Annual Eucharistic Procession to Set Sail on the ‘Marian Mississippi’
The Blessed Sacrament will make a two-day pilgrimage in a flotilla that continues the Eucharistic Revival with a nautical flourish.
Clockwise from left to right: The statue of Mary for the Blessed Mother boat for the Fête 2024; the massive monstrance for the 2024 event; highlights from 2022 (photo: Courtesy of the Fête-Dieu du Teche and Father Michael Champagne, CJC )
The annual Fête-Dieu du Teche Eucharistic procession — traditionally conveyed aboard boats along the south-central Louisiana bayou — includes a big surprise for this year’s 10th anniversary.
After nine years of 40-mile boat processions with the Blessed Sacrament at the head along Louisiana’s Bayou Teche, this year’s two-day event Aug. 14-15 will move to the Mississippi River.
This history-in-the-making move to “Old Man River” not only marks this milestone anniversary, but it was also planned to connect with the national three-year Eucharistic Revival that included the National Eucharistic Congress (NEC) in July.
It’s an appropriate choice, as the Mississippi, in 1673, was named by French Jesuit and explorer Father Jacques Marquette “The River of the Immaculate Conception” — a worthy name indeed to carry the Eucharistic Lord in a magnificent adoration cruise.
“We are moving the Eucharistic boat procession for a one-time historic route on the mighty river to bless the river and the state of Louisiana,” Father Michael Champagne, organizer of the event, told the Register. “We desire to thank God for the great state of Louisiana and its mighty river, and we desire to beg God’s blessing as we embark on our future journey toward him.”
Father Champagne, superior of the Community of Jesus Crucified in St. Martinville, Louisiana, has charted and piloted all previous annual Fête-Dieu du Teche (“Feast of God on the Teche”) nautical processions along the bayou. He hopes that this procession along the great waterway brings about a “conversion to the Eucharist” as called for by Pope Francis.
He shared some of Louisiana’s deep Eucharistic roots.
“In 1812, when our first governor, William C.C. Claiborne, designed the flag, he replaced an earlier seal of an eagle with the image of a pelican wounding its breast to draw blood and feed its starving young. This is an ancient symbol of the Eucharist, Christ wounding himself to feed us with his Body and Blood.”
The priest also pointed out that the names of eight of Louisiana’s civil parishes were taken from Catholic churches in existence. Church territories became the civil boundaries, and since then, Louisiana calls its regions not counties but parishes.
Anchors Aweigh
This historic 130-mile Fête-Dieu du Mississippi will set sail from Baton Rouge, the state capital. Bishop Michael Duca of Baton Rouge and the bishops of the Louisiana province will open the spiritual extravaganza with a morning Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral. The eve of the Solemnity of the Assumption is also the memorial of a great Marian saint, the Franciscan martyr St. Maximilian Kolbe.
“I am honored that the Fête-Dieu du Mississippi will begin in the Diocese of Baton Rouge,” Bishop Duca said in a release. “By participating in a Eucharistic Procession, one makes a public act of faith to follow Jesus Christ, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. It is my prayer that the men and women participating on any leg of the procession route will be living witnesses of Christ, awakening a faith-filled fire and inspiring those around them to love one another as he has loved us first.”
According to Father Champagne, Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Broome sees the blessing of the state and river as an important historical and spiritual moment. As Broome said in a news release, “I am honored to support the Fête-Dieu du Mississippi and its beautiful tradition of blessing our state and the river with the Eucharistic Boat Procession. This historic event not only celebrates our faith but also unites our community in a spirit of reverence and reflection. I encourage everyone to participate in this meaningful occasion, as we come together to seek blessings for our city, our state, and all who call Baton Rouge home.”
One-of-a-Kind Monstrance
Everyone from here to New Orleans, whether on the river or on the banks, will have no trouble seeing the monstrance. It stands 14 feet tall and was constructed specifically for this year’s event. It will hold a 14-inch Host.
Next in line is the boat carrying a 17-foot-tall crucifix fashioned specifically for the Fête-Dieu du Mississippi after a smaller early-19th-century French crucifix. The “thurifer” boat follows, with two large thuribles burning incense before the Blessed Sacrament during the entire procession. Father Champagne identified one thurible as a model of the 1765 St. Martin de Tours Church in St. Martinville and constructed by an Angola Prison inmate in 2015 for the first Fête-Dieu du Teche.
Next will be the “Eucharist boat” that is a floating “church” — pushed by a large tugboat. Priests, religious sisters and brothers as well as laity will kneel in prayer before the exposed Blessed Sacrament onboard. The prayers will be livestreamed to the other boats, and pilgrims will join in the prayers.
Then follows the “Blessed Mother boat.” Mary will be represented by a 14-foot-tall statue from the courtyard at New Orleans’ Notre Dame Seminary. Other boats continue the processional fleet, with the last vessel being the “St. Joseph boat,” holding a statue also 14 feet tall from the same courtyard as Mary’s statue, representing the Custodian of the Redeemer and Protector of the Church.
The entire fleet of 15 large boats, the maximum the Coast Guard will allow, will stretch about a mile and a half. Joining this flotilla in the homestretch to New Orleans on the second day will be the Mississippi River steamboat Natchez transporting adorers. They will make a Holy Hour on the Mississippi before arriving in New Orleans and the French Quarter for the “grand blessing,” the final Eucharistic Benediction at the site of founding of the city of New Orleans in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. The prayer that will be prayed at each of the rallies is a consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus written for the occasion.
River Rallies
Once the flotilla leaves Baton Rouge after the Mass and a cannon send-off, people can line the river banks during the 130-mile journey of the Blessed Sacrament. Churches and rallies will sponsor Rosaries and talks. One of the emcees from the NEC, Father Josh Johnson of Baton Rouge, will lead the Rosary on the river bank.
“The bishops are now sending all Catholics out on mission to share our Eucharistic Lord with everyone throughout our neighborhoods, on the highways and even in the water,” he said in a release as he encouraged “all citizens throughout our state to prioritize this historic Fête-Dieu du Mississippi procession.”
Bishop Andrew Cozzens, the chairman of the organizing committee of the recently concluded National Eucharistic Congress, is bishop of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, which is also the location of the Mississippi River’s headwaters.
“I’m very happy to endorse the Fête-Dieu du Mississippi,” he said in a press release. “As the bishop of the diocese where the Mississippi begins, I am so delighted that the wonderful tradition of the Fête-Dieu du Teche continues to grow. As we saw through the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress, whenever we honor Our Lord in the Eucharist, he pours out blessings upon us and our country. I pray many people, especially families, will come out to show the world how much we love our Eucharistic Lord by joining the Masses and processions of the Fête-Dieu du Mississippi.”
Local Enthusiasm
At the end of the first day’s journey, the flotilla will disembark in Convent and process to historic St. Michael the Archangel Church for all-night adoration and prayer. St. Michael’s, founded in the early 1800s, contains an early replica of the Marian grotto in Lourdes, France.
“If the Israelites at the time of Moses and Joshua could be victorious carrying the Ark of the Covenant into battle, imagine how victorious we can be against evil carrying the Real Presence of Jesus Christ,” Father Vincent Dufresne, St. Michael’s pastor, said in a press release. “Renewing our faithfulness to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist will be our victory.”
Co-host of the EWTN coverage of the NEC and local Cajun priest Dominican Father Aquinas Guilbeau, currently The Catholic University of America university chaplain and vice president of ministry and mission, will also speak at St. Michael’s.
“Jesus Christ is the Lord of our lives. He is the Lord of our hearts. All good things come from him,” Father Guilbeau said in a news release. “For the centuries of extraordinary blessings that Christ has bestowed upon the peoples and cultures of Louisiana, we Cajuns and Creoles and everyone else who calls the Bayou State home owe the Lord an extraordinary act of thanksgiving.”
Also expected to attend is Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and his wife, first lady Sharon. In a press release, the governor said, “From the Holy Masses celebrated to the floating Eucharistic procession to the numerous prayer rallies — the Fête-Dieu du Mississippi is an historic moment in our state, highlighting the strong faith of our people and giving us an opportunity to ask God for His protection.” He encouraged “all of Louisiana to witness and participate in the Blessing of the Mighty Mississippi River.”
The Fête-Dieu du Mississippi finishes with a procession to historic St. Louis Cathedral for a closing solemn Mass of the Assumption led by Archbishop Gregory Aymond. On Aug. 15, 1638, France and her colonies were consecrated to Mary under the title “Our Lady of the Assumption.” Our Lady is the Acadian people’s and Acadiana’s patroness.
As Father Guilbeau said in a news release, La Fête-Dieu du Mississippi “will offer us all a unique opportunity to say, ‘Thank you, Lord’ for everything: for our families and homeland, for our faith and culture, for our prosperity and well-being, and for a rich past and a promising future. Join your fellow Christians and citizens on the banks of the Mississippi to say: ‘Thank you, Jesus. All this is yours. All I have is yours.’”
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