Worcester, MA 01602
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40 Hours Devotion and Eucharistic Procession for Corpus Christi
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The Second Vatican Council called the Eucharist the source and summit of the Christian life. The Church in the United States is in the midst of a three-year Eucharistic Revival to promote greater Church attendance and a deeper appreciation of the great gift of the Holy Eucharist. The goals of this revival are to invigorate our worship, to promote a personal encounter with Christ in the Eucharist, and to deepen our understanding of the Eucharist so that we, by word and example, may better observe and spread the good news of this great sacrament.
A Forty Hours Devotion is, as it names suggests, a period of forty continuous hours of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance on the altar during which parishioners take turns praying in the presence of Our Lord. The idea is a combination of Jesus' Holy Thursday request to the Apostles to keep him company in Gethsemane, watching and praying, but extended to stay with the Body of Christ for the forty hours that His Body was in the tomb before the Resurrection. Eucharistic Processions through which we process out of Church with the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance remind us that every time we go forth from the Church from Mass, we bring Christ to the world.
Following last year’s great success, we are planning again to have our Forty Hours Devotion leading up to the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Because of the later Easter this year so is Corpus Christi that much later...Sunday, June 22. We will have exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for the forty hours from 5:00 pm on Friday, June 20 until the 9:00 am Mass on Sunday, June 22. An outdoor procession will be held following the 9:00 am Mass, with prayers and hymns at the three outdoor altars. During this 40-hours-period of witness to the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, we are asking parishioners to pray for an hour or more before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance on the altar. We hope you will join us.Forty Hours Devotion Sign Up
From 5 pm on Friday, June 20 to the 9 am Mass on Sunday, June 22,
the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, except during Mass time.Use the form below to sign up for time slots.
Please check the Master Schedule to see which time slots need to be filled.
For those who may not be computer savvy, we have a sign up sheet in the vestibule as well.
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Master Schedule