Our thanks to one of our most diligent guest contributors, Mr Zachary Thomas, for this interesting account of the 6th Italian National Eucharistic Congress, which was held in the Lombard city of Bergamo in 1920, a signal event in the life and career of the future Pope St John XXIII.
In the north transept of the Cathedral of Sant’Alessandro in Bergamo, at the base of the right column there is a Latin inscription commemorating the 6th National Eucharistic Congress, which took place there in September of 1920. It was a momentous year for the Italian people, who were suffering through the “Biennio Rosso”, the Two Red Years of violent socialist agitations—strikes, factory takeovers, mass unemployment—and counter-revolutionary measures by the Italian state leading eventually to the Fascist reaction.
It was in this nervous climate that the Congress met, its participants journeying from all across Italy to join in three days of spiritual retreat and Eucharistic adoration. The ninth of September also turned out to be momentous for an obscure priest from that area, Fr Angelo Roncalli, who gave a galvanizing speech that attracted the attention of the Italian hierarchy and soon propelled him on to higher responsibilities.
The inscription, and some excerpts of Roncalli’s speech, are worth recalling in our times of trouble. They show how even in the worst times Catholics found hope in Christ and his Eucharistic priesthood, and went on building the city of God even as the city of man once more turned against them. Unfortunately, this is only a partial rendering of the inscription, taken from my hasty notes, so please pardon any errors. (I think the Latin is rather problematic in some places as well.)
“In this great cathedral of Bergamo there was an extraordinary spectacle of religion and liturgies of dazzling splendor. Such a multitude of citizens and visitors from all over Italy had never before been seen.
The most holy body of Our Lord Jesus Christ was exposed continually and adored day and night. Priests worked at the altar unceasingly from the middle of the night, and the holy assembly was reverently celebrated by the people who were fittingly delivered from their sins.
On Sunday, the last day of the congress, George Cardinal Gusmini the Archbishop of Bologna celebrated a solemn Mass with a sermon at the High Altar of the church, surrounded by a splendid crown of prelates and in the presence of all the town’s corporations and pilgrims from every nation.
In the afternoon the procession set out hence with a magnificence that knew no bounds. The August Sacrament was led in a triumphal chariot down through the walls and the suburbs to Sant’Alessandro in Colonna amidst immense festivity, the intense ardor of the faithful, and the unrestrained voices of the huge crowds packing the streets.
How envious our example of piety should be to future generations! How joyful those days spent at Bergamo in Eucharistic devotion! The men in charge of the festivities, desiring to establish a perpetual memorial of such a great event here for the people, have engraved it on this white stone.”
Envious indeed. Roncalli’s oration—according to Peter Hebblethwaite’s book John XXIII: Pope of the Century (London: Continuum Publishing, 2000.), from which all the excerpts are taken—was entitled “The Eucharist and Our Lady.” The Acts of the Congress describe the enthusiasm with which it was received.
“The Rubini Theatre was more crowded even than the day before. Not a single corner was free. The stage itself was packed with bishops and notables. The scene cannot be described: hearts are full of joy; enthusiasm, restrained by reverence, shines out on all faces. The eucharistic hymn is sung, the president recites the prayers and sums up the work done during the morning. Then Professor Don Roncalli begins to speak . . . His speech is many times interrupted by applause, and at the end the audience, deeply moved and enthusiastic, gave him a standing ovation.”
In his speech, Roncalli defended Catholic Action and spoke of the political future of Italy. As Hebblethwaite summarizes: “Catholic Action is a populist cause and this ‘vast and powerful organisation is merely the spontaneous emanation of the religious feeling of the people.’ It’s purpose was to bring to bear the principles of Catholic social doctrine, ‘derived from the Gospels’, on all the contemporary questions: unemployment, poverty, class-war, labour unrest, inflation. (ibid.)
Roncalli’s peroration ends invoking the Eucharist as the “sacred pledge of civilisation”: “While we are gathered here for this Congress, our Italy is going through one of its blackest and most terrible hours. New barbarians are standing at the gates of our city. You have seen the red banners, symbols of violence, fluttering in sinister fashion above the factories where the people—sometimes gullible but always good at heart—are waiting for work. What is going to happen? Are we perhaps on the eve of a social revolution?”
“Our spirits are not apprehensive. Our hearts are firm, even if the revolution should come. In the midst of universal ruin, salvation lies in our hands. Behold, we priests will raise aloft Christ in his sacrament, and will bless the swirling river of humanity. You laypeople will strap upon your backs the image of the Madonna, and will face with sure steps the abyss, the tempest, death itself. God will renew his miracles. We will bring to safety the sacred pledges of civilisation, the Holy Eucharist and the Madonna, the dearest objects of our faith and love, and after the agonising struggle, will lay them on the altar of the fatherland.”
It was in this nervous climate that the Congress met, its participants journeying from all across Italy to join in three days of spiritual retreat and Eucharistic adoration. The ninth of September also turned out to be momentous for an obscure priest from that area, Fr Angelo Roncalli, who gave a galvanizing speech that attracted the attention of the Italian hierarchy and soon propelled him on to higher responsibilities.
 |
| Fr Angelo Roncalli in his youth. |
[...]HAC IN AEDE BERGONENSIUM PRINCIPE AMPLISSIMO CULTU NITENTE INSIGNI FUIT SPECTACULO RELIGIO INAUDITAE OMNI RETRO TEMPORE INCOLARUM ADVENARUMQUE EX OMNI ITALIA MULTITUDINIS
SACRATISSIMUM CORPUS D.N. JESU CONTINENTER PROPOSITUM INTERDIU NOCTUQUE ADORATUM A MEDIA NOCTE SACERDOTES FREQUENTISSIMI AD ARAS OPERATI A POPULO RITE EXPIATO REVERENTER CELEBRATA SYNAXIS.
DIE DOMINICO TRIDUI POSTERO AD ARAM TEMPLI MAXIMAM SPLENDIDISSIMA CORONA PRAESULUM CIRCUMFUSA SACRUM SOLEMNE CUM CONCIONE FECIT GEORGIUS CARD. GUSMINI ARCHIEP. BONON. ADSTANTIBUS CUNCTIS CIVITATIS ORDINIBUS ET PEREGRINIS OMNIGENIS.
POST MERIDIEM HINC POMPA DUCI COEPTA EST IN QUA NULLUM HABUIT MAGNIFICENTIA MODUM SACRAMENTUM AUG. TRIUMPHALI CURRU PER MOENIA ET SUBURBIA AD S. ALEXANDRI IN COL. DEDUCTUM EST INTER FESTISSIMOS APPARATUS INTER FLAGRANTIA ANIMORUM STUDIA ET INFRENAS VOCES CONFERTISSIMAE UBIQUE TURBAE FAVENTIUM.
O POSTERIS INVIDENDUM PIETATIS EXEMPLUM! O FAUSTOS EUCHARIST[I]AE RELIGIONE DIES HOS BERGOMATES ALBO LAPIDE SEGNANT (signant) ET GENTI STATUUNT PER SOLLEMNES TANTI EVENTUS MEMORIAM VIRI FESTIS APPARENDIS HIC EXSTARE VOLUERUNT.
“In this great cathedral of Bergamo there was an extraordinary spectacle of religion and liturgies of dazzling splendor. Such a multitude of citizens and visitors from all over Italy had never before been seen.
The most holy body of Our Lord Jesus Christ was exposed continually and adored day and night. Priests worked at the altar unceasingly from the middle of the night, and the holy assembly was reverently celebrated by the people who were fittingly delivered from their sins.
On Sunday, the last day of the congress, George Cardinal Gusmini the Archbishop of Bologna celebrated a solemn Mass with a sermon at the High Altar of the church, surrounded by a splendid crown of prelates and in the presence of all the town’s corporations and pilgrims from every nation.
In the afternoon the procession set out hence with a magnificence that knew no bounds. The August Sacrament was led in a triumphal chariot down through the walls and the suburbs to Sant’Alessandro in Colonna amidst immense festivity, the intense ardor of the faithful, and the unrestrained voices of the huge crowds packing the streets.
How envious our example of piety should be to future generations! How joyful those days spent at Bergamo in Eucharistic devotion! The men in charge of the festivities, desiring to establish a perpetual memorial of such a great event here for the people, have engraved it on this white stone.”
Envious indeed. Roncalli’s oration—according to Peter Hebblethwaite’s book John XXIII: Pope of the Century (London: Continuum Publishing, 2000.), from which all the excerpts are taken—was entitled “The Eucharist and Our Lady.” The Acts of the Congress describe the enthusiasm with which it was received.
“The Rubini Theatre was more crowded even than the day before. Not a single corner was free. The stage itself was packed with bishops and notables. The scene cannot be described: hearts are full of joy; enthusiasm, restrained by reverence, shines out on all faces. The eucharistic hymn is sung, the president recites the prayers and sums up the work done during the morning. Then Professor Don Roncalli begins to speak . . . His speech is many times interrupted by applause, and at the end the audience, deeply moved and enthusiastic, gave him a standing ovation.”
In his speech, Roncalli defended Catholic Action and spoke of the political future of Italy. As Hebblethwaite summarizes: “Catholic Action is a populist cause and this ‘vast and powerful organisation is merely the spontaneous emanation of the religious feeling of the people.’ It’s purpose was to bring to bear the principles of Catholic social doctrine, ‘derived from the Gospels’, on all the contemporary questions: unemployment, poverty, class-war, labour unrest, inflation. (ibid.)
Roncalli’s peroration ends invoking the Eucharist as the “sacred pledge of civilisation”: “While we are gathered here for this Congress, our Italy is going through one of its blackest and most terrible hours. New barbarians are standing at the gates of our city. You have seen the red banners, symbols of violence, fluttering in sinister fashion above the factories where the people—sometimes gullible but always good at heart—are waiting for work. What is going to happen? Are we perhaps on the eve of a social revolution?”
“Our spirits are not apprehensive. Our hearts are firm, even if the revolution should come. In the midst of universal ruin, salvation lies in our hands. Behold, we priests will raise aloft Christ in his sacrament, and will bless the swirling river of humanity. You laypeople will strap upon your backs the image of the Madonna, and will face with sure steps the abyss, the tempest, death itself. God will renew his miracles. We will bring to safety the sacred pledges of civilisation, the Holy Eucharist and the Madonna, the dearest objects of our faith and love, and after the agonising struggle, will lay them on the altar of the fatherland.”
