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At the Papal Audience on Wednesday, March 15, the Holy Father blessed a Monstrance brought to Rome from the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The Monstrance came from St. Dominic's Parish, one of the parishes that was hardest hit by the flooding that followed Katrina. In fact, St. Dominic's sat in 12 feet of water for nearly three weeks after the hurricane.
Several days after the flooding of Katrina had receded, Pat and Susie Veters and Father Christopher Nalty, a New Orleans priest home on vacation from his assignment at the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy, were the first people to enter the Perpetual Adoration chapel at St. Dominic's Parish. It was devasted. The flooding had peaked at nearly 8 feet inside the chapel, easily verified by the water line on the walls. All of the seats and kneelers had floated up and then settled down into the mud in total disarray. Although the Tabernacle was secured to the ground, the wooden Altar had floated and ended up on its side outside of the Sanctuary. The group dug through the muck and found the Monstrance, which had been in water for 3 weeks. All of them thought that it had been ruined.
Not a house in St. Dominic's Parish survived the flooding. Even today, very few can live in the parish because of the lack of electricity. Homes are being reconstructed by workers using portable generators for power. But that's not the end of the story. The parishioners of St. Dominic are determined to rebuild. And Pat and Susie are determined to help. But how?
Well, it happens that Susie is the Director of the Archdiocese of New Orleans' Office of Eucharistic Adoration - to her knowledge, the only diocesan office in the United States devoted entirely to this ministry. The mission of the office is to promote prayer before the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist, the bread that has become the Body and Blood of Christ through the prayers of the priest at Mass. And Susie had an idea. She'd heard about a "Pro-Life Monstrance" that had been blessed by the Holy Father, she was inspired. Why can't representatives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans take a Monstrance to Rome and have it blessed by the Holy Father, too? After the blessing, the Monstrance could travel from parish to parish and from school to school for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Benediction to rejuvenate Eucharistic Adoration in the devastated Archdiocese. The rebuilding of New Orleans is a slow process, and it could surely benefit from some spiritual assistance.
Through her good friend, Father Neal McDermott, O.P. of the Office of Catholic Education, Susie approached Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes, the Archbishop of New Orleans, with the proposal. Archbishop Hughes was delighted. He agreed to write a letter directly to the Holy Father asking for the blessing, and went one step further: perhaps the Holy See would consider granting a Perpetual Indulgence to the faithful who come to pray when the Monstrance is used for Eucharistic Adoration? With the logisical help of Father Nalty, who was back at work in Rome, the plans began to fall into place. The request for the blessing was granted by Archbishop James Harvey, the Prefect of the Pontifical Household, and the Plenary Indulgence was granted by James Cardinal Stafford, Prefect of the Apostolic Penitentiary.
But what Monstrance should they use for the blessing? Enter into the picture Michael McGee, a fellow parishioner of Susie and Pat at St. Dominic's and a man skilled in art restoration. With only weeks before the scheduled Audience, the job of restoring the Monstrance was nearly impossible. Neverthless, Michael agrees to try and spends over a hundred hours taking the St. Dominic Monstrance completely apart and restoring it. At one point, Michael doesn't think he'll get it done in time, but he finally finishes. Packed in a specially made case from Spain, the pilgrims head to Rome with the St. Dominic Monstrance. Why this particular Monstrance ? For two reasons: (1) it's from one of the most devastated parishes in the Archdiocese, and (2) it's the Monstrance used by the Office of Eucharistic Adoration in all of the Archdiocesan literature. It couldn't be a better symbol of the rebirth of the city.
Although the weather in Rome had been lousy during the early part of March, the morning of March 15 was spectacular. The group of pilgrims from New Orleans, including Father Richard Hermes, S.J., Chris and Christine Baglow, Stan and Isabel Cowley, Dan and Suzanne Jacobs, and Susie and Pat began the day with Father Nalty at Santa Cecilia Parish in Rome, the Lenten Stational Church for the day. After Mass and a quick breakfast at cafe bar near the Vatican, the group made their way through the elaborate security at St. Peter's. Once at the Audience, they were personally greeted by Archbishop Harvey, who had arranged for them to sit in a special area. While waiting for the arrival of the Holy Father, the group listened to music being piped into the Piazza for the occasion, and delighted when the speakers started to play "Oh When the Saints Come Marching In"!
The Holy Father entered the Piazza in his Popemobile at precisely 10:30a. The sky was a glorious blue and the temperature a comfortable 60 degrees. After a short drive around the Piazza, the Holy Father settled into his chair and the Audience began with the recitation of the Gospel according to Mark (3:13-19) where Christ called the Twelve Apostles. In his message, the Holy Father announced that he was beginning a new series of catechesis on the mystery of the relationship between Christ and His Church. The brief address concluded: "There is no way to reconcile Christ's intentions with the slogan that was fashionable a few years ago, 'Christ yes, the Church no.' The individualist Jesus is a fantasy. We cannot find Jesus without the reality that he created and through which he communicates himself. Between the Son of God, made man and his Church, there is a profound, inseparable continuity, in virtue of which Christ is present today in his people." It could not have been a more fitting reflection as a small group of pilgrims who were approaching the Successor of St. Peter to ask for the Church's blessing.
After greeting the Cardinals, the Bishops and the sick that were present, the Holy Father made his way down to line to the small group from New Orleans. Father Nalty introduced himself, and told the Holy Father about Adoration in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. When the Holy Father heard that there had been 18 Perpetual Adoration Chapels in New Orleans before the storm, he was visibly impressed. After greeting the group, he blessed the Monstrance and sprinkled it with holy water from a font that had been brought for the occasion. He even agreed to give the pilgrims the white zucchetto that he was wearing in exchange for a new one they had purchased at the Roman clerical shop Gammarelli's. Not a few tears were shed during this moving experience.
And now the Monstrance is headed back to New Orleans. It will travel from parish to parish and from school to school to reinvigorate Eucharistic Adoration in the ruins of the devastated Archdiocese. It will travel with the holy water font, the Papal zucchetto, and photos of the blessing. And a Plenary Indulgence (given under the usual conditions of participation at Mass, the Sacrament of Penance and a prayer for the Holy Father) will be granted to the faithful who adore Jesus Christ truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist when displayed in the Monstrance. The Catholic Church played an important role in the founding of New Orleans and in its growth. It will play an important role in the rebuilding, especially as it unites itself to Jesus Christ and His Church.
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