Processional of the Eucharist brings Christ to the people – Austin Daily Herald

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The faithful gather outside of St. Augustine Catholic Church for a Eucharistic processional last Sunday morning. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Eucharistic processional leaves St. Augustine Catholic Church to make its way to Queen of Angels Catholic Church Sunday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

People watch the Eucharistic processional pass by Sunday afternoon, following mass at St. Augustine Catholic Church. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Eucharistic leads the Eucharistic Processional Sunday after leaving St. Augustine Catholic Church. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Eucharist, carried by Father Andrew Beerman, along with the processional, makes its way toward Main Street and eventually Queen of Angels Catholic Church Sunday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Eucharuistic processional moves across and intersection across from the Hormel Historic Hormel late Sunday morning. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Father Andrew Beerman carries the Eucharist during a processional from St. Augustine Catholic Church to Queen of Angels Catholic Church. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

A woman videos the Eucharistic processional as she walks with it toward Queen of Angels Catholic Church Sunday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Eucharistic processional makes it way toward Main Street late Sunday morning and would eventually end at Queen of Angels Catholic Church. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The processional makes its way to the Orvieto Cathedral where a Eucharstic Miracle is enshrined. Photo courtesy of Father Andrew Beerman

The blood-stained cloth enshrined at the Orvieto Cathedral is carried in processional. Photo courtesy of Father Andrew Beerman

A view inside of the Orvieto Cathedral during processional. Photo courtesy of Father Andrew Beerman

Late Sunday morning, people gathered outside of St. Augustine Catholic Church for a processional they hoped would bring Jesus Christ to the people through an honoring of the Eucharist.

Following the Mass of Corpus Christi, Latin for the “Body of Christ,” those taking part in the processional left St. Augustine made their way through downtown Austin to Queen of Angels, while carrying the host, part of a larger effort within the Catholic Church’s Eucharistic revival.

“It’s probably in the context of the Eucharistic revival we’ve been trying to have in our country for the last three years, reviving our faith that the Eucharist really is Jesus Christ,” said Father Andrew Beerman, who carried the Eucharist beneath an awning. “It’s not just a symbol.”

In Catholic tradition, the devout come to believe that both the wafer and the wine celebrated during communion becomes the actual body and blood of Christ, however, in recent years only a few of those practicing Catholics actually believe in that.

“A poll of Catholics a few years back showed that 30% of Catholics believed the Eucharist is Christ,” Beerman said. “The rest think it’s a symbol. There is a need to strengthen that.”

“The other desire is to have a greater desire to come to mass on Sunday. There’s probably only 20% of Catholics that attend mass on Sundays. The rest don’t.”

The processional isn’t new to Catholicism and has been held through Queen of Angels in the past. The origin of the processional itself dates back to the 1200s in Italy, where the Eucharistic miracle that prompted the processional in Orvieto, Italy each year..

A priest at the time, who was on pilgrimage, had begun to question the idea of the host becoming the real body of Christ, had stopped in Bolsena, Italy to rest and while there celebrated mass.

According to the accounts, during the mass the host began to actually bleed while the priest spoke the words of consecration. He then reportedly traveled to Orvieto where Pope Urban IV happened to be staying just 11 miles away.

An investigation was conducted and Urban declared that there was no natural cause for what had taken place.

“It ran on the altar and the cloth and the stones at the foot of the altar,” said Beerman, who has twice taken part in the processional at Orvieto. “He declared a feast day for the Eucharist, which is Corpus Christi.”

The blood stained fabric is enshrined currently in the Orvieto Cathedral.

The Feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated on June 19 and the processional itself is held either on that day or the following Sunday. In Orvieto, the processional includes not only the walk itself, but will also feature people coming out to witness it as well as the Italian military saluting it as it passes.

Beerman said that not only is the processional itself important to further establishing the faith of others, but it also has entwined effects that are just as important.

“I think it’s helpful to not only grow in faith that the Eucharist is Jesus, but also see the graces that come from that so there are stories. (People) come out to see what’s going on and there’s been healing. Miraculous healings from Jesus who is present in the Eucharist going by. Real moments of grace in people’s lives because of it.”

This was Nick McGrath’s first opportunity to take part in the processional and he said he was excited to be involved in something that was 800 years old.

“It reminds me that the church is so much bigger than the one I attend in Austin,” he said. “The biggest piece for me is to see it out and about. So many Christians and people of faith in the last 20 years have felt sort of put off by the secularization of the public sector.”

“If people aren’t going to come to church, we’re going to bring it to them and those that are out and about can see that Jesus is real,” he added.

But for many, establishing realism to Christ through the Eucharist creates connection to the divine. It’s more than just symbolic reverence taken during a mass.

It’s a manifestation.

“I’ve received Jesus and I can receive him physically into my body or metaphysically into my soul,” McGrath said. “So much better understanding of people on that very basis of coming to know one another. It all becomes very real in the moment of the Eucharist.”