By Our Reporter
Shillong, Nov 12: Thousands of Catholic faithful thronged the Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians, Laitumkhrah to take part in the annual Eucharistic procession on Sunday.
A spiritual event, the Eucharistic procession is a large gathering which is attended by Catholics from near and far pledging their allegiance to Jesus Christ.
Religious leaders lead the crowd into prayers, hymns throughout the procession while the Blessed Holy Eucharist is reverently placed on a beautifully decorated float flanked by children dressed as angels.
The Eucharistic procession, known in the Catholic Church worldwide, as “Corpus Christi,” Latin for “the Body of Christ,” dates back to 1247, when it was first celebrated in Liege, Belgium. Two decades later Pope Urban IV extended it to the Universal Church.
While in other parts of the world the Corpus Christi procession is held in June to coincide with the feast of Corpus Christi, in India on account of the rainy monsoon season, the procession associated with the feast is held in the winter months after the monsoon period.
‘There is no other worship in the Catholic Church greater than the Eucharist’.
The day began with the Holy Mass.
The chief celebrant of the event was Leopoldo Girells, the Apostolic Nuncio (Ambassador) to India and Nepal, who is the representative of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.
The programme was attended by Archbishop of Shillong, Victor Lyngdoh, Bishops of Nongstoin and Jowai, Auxiliary Bishop of Aizawl and others from Meghalaya and Northeast.
Among the political
leaders who took part in the Eucharistic procession were Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong, Cabinet Minister, Ampareen Lyngdoh, MLAs, MDCs and Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills.