Later this year a wonderful event will take place in the life of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. From 7th to 9th September 2018 there will be a National Eucharistic Congress held in Liverpool under the title ‘Adoremus.’ This means ‘Let us adore’ and invites us to renew and deepen our faith in, and devotion towards, the presence of the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist – both in the celebration of the Mass and in adoration and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
The Eucharist is the centre, the ‘source and summit,’ of the Church’s life and worship. The National Eucharistic Congress is an encouragement to all of us, in the words of St John Paul II, to ‘rekindle our Eucharistic amazement,’ to realise again the immense gift we have been given.
Eucharistic Congresses take place regularly in different countries at national and international level. Clergy, religious and laity gather to promote an appreciation of the vital place of the Eucharist in the Church’s life and mission. The last International Eucharist Congress held in England was in 1908!
At St. Vincent’s we will be using this time to make our Eucharistic journey together, deepening our love for Jesus in the Mass and in the Blessed Sacrament, so as to be strengthened to go out in joyful witness and compassionate service to our neighbour and to the world. We also want to allow the National Eucharistic Congress to renew our Eucharistic faith at home, in the months leading up to, and following on from, the Congress itself.
Westminster Cathedral is hosting the Forty Hours Devotion beginning with Mass celebrated by Cardinal Nichols at 5.30 pm on Thursday, 31 May, and concluding with a procession and Mass celebrated by Bishop John Sherrington at 12:00pm on Saturday, 2 June.
If you wish to learn the great hymn ‘Sweet Sacrament Divine’, please click here.
You can also find the Westminster Prayer for the Adoremus here.
In the words of that great hymn, ‘Sweet Sacrament Divine,’ may we come to know afresh, ‘in songs of love and heartfelt praise,’ the Eucharistic presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.
