On Friday, March 7, 2025, the Cornell Catholic Community took part in a Eucharistic procession that began on Cornell’s campus, followed by twenty-four hours of adoration.
A practice with ancient origins, the liturgical procession may be a strange phenomenon to those accustomed to a strict division between religion and public life delineated by the physical walls of a house of worship, whether viewed by someone religious or irreligious.
The event began with a mass in Sage Chapel shortly after noon. The sacred music choir belonging to the COLLIS Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture sang, accompanied by the 18th-century Neapolitan organ played by Cornell Catholic Community Associate Director Matthew Hall. The Cornell Catholic Community’s director and resident priest, Fr. Daniel McMullin, gave a homily concerning the penitential practice of fasting. Fr. McMullin / Daniel urged attendees to place greater attention on that ancient exercise, saying that the fasting and abstinence from meat required by the Church are greatly watered down from the ways of earlier centuries. This homily was a fitting choice for Lent, a period that begins for Catholics on Ash Wednesday and, for Christians, has been traditionally associated with penance and detachment from earthly goods. This season, lasting forty days, anticipates the Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, which celebrate the redemption of the human race through Christ’s willing sacrifice, and the liturgical season of Easter. Lent parallels Advent, which anticipates Christmas just as Lent does Easter.
This isn’t the only event happening along with the Lenten season at Cornell. Of course, there is Ash Wednesday Mass, in which Catholics have ashes applied to their forehead and are reminded of their mortality and the necessity of their repentance. Friday Vespers (a prayer traditionally said in the evenings) have been temporarily replaced with the Stations of the Cross, which commemorate Christ’s crucifixion and his sufferings on the way. And a group was organized for consecration, or dedication, to St. Joseph, which was to engage in various Lenten penances.
At the conclusion of the mass, those assembled began the procession. A short booklet of hymns was provided to be sung during the procession, with the choir leading the songs. Some of these hymns were sung in unison while others were in four-part harmony. Included was the Pange Lingua, a hymn written by the philosopher, theologian, and Catholic Saint Thomas Aquinas in the High Middle Ages. The words of this hymn concern the doctrine of Transubstantiation, or that the bread and wine consecrated during Mass become the “substance of the body of Christ,” as the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it. The consecrated Host is believed by Catholics to truly be Jesus Christ, not merely a symbolic representation. This explains the reverence given to the Eucharist during a procession.
Ellen Foreman, a member of the COLLIS Chant Choir, spoke to The Review about her experience. “It was very special to be able to partake in the procession by singing all of my favorite Eucharistic hymns… it was a powerful expression of my Faith.”
Fr. Augustine Chumo of Immaculate Conception Church in Ithaca bore a monstrance– a decorated, circular case with a transparent receptacle in the center– containing a consecrated host. Surrounded by four canopy-bearers wearing white robes called albs, the priest faced the world head-on, a train of worshippers trailing behind him. Entering and processing down Ho Plaza, the assembly slowly made their way down College Avenue and eventually off campus, singing all the while.
At the front of the procession was a crucifer, or cross bearer, carrying an image of Christ. This position was occupied by Cornell student Jack Fortna, depicted below. [insert image of him here from link at the bottom. The paragraph below is the caption]
“The image of Christ Crucified is the first thing an onlooker sees… people make way for the image of Christ the King.”
Some had trouble hearing or following along with the hymns as the procession snaked its way beside loud and busy roads. Cars could be heard playing music, their engines at times nearly drowning out the singing. But the procession continued regardless—the music was not for themselves, but for God.
Collin Murphy, a campus ministry intern for the Cornell Catholic Community, said, “The primary reason to do any Eucharistic Procession is to worship God. The secondary reason is to propose faith in Christ through the Church in the sacraments to the secular university.” Thus, the absolutely essential aspect of the procession is not a dialogue with the world, but rather a prayer directed upward. “Christ was raised from the dead, and is the only name by which we’re saved.”
This isn’t the first event of its kind at Cornell– in December 2023, there was a procession in honor of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which is the Catholic doctrine that Mary was conceived without the original sin inherited from Adam and Eve. It is also the origin of the name of one of Ithaca’s Catholic churches, and where the procession ended up at the conclusion of its route.
Entering the church, the procession began the last two verses of the Pange Lingua, which are traditionally associated with Eucharistic worship. The members of the procession were now standing in the pews of the church, and as the ceremony wound down, they began kneeling in worship. After an hour, most had left the Church, but the Eucharist was not to be abandoned. Instead, a schedule for adoration had been drafted earlier, and two (for redundancy) worshippers were assigned to each time slot, covering just over twenty-four hours. This included the early dark hours of the morning.
One individual self-assigned to the period between 2 and 3 AM, Victoria Reiter, was available for comment:
“If I’m planning to do one of the 24-hour shifts anyway, the main reason I pick an [early morning shift] is because people have young kids, people have jobs they have to get up for… as a student, I don’t have [those obligations].”
She compared it to the Rorate Caeli mass, a Catholic liturgical celebration named for its introit, or entrance, text translating to “Drop down, ye heavens.” This mass is usually associated with the Advent season and begins before dawn, when all is still dark outside the church.
A member of the planning committee spoke to The Review about the procession.
The event had been in the works in some capacity since the previous summer, and its organization accelerated during the spring semester. Tasks involving route planning, servers, music, transportation, and advertising (in the form of posters) had to be worked out ahead of time, but in the end, it was a successful operation.
“Police coordination was one thing that went a lot smoother than we were worried about.” she said. “The city of Ithaca was very accommodating.” Indeed, several police officers were present in order to facilitate the procession’s movement across busy streets, the traffic across them pausing temporarily as is standard procedure for liturgical processions.
The event was coordinated in large part by Darren Pereira, who was available for comment.
“The Eucharist is the ‘source and summit’ of the Catholic faith, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches. This is because the Eucharist is the very presence of Jesus Christ Himself, which we know because of His words at the Last Supper: ‘This is My Body.’ As Catholics, we take Jesus at His word with this: the Eucharist is really, truly Him — what a joy, what a gift! Through the Eucharist, Jesus fulfills His promise to His disciples, to us: ‘I am with you always.’”
“Secondly, we have just begun the season of Lent, a 40-day period of preparation before the holiest time of the year: Easter. During Lent, we are called to turn away from sin and turn back to God, as we ready ourselves to commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection for our salvation. What better way to turn our focus and our hearts back to Jesus, than to literally follow Him in reverent procession?”
The event was a cooperative effort between Ithaca’s various Catholic communities, which are heavily integrated with one another. Pereira says, “For example, it is common to see parishioners from nearby churches at public events for Catholics on campus, or to see Catholic students at Sunday Mass at those same churches. It is a really strong Catholic network, and the furthest thing from insular. Combined with our desire to celebrate the Eucharist, begin Lent with enthusiasm, and witness to our Catholic faith, it was therefore a no-brainer to organize this event between the various Catholic communities in Ithaca.”
