Bishop John Folda of Fargo, N.D., said when the Eucharist was brought into the arena, “Immediately the atmosphere became recollective and totally silent, totally prayerful, totally focused on our Lord at the Center of the arena… That was quite an extraordinary thing.”
By S.L. Hansen
for the Register
One aspect of the National Eucharistic Congress (NEC) that was widely appreciated was the reverent atmosphere.
“There was enormous reverence for our Lord,” assured Bishop John Folda of Fargo.
Bishop Folda was a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln and was serving as rector of St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward when he was named a bishop in 2013.
Of course, the challenges of having Mass for tens of thousands of people in a football stadium, plus other liturgies – including what was thought to be the largest Eastern Rite Byzantine Divine Liturgy ever celebrated in the United States – are readily apparent.
The production team hired has worked on Christian gatherings in the past. With Bishop Andrew Cozzens’ desire to create something that would feel like a church that was both classic and modern, the team designed digital backdrops that evoked gothic architecture and stained-glass windows. Slow, subtle transitions in lighting signified a change from an inspirational talk to Mass or Eucharistic adoration, visually preparing the crowd to enter into a mindset of worship and reverence without leaving their seats.
“They put a lot of effort into making it beautiful,” said Mary Dixon of St. Michael Parish in Hastings.
Eucharistic adoration in the stadium was remarkable.
“I was taken, especially when the Blessed Sacrament was brought in,” Bishop Folda said. “Immediately the atmosphere became recollective and totally silent, totally prayerful, totally focused on our Lord at the Center of the arena… That was quite an extraordinary thing.”
He was told that one of the production crew who is not Catholic revealed to his wife that Eucharistic adoration at this congress was “the most powerful religious experience” he had ever had.”
Most people knelt, whether on the concrete risers surrounding the space, or on the hard floor covering the field. Some lay prostrate in the presence of Jesus.
“Our sisters were marveling that when the music would die down, except for a little baby once in a while, you could hear a pin drop,” recalled Sister Kathryn Maney of the Marian Sisters of the Diocese of Lincoln. “It was that awe and reverence for our Lord.”
In the Indianapolis Convention Center up the street, where several morning and afternoon liturgies were held,” there were multiple occasions when the Blessed Sacrament would have to be carried through crowded corridors from one room to another.
Each time, the priest with the ciborium would be preceded by religious sisters or seminarians, who rang bells to announce the presence of our Lord. Conversations immediately ceased. A path was cleared as people got on their knees in adoration of Jesus.
Bishop Folda said, “It was truly an act of worship that was bringing us all together.”
Reverence: SNR photos by Corbin Hubbell
Closing Mass: SNR photos by Corbin Hubbell
