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Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, is helping lead the National Eucharistic Revival headed by alumnus Bishop Andrew Cozzens through its mission of: Community, by sponsoring the National Eucharistic Congress and serving as a stopping place on the national Eucharistic Procession; Faith, by perpetual Eucharistic adoration and prayer aids; and Scholarship teaching about the Real Presence with a national Symposium and providing important Eucharistic theological books to all students.
The National Eucharistic Congress has announced that Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, will be a stop on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage which will convene in Indianapolis on July 16, 2024.
More than 100,000 people will travel 6,500 miles over a 60-day periods on four different routes to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.
Benedictine College will be a stop on the “Junipero Serra Route” that will travel from San Francisco through the Rocky Mountains, stop at Benedictine College and then go on to St. Louis before reaching its final destination.
“Benedictine College is proud to welcome the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage to Atchison,” said President Stephen D. Minnis. “There are no coincidences with God, so we see it as a providential sign that we are featured on the St. Junipero Serra Route with the motto ‘Always forward’ [Siempre Adelante], which is the motto of Benedictine College.”
The website for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage said this pilgrimage “is the first undertaken at such a scale — walking coast-to-coast with Our Eucharistic Lord.”
The event is part of the National Eucharistic Revival headed by Minnesota Bishop Andrew Cozzens, who is one of seven 21st-century bishops who graduated from Benedictine College.
“Nothing is more important than the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist,” Minnis said. “We are determined to make that message very clear.”
He cited several high-profile events at the college.
“Devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is crucial to Benedictine College’s mission,” President Minnis said. “Since beginning Perpetual Adoration, we’ve seen two decades of enrollment growth and built five new chapels with tabernacles on campus.”
He said that the college has regularly held Eucharistic processions, but that these events are not the only place students see the college’s Eucharistic faith.
“You will find Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament everywhere on campus,” Minnis said. “We have built five new chapels, featuring tabernacles in our Residence Halls. The Abbey tower, which is the highest point on campus, is a marker showing the way to the tabernacle there, visible for miles.”
To find out more about the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and the Junipero Serra Route, click here.