June 18, 2025

Bishop Byrne to lead procession on Feast of Corpus Christi

REGIONAL
Staff report

Bishop William D. Byrne leads the eucharistic procession at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 18, 2024 at Lucas Oil stadium. (IObserve photo/Courtesy Katelyn Dobbs)

SPRINGFIELD – Bishop William D. Byrne will lead a eucharistic procession Sunday, June 22, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, the celebration of Jesus’ Body and Blood, a sacrament of love and salvation. The procession follows the 11:45 a.m. Spanish Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Springfield.

The procession will begin at 12:30, with prayers in both English and Spanish. The congregation will leave the cathedral, walking down State Street to Chestnut Street to Edwards Avenue and back to Elliot Street. All are welcome for this public witness.

“Jesus told us that unless we eat his body and drink his blood, we will have no life within us,” said Father Gary Dailey, the rector of St. Michael’s Cathedral.

The procession is a Jubilee 2025 event, in which Catholics are called on to be “Pilgrims of Hope.” In the Catholic Church, jubilees are marked every 25 years and are rooted in Jewish tradition. The Old Testament jubilees were a call to come back to God and stood as a reminder of mercy. The jubilee year runs through Jan. 6 on the Solemnity of the Epiphany.

“Come and join us as we give public witness to our belief in Our Eucharistic Lord,” Father Dailey said.

To learn more about jubilee year events, local sacred sites and pilgrimages, go to diospringfield.org.