As we prepare to enter the parish year of the Eucharistic Revival, the faithful of the Archdiocese of Denver have an exciting opportunity to participate in the revival by going on pilgrimage.
The archdiocese is excited to announce that seven parishes have been designated as pilgrimage sites for the duration of the Eucharistic Revival over the next three years. All are invited to visit each of these locations and pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament to enter more deeply into the mission and purpose of the Eucharistic Revival: to grow in love for Jesus in the Eucharist. Each site will highlight a different aspect of how we engage the Eucharist, and special holy cards pertaining to each site will be offered to visitors.
Additionally, each site will feature educational exhibitions about different Eucharistic Miracles from around the world. The coolest part about these displays is that they were actually created by Bl. Carlo Acutis himself — they come directly from the website he built cataloguing all the known Eucharistic Miracles in the world (eucharisticmiracles.org). Bl. Carlo Acutis is the patron of the Eucharistic Revival, and a first-class relic is currently on display for veneration at Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, which is one of the archdiocesan pilgrimage sites.
The pilgrimage will officially launch with the Eucharistic Revival Parish Year, which starts on June 8, the Feast of Corpus Christi. Each pilgrimage site was chosen intentionally and has a special connection to the Eucharist. For more pilgrimage details, stay tuned to archden.org/revival for the latest.
Cathedral Basilica [Bl. Carlo Acutis, Eucharistic Miracles]
1535 Logan Street | Denver, CO 80203
Aside from being the mother church of the archdiocese, the Cathedral holds a special connection to the Eucharist during this Eucharistic Revival as the site of a first-class relic of Bl. Carlo Acutis. This young man had a special devotion to the Eucharist during his short life, and we are blessed in Denver to have the chance to venerate a relic of his over these next three years. As Bl. Carlo said, “The Eucharist is the Highway to Heaven,” and with the help of his intercession, this Eucharistic Revival will hopefully get the Church back on that eternal route.
St. Thomas Aquinas [Eucharistic hymns]
904 14th St | Boulder, CO 80302
St. Thomas Aquinas was and remains one of the Church’s greatest minds, but did you know he also wrote beautiful Eucharistic hymns? Adoro te devote is perhaps the most well-known of them, but the hymns he wrote each serve a singular purpose: to draw us ever deeper into the mystery of the Eucharist. The thing about the Eucharist is that it is not something be fully grasped at an intellectual level; as St. Thomas said, “Love of God is greater than knowledge of God,” and the Eucharist is God’s gift of himself to us so that we may fall more in love with him.
St. John the Evangelist (Loveland) / St. John the Evangelist (Yuma) [Real Presence]
1730 W. 12th Street | Loveland, CO 80537
508 South Ash | Yuma, CO 80759
As Catholics, we have the Church’s rich tradition as the basis for the teaching on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. However, we need only look to the Gospel of John, chapter six, for the scriptural basis for what the Eucharist is. The Bread of Life discourse leaves no room for confusion, and thanks be God that St. John the Evangelist recorded this most essential of Christ’s teachings in his Gospel.
St. Clare (Edwards) [Spiritual warfare]
31622 Highway 6 | Edwards, CO 81632
The Eucharist, in all its glory, serves multiple purposes for those who partake of it. One of these purposes is to fortify us for the reality of spiritual warfare that has always been present throughout history. To this end, St. Clare of Assisi serves as a powerful Eucharistic witness. Just as she deterred an entire army with the Blessed Sacrament, we, too, can prevail against the forces of darkness with the Eucharist as our armor and shield.
Blessed Sacrament [How to pray a holy hour]
4900 Montview Blvd. | Denver CO 80207
One of the great opportunities of this Eucharistic Revival is a chance to rediscover the power of the Holy Hour: spending time before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration and simply being in the presence of the Lord. Many of the great saints throughout history attested that engaging in this simple but profound practice spurs the path to sainthood, and what is the mission of the Church and every Christian, if not to beget and become saints?
Most Precious Blood [Mass as a sacrifice]
2200 S. Harrison St. | Denver, CO 80210
At its core, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is just that: a sacrifice. The roots of the Mass run deep in scripture, from priests offering sacrifice at the temple to sacrificing an unblemished lamb for the Passover to the ultimate sacrifice in the form of Christ on the Cross. Every single Eucharist affords us the opportunity to participate in the sacrifice of Christ and offer our own spiritual sacrifice back to God the Father. The blood of the lamb saved the Israelites in Egypt, and the Blood of the Lamb saves us every time we partake in the Eucharist.