Renowned Catholic priest Father Mike Schmitz will lead a Eucharistic procession in New York City on Oct. 10, 2023.
The Napa Institute-sponsored procession will begin and end at Saint Patrick's Cathedral.
Father Mike will first celebrate Mass at 4:30 p.m., then begin the Eucharistic Procession at 5:15 p.m. He will conclude at 6:10 p.m. with Benediction.
The Sisters of Life and diocesan priests from the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Rockville Centre will also participate in the procession.
The Mass and Eucharistic procession are free and open to the public. However, the event also kicks off the Napa Institute's 2023 Principled Entrepreneurship Conference.
Click here for information about this conference.
In a recent video, Father Mike invited people to attend, comparing this public display of faith to a type of martyrdom.
He explains that "martyr" means "witness," or "bearing witness to Jesus by giving their life and by giving their death to bear witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ."
He says public participation in a Eucharistic procession is a small martyrdom, "simply by giving our time and demonstrating--revealing that we truly believe in the love of God and Jesus Christ given to us in the Eucharist."
Watch Father Mike's invitation below:
"The word 'martyr' in Greek is literally 'witness' and so there are some people who bear witness to Jesus by giving their life and by giving their death to bear witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ," Father Mike explains in the video.
"Yet, all of us as Christians are called to be martyrs, meaning, that we're all called to bear witness to Jesus Christ in some way, shape, or form."
"We have the opportunity to do this on Oct. 10th in the streets of New York City," Father Mike continues.
"You're invited to bear witness. You're invited to be a martyr. You're invited to bear witness to the True Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist as we go on to a Eucharistic procession through the streets of New York City."
"We are martyrs in a small way, simply by giving our time and demonstrating--revealing that we truly believe in the love of God and Jesus Christ given to us in the Eucharist."
Here's the Mass & Eucharistic procession schedule with Father Mike Schmitz:
Napa Institute founder Tim Busch told ChurchPOP why he believes Eucharistic processions are important, especially in the current culture.
“We need to evangelize our culture. We need to bring Christ into our everyday lives," Busch said.
"Eucharistic processions can be uniquely effective. What’s more powerful than 500 people marching through Midtown Manhattan, singing, and praying and pointing to Christ?" Busch continued.
"The real presence leads to real conversion. And this year, we’re especially excited that Father Mike Schmitz will lead our procession through the heart of New York City.”
Here are photos from previous Napa Institute Eucharistic processions in NYC:
