By Jenna Murphy
**See special photo essay of the Mass with 16 photos **
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/Congressclosingmass.htm
QUEBEC CITY, June 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The 49th International Eucharistic Congress literally ended with a bang on Sunday as over 60,000 faithful gathered in pouring rain and thunder for the closing celebration of the Eucharist on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City.
Many chipper pilgrims rose early on the initially sunny Sunday morning to secure one of the 15,000 seats reserved for participants in the Congress.
With Cardinal Josef Tomko (the papal representative and president emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Eucharistic Congresses) officiating, the closing Mass boasted more than 30 Cardinals, 200 bishops and over 1000 priests in attendance.
By the time the lengthy procession had ended and the Mass had begun, the skies had completely clouded over. At the very moment in the Mass when Catholics believe the bread and wine are “transubstantiated” into the body and blood of Christ, the skies opened up and torrential rains drenched the crowd. During the Eucharistic prayer, a clap of thunder evoked from the massive congregation an awareness of the supernatural as all stood (and some knelt) open-mouthed in the deluge.
What was perhaps more surprising than the rain was the crowd’s reaction to the heavy downpour.
Shouts of joy and French exclamations of praise and wonder spontaneously rose up from among some of the pilgrims as they made their way through the ankle-deep mud and water to receive the Eucharist.
“Quebec is being washed clean today,” exclaimed one Quebecois pilgrim as the rain pounded on his flimsy plastic poncho during the sign of peace.
Quebec’s government released a report last month insinuating that all religions except for Christianity are to be accepted in the province’s public life. It was commissioned that all crucifixes, Christian symbols and prayers be eliminated from the public domain, including the relocation of the famous cross in the National Assembly to a room devoted to the “history of Parliament”. The document also pushed for a more complete divorce between church and state.
Preceding the ‘cleansing’ at the closing Mass, Pope Benedict XVI had given a homily live from the Vatican calling for the respect for human life from conception until natural death. He also issued a world-wide challenge for each individual to personally contribute to building a new world. The Pope also encouraged all young people to generously open their hearts to listen to God’s call on their lives, especially those who sense a call to the religious life.
Though the Papal homily was enthusiastically received, the actual experience in the rain on the Plains of Abraham during the consecration seemed to eclipse any words that could be offered.
After communion, Cardinal Josef Tomko made his first unscripted comment of the Congress when he qualified the rain (that had by that time ceased) as “rain of grace”. This comment was seconded by Quebec’s Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who called it a “flood of Divine Goodness” – a line that accompanied the front page spread in the Monday edition of Le Soleil, Quebec City’s local paper.
Upon leaving the field through the narrow gates, one gentleman was heard shouting in French on the sidewalk to anyone who would listen: “Quebec is washed clean, the rain was God’s mercy”.
The soggy pilgrims took their time evacuating the park and, since they were already drenched, many stuck around to prolong the experience.
**See special photo essay of the Mass with 16 photos **
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008_docs/Congressclosingmass.htm
To read more about the 49th International Eucharistic Congress:
Quebec City Eucharistic Procession Considered Historic Event – Special Photo Report
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08062409.html
Quebec Cultural – Religious Revival Launched in a McDonald’s Restaurant
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08062310.html
Pope Links the Eucharist with the Right to Life
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08062307.html
** See English Videos of all the Congress talks and homilies at https://www.ecdq.tv/en/videos/**
At the moment a video of the Pope’s homily is available only in the French version at
https://www.ecdq.tv/fr/