Wow Largest Eucharistic Procession in Recent US History as Over 50,000 Join in Massive Walk with Jesus in the Eucharist!

As 50,000 people join in a eucharistic procession—‘perhaps the largest in our country in decades’—questions of the heart are answered
Thousands of people adored Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in front of the Indiana War Memorial in Indianapolis on July 20 as part of the National Eucharistic Congress. 
On July 20, more than 50,000 Catholics from across the country massive eucharistic procession through the streets of downtown Indianapolis.

Over 1,000 priests, religious sisters, bishops, seminarians, were among the 50,000 laypeople; older people, young adults, teens, children, Asians, Blacks, Hispanics and whites came together as one family of faith, smiling, crying, rejoicing, praying, singing, processing and falling to their knees .

Walking one mile from the Indiana Convention Center to the Indiana War Memorial, tens of thousands of people jammed the streets, leading and following the float that carried the Blessed Sacrament in a gold monstrance, while thousands of others packed the sidewalks of downtown.

The procession was a key event of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, the first in the United States since Ninth National Eucharistic Congress in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1941.

The procession began with Archbishop Charles C. Thompson carrying the Blessed Sacrament from the convention center to a float where he handed the monstrance to Bishop Andrew Cozzens, chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress.

“We want to give a witness to Christ-centered faith and Christ-centered lives,” Archbishop Thompson said. “We want to bring him to the world because he is the source of all hope. He is the source of all salvation. He is the way to salvation. With so much woundedness and brokenness and polarization, this is what heals. It’s in Christ that we heal, that we are reconciled, that we are united. Not in ourselves, but in him.

Near the front of the procession, 8-year-old Clarise Kohles walked with a group of girls and boys who received their first Communion this year. Wearing her white Communion dress and veil, the little girl from Texas tossed white and red rose petals on the downtown streets, paving the way for the Blessed Sacrament as she walked with her dad, Bradley Kohles.

Passing by the crowds of people taking video and photos of the first communicants, Clarise said, “I like how there are so many people here just for God.”
‘Christ is here in our midst today’

At the southwest corner of Merdian and Washington streets, Holly and Richard Maes of Green Bay, Wisc., waited in their wheelchair and electric scooter respectively, determined to join in the procession once the float with the Eucharist passed. Married 44 years, Richard has struggled with multiple sclerosis for about 30 years while Holly had to have her left leg amputated, the result of being hit by a drunk driver when she was 19.

“With both of us having health problems, to spend days with the Lord with so many people is invigorating,” Holly said. “I was a convert to the faith. I always felt something was missing in my youth, and I found it in the Catholic Church in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. And Christ is here in our midst today.”

Richard added, “There’s a reason why we get the Eucharist every day. It gives me spiritual nourishment. And just being around so many Catholics has re-charged me. I’m ready to go back home and share everything we’ve heard here.”


As 15-year-old Brenner Jasper from St. Bridget Borgia in Washington, Missouri, said, 
“I want to walk with Jesus because my entire life revolves around my faith.” .
‘Everything I receive today, I want to bring back to my family’

A mother and grandmother, Cortez added, “Everything I receive today, I want to bring back to my family and people at work and everyone else I encounter.”
‘The Eucharist means everything’

In the park facing the northside of the war memorial, Mary Huber joined the crowds that came for eucharistic adoration at the end of the journey of the Blessed Sacrament.

During eucharistic adoration at the Indiana War Memorial, Bishop Cozzens focused on the love that Christ has for all people—and the desire of the procession participants to show their love for him.

“Thank you, Jesus, for accompanying us every step,” he said. “Thank you for walking with us, each of us, in every dark moment and every light one. We thank you, Jesus, that you are always with us and that you are always here for us in the Blessed Sacrament.

“Jesus, we know the procession we made today is a signal, a sign of our earthly pilgrimage. And it is not over. And this procession—perhaps the largest in our country in decades—it was still too small. Millions of people in our own cities, our own dioceses, don’t yet know you.

“We know that you want all people, all nations, to join in this procession. We know you want all people to follow you. And Jesus, we will walk with them.”

Looking back on the procession and the first four days of the congress, Bishop Cozzens thanked God and asked for his continuing love and guidance.

“Jesus, we have experienced in these days together just a small taste of heaven. Show us, Lord, who we are. Let us be your body in the world. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. Empower us to witness to you, to your love, to your goodness. Make us your missionaries to every corner of our land.” 

Edited from Archdiocese of Indianopolis, IN