125th Anniversary Celebrations
The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament serving the United States for 125 years.
Our Eymardian family is preparing to celebrate 125 years of service in the United States of America.
We invite you to be part of the different pieces of our celebration:
• Be an advertising-sponsor for a 125 History Book which will be published and also on our website for honoring your partnership with our ministry. You will be sponsoring this book and the events of the year where we will acknowledge, thank and pray for your contribution.
• Join in the celebrations throughout the country! Events will be held near our current foundations where we will have a special time of presentation-talk, Mass and reception/celebration. Click here for finalized list of events
• Download the 125th Celebration Letter pdf [legal size] and the Sponsorship form pdf for sponsor levels.
Click here to go directy to 125th Anniversary Donation Form.
125th Anniversary Year Celebration Begins “at the Beginning”
The articles in the January 2025 issue of the Grapevine summarize two jubilee celebrations: one for the Jubilee Year of Hope and the opening of the Congregation’s own Diocesan Shrine of Saint Ann to the public as a pilgrimage center for 2025 and the Diocese of Cleveland. The other is opening up the 125th-anniversary celebrations of the Blessed Sacrament Community (SSS) in the United States.
125th Anniversary Year Celebration Begins “at the Beginning”
To celebrate the special 125th anniversary of the SSS’s presence in the United States, the parish of our first foundation, Église Saint Jean Baptiste, kicked off the yearlong celebration on January 6, 2025. The day chosen to begin the commemoration is also on this very day Saint Peter Julian Eymard started the Congregation’s first exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on January 6, 1857. …From this “mother house,” the province of Saint Ann, the many foundations in the USA, Australia, the Philippines, Great Britain and Ireland, Vietnam, and Uganda took root. With the Shrine of Saint Ann at this parish, the devotion and well-being of the province easily placed under her patronage helped our order thrive!
San Antonio Celebrates 125th Anniversary Year
On Wednesday 19 March, Father John Thomas Lane SSS along with parishioners and Associates celebrated the Congregation’s 125 years of service in the Province of Saint Ann. Along with meetings, events included Mass, Prayer in Presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Promise Commitment of new Associates. Almost 100 Associates from around San Antonio gathered at Prince of Peace church for a 125th anniversary celebration. Billy Stewart, Mona Grigsby Suarez and Cesar Camacho (the two local leader) addressed the gathering. The Leiderkram Choir led the music for the celebration. Their history of singing continuously at this parish since its founding before 1868 continues once a month. The Salinas family posed with the Archbishop and Father Lane as they celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary. They were married at another SSS church, Saint Andrew New York City with Blessed Sacrament Father Jim Hayes.
Click here for the complete issue of Grapevine #5-March 2025
Carousal photos of San Antonio celebration.
Celebrating Our 125th Anniversary in Houston at Corpus Christi Catholic Church
In planning the various 125th anniversary gatherings across the province, we were mindful of choosing dates and celebrations that coincided with the name days of our parishes and other events that occur during these festive periods. Knowing that Corpus Christi parish in Houston, a place where the Blessed Sacrament religious (SSS) have administered since 1987, celebrates a grand weekend of 40-hour devotions on this Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ solemnity each year, our planning team selected these dates and offered to have Eucharistic retreats to mark both the name-day weekend and the SSS’s 125th anniversary.
Father Lane began the 40-hour devotion weekend Friday night, June 20, with a concelebrated bilingual (Spanish and English) Votive Mass of Saint Peter Julian Eymard. The local SSS community gathering of Texas religious also included the newly arrived Father Arul Tharcius SSS, from India, as well as the pastor of Downtown Saint Joseph in San Antonio, who took the bus to join in the festivities. Two hundred fifty parishioners participated in the Mass that led to the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. After the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament began, the two language groups proceeded to their respective retreats, one in English and the other in Spanish.
Click here for the complete issue of Grapevine #17–June 2025
Carousal photos of Houston celebration.
