Did you know about the Eucharistic Procession that took place down the Mississippi River? Students from Archbishop Chapelle High School, who are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and missionaries from the Belize trip, participated in this Eucharistic Procession.  This took place at Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, on August 15, 2024. 

The Archdiocese of Baton Rouge & New Orleans wanted to have an Eucharistic Procession in a Louisiana fashion. The procession started in Baton Rouge, made its way down the Mississippi River on steam boats, and concluded in New Orleans at the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. When the procession arrived at the ports, they used cranes to remove the 14 foot monstrance, that held the Eucharist, from the boat. Once the Eucharist was taken out, everyone processed to the Cathedral, where the celebration of Mass was to be held. 

The Cathedral had reached maximum capacity before Mass even began. Even though the Cathedral reached maximum capacity there was still a long line of people standing outside to hear the Mass. This experience gave the students a deeper understanding of Jesus’ true presence. Chapelle’s Campus Minister Ms. Emily Lannan said “it was really powerful to see people just stopping and kneeling in the middle of the French Quarter when they saw the Blessed Sacrament approach. I was really impressed with the Chapelle and Rummel students in particular because even in the midst of the heat, crowds, and kneeling on concrete, they were really praying.” Ms. Lannan said she was inspired by the students. One of Ms. Lannan’s  favorite moment was when the first boats arrived that preceded the monstrance. One of the boats had a giant bell that was being rung and another boat had burning incense that you could smell from the street. Both of these boats were announcing that the Lord was approaching! Senior Katie Scuderi said this experience deepened her faith by “I’ve never experienced a display of Jesus’s majesty and the beauty of His love in this way before. They way everyone lined up along the Mississippi and knelt on the ground singing songs of praise to Jesus in the Eucharist, you could tell that Jesus was truly present.” Katie also said that “the entire crowd was singing and adoring Jesus and it made her think about how much joy it must give the heart of Jesus to hear the voices of His children reaching out to Him. As I scanned the crowd, all I saw was pure awe and wonder in everyone’s gaze as they looked at Jesus.” Katie also said that “her classmates and her heard about this trip days before it was supposed to take place and the immediate willingness and enthusiasm of all my friends was astounding to me. The fact that this group of Chapelle and Rummel students showed up to a Eucharistic procession unprompted goes to show the powerful ways God can work with our “yes” to Him. Katie believes that if she did not go on this field trip she would have missed all the beautiful ways she encountered Jesus and witnessing the joy of the moment her friends saw Jesus. Katie said she will take every opportunity given to her to say “yes” to all the campus ministry opportunities I can and encourage others to attend with her. She believes “I’ll never regret giving my time to those things, because as I remember Ms. Lannan once said, “time spent with the Lord is never wasted.”

In conclusion, the Church is in the midst of a Eucharitic revival to draw people back to the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In true Louisiana fashion the Archdioceses of Baton Rouge and New Orleans wanted to hold a procession to show Christ is really the Eucharist so they created a 14 foot tall monstrance for our Lord and processed down the Mississippi River. Students from Chapelle were able to deepen their faith from the things that they witnessed.