over the world involving the cathedrals and parishes in each diocese. For an hour, at 5 PM (Rome time), the whole world will be united in prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Because of normal Sunday Mass schedules, it will be a particular challenge to schedule such a gathering simultaneously in the various time zones of the United States, which would be held at 11:00 AM Eastern, 10:00 AM Central, 9:00 AM Mountain, 8:00 AM Pacific, 7:00 AM in Alaska, and 5:00 AM in Hawaii.

The Committee on Divine Worship recommends keeping the spirit of the gathering by holding such a Holy Hour at a more convenient time on that day, such as on Sunday afternoon following the last Mass of the day. Such a celebration could include a traditional Eucharistic procession. It would also be appropriate to mark the celebration of regularly–scheduled Masses at that particular hour (11:00 AM Eastern) with special solemnity, and to note the unity of prayer with the Holy Father at that time through the homily and Prayer of the Faithful.

The following [Ordinary Form] resources might be useful in planning liturgical celebrations:

• Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass (Catholic Book, 1976)
• Order for the Solemn Exposition of the Holy Eucharist (Liturgical Press, 1992)
• Thirty–One Questions on Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: A Resource of the Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy (USCCB, 2004)

For more information, visit the announcement on the Year of Faith website HERE.

I hope, Fathers, you will get on board with this.  Readers, you might ask your priests what is being planned.

To the Committee for Divine Worship, I suggest that they also pay attention to mentioning resources for the Extraordinary Form and not to forget that there are Eastern Catholics as well.

I will also avail myself of the chance to remind people of the tradition of the Forty Hours Devotion.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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14 Comments

  1. Chuck3030 says:

    Corpus Christi is supposed to be celebrated on a Thursday? I thought that that was only done with the Ascension…

  2. Serviam1 says:

    This year Corpus Christi falls on Thursday, 30 May 2013. In the dioceses of the United States, the celebration is transferred to the following Sunday, 2 June 2013.

    FYI, the Feast of Corpus Christi is a moveable feast, which means that it depends on the date of Easter Sunday. It is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, which falls one week after Pentecost Sunday.

  3. Frank H says:

    One would have hoped that the US bishops might have encouraged pastors to modify their regular Sunday Mass schedules to accommodate this tremendous idea. Participating “in spirit” is just not the same.

  4. majuscule says:

    Perfect timing. I will bring this up at tonight’s Pastoral Council meeting.

  5. LarryW2LJ says:

    majuscule

    Ditto! Ours it tonight, also. Good idea.

  6. Jeannie_C says:

    One of the things that drew me to Catholicism as a small child was witnessing the Corpus Christi procession outdoors. I was 8 years of age, being raised as a non-denominational protestant, when my mother and I heard the music accompanying the “parade”. We rushed to see what it was all about. A flotilla of habit-garbed rosary praying nuns, music, priests, then something being carried aloft on four tall poles, like a little house. Young as I was, uncatechized, I instinctively understood as everyone knelt on the pavement, that Jesus was in that box! Alive and with us! Never underestimate the power of these traditions to evangelize.

  7. The FSSP Ordo for 2013 provides for the EF celebration in the U.S. this year of

    – the external solemnity of Corpus Christi on Sunday, June 2
    – the external solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Sunday, June 9
    – the external solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul on Sunday, June 30

    Unlike the OF — in which the celebration of the feast day itself (e.g. the Ascension or Corpus Christi) is transferred from its proper weekday to the succeeding Sunday — in the EF each of these feast days is still celebrated (Mass and Office) on its proper weekday during the preceding week. But the additional celebration of these Masses as external solemnities on the respective Sundays is allowed by indults and rubrics in effect in 1962.

  8. Patti Day says:

    I have mentioned before the embarrassing attendance at our First Friday Benediction and Eucharist Adoration. There are only 3 who regularly stay for the holy hour after the noon Mass. People don’t seem to recognize the beauty of being face to face with Our Lord. I hope the emphasis by Pope Francis and USCCB will ignite many souls.

  9. Will D. says:

    The time actually works out nicely for my parish. 9AM MDT is right between the two Sunday Masses. I shall ask Father about it this week.

  10. Pingback: Worldwide Eucharistic adoration | Catholicism and Adventism

  11. Joan M says:

    In Trinidad & Tobago Corpus Christi is celebrated properly on the Feast – this year, Thursday, May 30th. That is because one of the conditions involved in handing over the island of Trinidad from the Spanish to the British was that Corpus Christi, a public holiday for the Spaniards at that time, should continue to be a public holiday in perpetuity.

    This year, May 30th is both Corpus Christi and Indian Arrival Day, so because there are two public holidays on the same day, we are getting both Thursday and Friday as holidays – a lovely long 4 day weekend!

    No doubt we will have our annual Corpus Christi procession on Thursday – but probably not in Port of Spain, as the Cathedral is closed for extensive renovations. I imagine the procession may take place in our second city – San Fernando, as the principal church there is the Pro-Cathedral until the Cathedral can be re-opened.

  12. Johnno says:

    I like to think this is a hopeful sign that Pope Francis is testing the waters for an inevitable Consecration of Russia with all the world’s bishops united with him. I’ll mark my calendar for this. Should work out to 11 am Saturday for me here I think. Will alert the parish I go to about this so they can organize something.

  13. gary cifra says:

    I wrote yesterday to DivineWorship@usccb.org requesting they provide EF resources on their website and mandate All the diocesan websites to provide the material as well; or at the very least Links to such resources: Liturgical Calendar RM 1962, Propers, Ordo…however forgot to mention The N. American Directory for LM, and didn’t think of the Eastern Catholic resources. I asked that the good Msgr. forward my request through the proper channels for such a provision or guide me as how to proceed or petition this request. How much success does one think I will have with that little endeavor?

    The initial reply I received to a previous email stated: They don’t provide the material because their resources are limited and the material is provided elsewhere online. Also,
    it is a resource primarily for publishers of liturgical materials.
    All the More reason I would think they should provide the EF material as well.

    Are their any other channels I should pursue? Didn’t know if the Committee of DW was the same as the office I emailed above. Would individual requests to the office have more weight than a signed petition? Would hard copies have more bearing than email requests? I was told that: regarding legislative concerns directed to the Senators, that emails were not Official or accepted forms of communication therefore Not counted. Only hard copies were counted, and that One hard copy sent via snail-mail was equivalent to 100 signatures! Was wondering if ecclesiastical matters had a similar protocol in regard to correspondence.

  14. Gaz says:

    1am on a Monday!

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