This Saturday, the church of Corpus Christi in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London, in tandem with several other churches, will begin a special series of celebrations in honor of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, lasting until Sunday the 19th. The week will begin with a Pontifical Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacrament celebrated by His Eminence Vincent Cardinal Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, at noon on Saturday, September 11th, at Corpus Christi, and culminate in a procession of the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of central London on Sunday, September 19th, starting at 3.30pm.
From our fourth Corpus Christi photopost of 2018, some images of the Eucharistic procession held in Covent Garden that year.
Each evening during this week of prayer and adoration, Holy Mass will be celebrated in a different form at 6.30 pm at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane: on Monday September 13th, in the Usus Antiquior of the Roman Rite, on Tuesday, in the Ordinariate Use; on Wednesday in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite; on Thursday, the Divine Liturgy of the Ukrainian Catholic Church; on Friday, there will be a Solemn Requiem Mass with Absolutions for all those who have died of Covid-19.
On Sunday, September 19th, a procession through Soho, Mayfair and Marylebone will commence at 3.30 pm, starting at Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, and end with Pontifical Benediction at the church of St James, Spanish Place. En route there will be Stations at the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, and at the Ukrainian Cathedral of the Holy Family, Duke Street. The Procession will be jointly led by the Rt. Revd. Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, Eparch of the Ukrainian Eparchy of the Holy Family and by the Rt. Revd. Mgr. Keith Newton, Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
The rector of Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, Fr Alan Robinson, said, “Many of us were looking forward to going to Budapest this September, for the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress; an event transferred from last September due to the COVID situation. Large numbers travelling from England to Hungary hasn’t really proved possible at the present time, and so we thought we could do something here in London. We wish to add our support to the Congress in Budapest, and to give witness to our love for the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It’s a great opportunity for us all to experience different expressions of Catholic liturgy here in this land. With the liturgies and the procession of the Most Blessed Sacrament, there is a wonderful opportunity for us to take part in Eucharistic evangelisation with those we encounter. There are many Catholics who have not yet returned to the Church since lockdown; during this octave we pray especially for them. And we help Our Blessed Lord to reach out to them, and to all those who do not yet know Him. Please pray for the strengthening of the Eucharistic Heart of the Church in this land and in our own hearts too.”
Fr. Christopher Colven, rector of St James’s Church, Spanish Place, said, “Living in central London one grows used to demonstrators taking over the streets and disrupting the traffic. On this occasion it will be good to see Catholics doing just those things in honour of Jesus Christ the King and Centre of all hearts as in his Eucharistic Presence he moves among those he has redeemed.”
Parishes, religious orders and Catholic organizations are invited to publicize this important event on social media and come in great numbers! Further details of the programme can be found here: www.catholiclondon.org. A PDF poster for the ‘Eucharistic Octave’ can be found here: bit.ly/2XSTUck For further information please contact Peter Sefton-Williams at: peter@seftonwilliams.com
