For the last mile of the procession, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, carried the monstrance, finally climbing the grand steps leading up to the Our Lady of San Juan del Valle shrine.
A storied pilgrimage site that regularly sees over a million annual pilgrims from the U.S. and Mexico, the shrine has long been a place of Marian and Eucharistic devotion.
Established in the 1950s, the basilica houses a 3-foot statue of Our Lady of San Juan, a replica of an image popularly associated with several miracles, including the resurrection of a little girl killed in an acrobatic act in 1623. In 1999, St. John Paul II elevated the shrine to the status of basilica.
Flores placed the monstrance atop the shrine altar as majestic organ notes swelled and pilgrims filled the pews. Suddenly the hymns and music ceased and there were a few minutes of silent adoration as all eyes focused on Christ in the monstrance.
To culminate the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s time in the Diocese of Brownsville, Flores celebrated a special Mass at the shrine. Bishop Eugenio Lira Rugarcía of Matamoros, Brownsville Auxiliary Bishop Mario Avilés, and several other priests concelebrated.
To deliver his homily, Flores walked to the center of the church, where his large metal crozier could be heard clanging on the stone floor. Preaching in both Spanish and English, he focused on the reality of Christ, truly present in the Eucharist, saying that “another name for God is ‘for you.’”
Pointing to a massive crucifix on the wall, Flores said: “This is the God we need, the God who pours himself out, the God who gives himself up, the Lord who gives his life, for us. Those simple, precious words, ‘for you.’”
Reflecting on the day, Joshua Velasquez, another member of the Juan Diego perpetual pilgrim team and a native of the area, told CNA that he was very glad to be able to start the pilgrimage in the valley. Currently an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame, he believes there is a special faith rooted in the people of the valley’s identity.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
“I hope that something about the devotion here can inspire the rest of the country to greater Eucharistic devotion as well,” Velasquez said.
“I learned love of the Eucharist from the people here,” he went on. “It was here that I started to fall in love with the Mass, where that became a rhythm pattern in my own faith. That devotion to the Mass and the Eucharist is very much rooted here, and I’ll be bringing that with me the whole way.”
Peter Pinedo is a DC Correspondent for CNA. A graduate of Franciscan University, Peter previously worked for Texas Right to Life. He is a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Credit: Source link
