Thousands of pilgrims at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress experienced the “Eastern flavor” of Catholic liturgy, as they were exhorted to draw strength from the body and blood of Christ to become missionary disciples, bringing the Gospel to a world in need.
The schedule for the congress included three Eastern Catholic liturgies – two Divine Liturgies in the Byzantine rite and a Syro-Malabar Holy Qurbana concelebrated by Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia. The 23 Eastern Catholic churches with the Latin Church comprise the universal Catholic Church through their shared communion with the pope, who as bishop of Rome, is the head of the Latin Church. Eastern Catholics worship according to different liturgical forms that have a long and unique history in each church.
Sister Cecilia Nanni Costa, FMIJ, who serves in the Diocese of Camden, was among those to attend the Syro-Malabar Holy Qurbana Mass. She believes it was the first time many Catholics of the Roman rite had attended such a liturgy.
“It was a new experience; it was a different way of praying and celebrating the Eucharist. Not knowing the rite, I did not know when to sit, when to stand, how to respond – the provided booklet [was] helpful!” she said.
“It [was] an experience that calls us to grow in our knowledge of the Catholic Church and to welcome with respect and benevolence those who come to church and may not know or remember when to stand up, what to say, how to respond,” she added. “We are all on our way to the Lord Jesus and in the gift of being able to meet him in the Eucharist … and the national congress let us experience that.”
The Syro-Malabar liturgy – which was celebrated in English with some hymns in the original Syriac language during the congress – “originated from the time of St. Thomas the Apostle … who came to India in A.D. 52. Because of his mission work, we got a Catholic community in India,” the Congress attendees were told. Of the Eastern Catholic churches, the Ukrainian Catholic Church is the largest – and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, with 5 million members, almost 10,000 priests and more than 30,000 women religious, is thriving as well, Archbishop Gudziak said in his July 20 homily.
Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens, the board chair of the National Eucharistic Congress, told reporters that one of the congress’ themes was unity, which is why they featured the Eastern liturgies. “The Catholic Church is a universal Church. It speaks every language on earth.”
The bishop said the prominent celebration of the Qurbana in the stadium “was really an emphasis on the unity of the Church and wanting our people to experience that beautiful diversity.” He said, “It’s the same Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament but present in a very different liturgy.”
Gina Christian of OSV News contributed to this report.
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