Ninth National Eucharistic Congress

Ninth National Eucharistic Congress

The monstrance used at the Eucharistic Congress
Date	June 23–26, 1941 (1941-06-23 – 1941-06-26)
Venue	Minnesota State Fair
Location	Falcon Heights, Minnesota
Coordinates
Type	Eucharistic congress
Patron(s)	Archbishop John Gregory Murray
Participants	475,000

From June 23 to June 26, 1941, the Ninth National Eucharistic Congress took place in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The event, meant to foster devotion to the sacrament of the Eucharist, attracted hundreds of thousands of attendees. While primarily at the Eucharistic Center set up at the fairgrounds, other events took place at Saint Paul Union Depot, the Minneapolis Auditorium, the St. Paul Auditorium, the Cathedral of St. Paul and the Basilica of St. Mary elsewhere in Minnesota.

Background

The first International Eucharistic Congress owed its inspiration to Bishop Gaston de Ségur, and was held at Lille, France, on June 21, 1881. The initial inspiration behind the idea came from the laywoman Marie-Marthe-Baptistine Tamisier (1834–1910) who spent a decade lobbying clergy after the French Revolution in an effort to restore religiosity to France. in 1879, Pope Leo XIII established a committee to plan the first international Eucharistic congress. In the wake of these international congresses, national congresses sprung up in the United States. Prior to the 1941 event, there were nine other National Eucharistic Congresses in the United States, as well as two international congresses.

A monstrance brought by the Rev. Felix Tissot from France in 1865 was the official monstrance of the congress, and was featured prominently on branding for the event.

Congress

At the congress, there were twenty-six "sectional" or break-out meetings for liturgists, employers and employees talking on Catholic social teaching, and more. More than half of the American Catholic hierarchy were present. The Minneapolis Park Board donated $1,000 for floral arrangements on the Grant Street Mall.

Due to lack of ability to conconcelebrate Mass prior to the reforms of Vatican II, enough altars were set up for 500 Masses to be said simultaneously every half-hour between 6am and 9am daily, with 100 altars set up at both the Minneapolis Auditorium and the St. Paul Auditorium and other altars set up in the Saint Paul Hotel and the Eucharistic Center at the state fairgrounds. Throughout the congress, special curiosity was given to an altar in the crypt of the Church of the Nativity in Saint Paul; the altar was set up versus populum, "the only one of its kind in the country."

Monday, June 23

The congress began with the arrival of the papal legate, Cardinal Dennis Dougherty, to Saint Paul Union Depot at 4pm. A liturgical reception took place at 4:30pm at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, followed by a formal dinner at the Saint Paul Hotel.

At 8:30pm, an event was held at the Minneapolis Auditorium where the papal legate was formally and civically welcomed. Around 10,000 attended on the inside with 4,000 in the streets outside. Mayor George E. Leach of Minneapolis and Mayor John J. McDonough of Saint Paul were also present. The governor of Minnesota, Harold Stassen, gave an address welcoming all the visitors to the event.

Tuesday, June 24

The day began with a 10am Pontifical Mass celebrated by the papal legate at the Eucharistic Center at the state fairgrounds. In the afternoon, sectional meetings were held for various groups - clergy, teachers, parents, journalists, catechists, rural workers, servicemen, and choristers.

A military sectional meeting and review took place at Fort Snelling with 1,200 soldiers and ROTC cadets.

There was a "Holy Hour for Youth" held at the Minneapolis Auditorium, attended by more than 4,000. A similar Holy Hour was also held in the Saint Paul Auditorium.

There was an 11pm Holy Hour for men followed by midnight Mass was held at the state fairgrounds, attended by 75,000 men and 5,000 women. Over 10,000 went to confession.

Wednesday, June 25

A Pontifical Mass for children, parents, and teachers was held at the grandstand of the Minnesota State Fair. About 14,000 grade school students from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis were in attendance. Fr. Francis Missia led a choir consisting of "thousands of pupils". Following the Mass, sectional meetings were held for liturgists, seminarians, college teachers, professionals, government workers, nurses, charity workers, and women.

In the evening there were holy hours celebrated for clergy, sisters, and women, as well as youth meetings held at the Saint Paul Auditorium and Incarnation parish in Minneapolis.

Thursday, June 26

A Maronite Rite Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Paul at 8:30am, while simultaneously Basil Takach, a bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, celebrated a Pontifical Mass in the Byzantine Rite at the Basilica of St. Mary. A Pontifical Mass for all pilgrims was celebrated at the Eucharistic Center at the fairgrounds grandstand.

After a 1:30pm broadcast address from Vatican City by Pope Pius XII, the closing Eucharistic Procession took place, starting at the Church of Saint Andrew in Como Park and ending at the fairgrounds - about four hours total. The closing parade's crowd was estimated to be 80,000. With a high temperature of 92 °F, over 300 people were treated for heat stroke at the Boy Scout headquarters.

Friday, June 27

While formally after the congress had closed, the Basilica of St. Mary was formally consecrated by Cardinal Dennis Dougherty.

Post-Congress

After the 1941 congress, Eucharistic congresses both domestically and internationally were put on hold due to the outbreak of World War II. There would not be another Eucharistic congress in the United States until 1976 when the international congress occurred in Philadelphia. The next National Eucharistic Congress is scheduled to happen in July 2024.

The monstrance used at the congress is now at the Saint Paul Seminary.