September is a fitting time to celebrate Our Lord in the Eucharist, especially during the Diocese of Charlotte’s Eucharistic Congress each year. St. Paul VI once said, “Perpetual Adoration extends its influence far beyond the individual adorers, touching their homes and families and reaching out to the parish community and beyond.” Between the start of Perpetual Adoration by people and important dates in the stories of Eucharistic saints, this month holds plenty of ways to keep devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist going strong, even after the experience of the Eucharistic Congress.
Eucharistic Adoration by laypeople formally began in Avignon, France, in September 1226. In reparation for the sacrileges of the Albigensian heresy, King Louis VIII built a church in Avignon near the Sorgue River to honor the Blessed Sacrament. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the king planned a Eucharistic procession around the city. Dressed in sackcloth and with a rope around his waist, he led the procession. Because of the throngs of adorers, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed throughout the night. As the practice continued in the days and nights that followed, the bishop declared that Adoration would continue there. Perpetual Adoration continued for 200 years – then a Eucharistic miracle occurred during a massive flood. What was that miracle? Read more at www.therealpresence.org.