CHRIST ENTHRONED AND ADORED INSIDE US
(A Corpus Christi Experience in the Parish of St. Jude, Pagudpod, Ilocos Norte)
The good Bishop of the Diocese of Laoag Ilocos Norte, Renato Mayugba, DD, has been the most recent bishop to invite the Blessed Sacrament Fathers to establish the same Eucharistic mission in his Diocese. This mission takes place by entrusting to the Congregation the administration of the Parish of St. Jude Thaddeus in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. As the Congregation aims to make every Parish it administers to become an adoring community to the Most Blessed Sacrament, it endeavors to bring light to the faith of the people by way of information, formation, animation and most of all celebration. The Parish of St. Jude Thaddeus in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, is overjoyed and deeply delighted in faith to experience for the first time, the celebration of the Solemnity of the Corpus Christi in the way of the Sacramentinos. The eve of Saturday following the day of the Feast of the Corpus Christi was spent as a beautiful preparation in understanding the meaning of the celebration.
A short input attended by the Parishioners to highlight the practical and moral implications of the faithful’s participation in the Eucharist has somehow rendered the people appreciative to the effects of the Sacrament of the Eucharist in their life. It is an impression that this celebration must have helped the faithful to achieve a more informed faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament as the whole night until dawn was spent for silent and prayerful adoration. The taking of turns by the faithful to adore the Sacred Host enthroned at a Monstrance gave them an increased sense of reverence to the sacred space where the Real Presence of Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity is duly acknowledged in faith. Not least to count in the joy of the Parish to celebrate the Solemnity of the Corpus Christi is the animating presence of Bishop Renato Mayugba, DD, who stayed up late night to adore and to pray and to celebrate the Misa Pro Populo early on the day of the Solemnity, 5:30 in the morning of Sunday.
To truly heighten the devotion of the faithful to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Bishop stressed with much zeal to the people that upon Holy Communion, they become no less than the tabernacle, with the dignity and the privilege to keep Christ’s presence inside their body, worthy of the highest adoration from the meekest heart of a human person. This gave everyone a feel of tremendous owe when the Bishop asked each one to pick a lighted candle after receiving the Holy Communion, and in utmost silence and fervent prayer everyone goes back to their seats. It served as a gesture of real reverence to the Sacred Body which entered deep inside everyone in the Communion – this is Christ enthroned and adored inside us.
The Solemn Procession of the Most Precious Body of Christ in a Monstrance followed immediately after reception of the Holy Communion. It was prepared in its modest way ensuring utmost reverence to the dignity of the event. The Bishop led the procession as he lifted the Monstrance enthroned upon a high truck vehicle embellished with flowers and satins under heavy embroidered canopy that highlighted the distinctiveness of the Blessed Sacrament atop. This is the first time the place had experienced a Consecrated Host (the Most Blessed Sacrament) paraded along the street with all its pomp and distinct regimens. It surely attracted both curiosity and a feeling of sacred silence while the people joining the procession were disposed prayerfully. The joy was not merely on having it for the first time, but for knowing and believing that Christ is present in the Sacred Bread all the time.
Upon return to the Parish Church, the Bishop led the Solemn Benediction and the Final Blessing which formally culminated the celebration of the Holy Mass. This is the day the Parishioners long to having it again. It is a hope, that as the Mission of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers begin, the people will likewise discover the call of Christ to gather them in faith to celebrate and to adore God in spirit and in truth. – Rev. Fr. Marc Bryan Adona, SSS
