By Ashlyn Beck | Staff Writer
St. Peter Catholic Student Center partnered with the Catholic Student Association to host a Eucharistic procession after the 11:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday, allowing attendants to process through the Baylor campus in adoration and prayer.
Katie Groves, director of campus ministry at St. Peter Catholic Student Center, said the procession — which is usually held on the day of the feast of St. Peter — is an opportunity for members of the congregation to prepare for Ash Wednesday and Lent while praying for Baylor.
“As the campus minister, it’s so valuable seeing all of my students praying and processing on campus through the sidewalks that you guys walk to class on every day,” Groves said. “It takes what you guys typically see as ordinary and makes it beautiful and special, even if just for that hour that we’re processing.”
Attendants included children, adults and college students, accompanied by the ringing of bells and the singing of hymns.
“The procession is an opportunity for us to actually be present on campus, worshiping our Lord and praying for the Baylor community,” Groves said.
Waco junior and Catholic Student Association president James Foley said the procession followed the Rev. Henry Finch through the Baylor campus as he carried the Eucharist — a consecrated host that the Catholic tradition recognizes as the real presence of Christ.
“For Catholics, Mass is the source and summit of our Christian life. [It is] where the bread and wine are consecrated [into what we] believe is the actual physical presence of Jesus,” Foley said. “Eucharistic adoration is sort of an extension and intensification, so the faithful can adore and worship Jesus more.”
Houston senior and Catholic Student Association vice president William Murphy said the church typically celebrates 40 hours of adoration before Lent, and the procession is part of those 40 hours.
“When we do that before Lent, it helps us to prepare for Lent … and give us that reminder of what we are, what we’re fasting for [and] what we’re praying for,” Murphy said.
Catholic Student Association graduate student liaison Linda Salinas said having the procession on campus is “a powerful, powerful thing.”
“We believe that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ, and having that on campus is a beautiful time to pray for everyone,” Salinas said.
Foley said the procession allows the faithful to walk with Christ, much like his disciples did 2,000 years ago.
“It’s meant to kind of model our eventual journey toward eternal life in heaven,” Murphy said.
The procession stopped at four buildings on campus before an altar, where attendees recited litanies and divine praises. Despite the wet and muddy sidewalks, they knelt at the altar in the traditional Western posture of adoration.
“The powerfulness of walking on campus is something that’s so important to me,” Salinas said. “Being able to process with the mindset of praying for other people on a campus that I absolutely love motivates me to want to participate in the procession in the first place.”
Murphy said the procession is the “pinnacle” of the relationship between St. Peter Catholic Student Center and Baylor. He said he is grateful for the inclusion and acceptance of Catholic practices at Baylor.
Groves also said the university has been very accommodating to the Catholic denomination, from blocking off streets for the Eucharistic procession to providing a Catholic Chapel option.
“[Catholic Student Association] has also just done a lot within the university to show [that] we’re passionate about our faith,” Groves said. “Baylor is passionate about their Christian identity, and we’re also passionate about our Christian identity. It just looks a little different.”
