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.
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Editor’s note: Associate Patty Pizzitola, and former CEE Assistant, read this note before the parish dinner, celebrating 125 years of the Blessed Sacrament Community (SSS) in Houston. Patty is a long-time parishioner of Corpus Christi, predating the SSS Community’s invitation to administer the parish and hospital ministries in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. She helped create the first Life in the Eucharist Retreat team in Houston.
…We gather this weekend to honor and say thank you to the Congregation for their service over the last one hundred twenty-five years throughout the United States. On August 1, they will have administered Corpus Christi Parish for thirty-eight years. That’s hard to believe!
Photos: TOP – Fathers Jaime and Sekar cut the 125th Anniversary Cake;
BOTTOM – Father Lane blesses the new icon
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