Prayer for Vocations

Papal monstrance is carried to churches in procession for Eucharistic adoration

By CLAUDIA McDONNELL

Eucharistic processions and adoration - using a monstrance blessed by Pope John Paul II - were the focus of eight days of prayer for vocations in the archdiocese April 1-8. The initiative, planned by the archdiocesan Office of Vocations under the direction of Father Edwin H. Cipot, was inspired by the Year of the Eucharist.

Reverence and hope were the keynotes as people walked in procession through the streets, knelt in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at various churches, and listened to the priest-speaker at each church.

The eight days of devotions began with a Mass April 1 at Our Lady of the Rosary Church at the Battery in Manhattan, next door to a landmark of United States church history: the home of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born U.S. saint and founder of the Sisters of Charity. The celebrant and homilist was Auxiliary Bishop Dominick J. Lagonegro, co-vicar of Orange County and pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Newburgh.

"We know the tremendous need that we have for vocations," he told the packed church. "We need to pray for vocationsŠbut also we must work for vocations."

On the altar was the monstrance, which is kept at the headquarters of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Vocations and Priestly Formation. It will travel to 50 U.S. dioceses in a series of visits that began Jan. 12 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Concelebrating the Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary was Father Edward J. Burns, executive director of the secretariat.

Following Mass, a holy hour and Benediction at Our Lady of the Rosary, Auxiliary Bishop Gerald T. Walsh, vicar of North Manhattan and pastor of St. Elizabeth's parish, carried the monstrance in procession to St. Peter's on Barclay Street, the oldest parish in New York state.

Over the weekend the monstrance was carried to a number of Manhattan churches, including St. Patrick's Cathedral, before beginning its journey to some 40 other parishes spanning the archdiocese's 19 vicariates.

Bishop Lagonegro called on Catholics to encourage people to pursue vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and he cited the importance of the family in encouraging young people to follow the call to priesthood or religious life.

"Vocations are nurtured in a family," he said.

The congregation was composed of men and women of all ages, including Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, Sisters of Life, young lay men and women and older couples. Among those who attended were Mary and Bill Ryan of Manhattan's Battery Park City. As they marched in the Eucharistic procession that followed the Mass, Ryan told CNY, "Being here to express support for vocations is a very important part of our responsibilities as Catholics." Both were impressed with the beauty of the Mass and adoration and the reverence of those who participated.

"With this kind of prayer and devotion to the Eucharist, God won't let us down," Mrs. Ryan said with a smile.

Father Peter K. Meehan, pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary, told CNY that he had called Father Cipot to offer to help him in his vocation work. He called it "a great grace" that Father Cipot had the idea for Eucharistic prayer for vocations, and that the journey of the monstrance began at Our Lady of the Rosary. "Mother Seton is a great inspiration," he said.

Bishop Lagonegro, who grew up in White Plains, spoke in his homily of his own experience when, as an eighth-grader, he told his parents he was thinking about priesthood and wanted to attend high school at the archdiocese's preparatory seminary, at that time part of Cathedral College. He said that his father told him, "If this is what you think you want to do with your life, do it." His mother said nothing, but years later when he was preparing for priesthood, she told him that she had "cried for weeks" after he made his announcement, because he was an only child and she realized that she would have no grandchildren.

Then she said, "I see that you are happy in what you're doing, and whatever makes you happy is what I want for you." Bishop Lagonegro added, "The happiest day of her life was my ordination day."

He also pointed out that his mother had never discouraged him or tried to dissuade him from becoming a priest. What parents need to do, he said, is build up the kind of atmosphere that encourages those with vocations to accept them.

He said that his own 36 years of priesthood have made him very happy. "There is a happiness in being able to be a servant of the people of God," he said.

When he asked people to pray that the Church will have "the vocations necessary to bring all people to Christ," several people audibly responded, "Amen."

At the Mass Bishop Lagonegro blessed an icon of the Risen Christ that also was carried in the Eucharistic procession.

The Mass was followed by an hour of Eucharistic adoration and Benediction. The worshipers then assembled on the sidewalk and joined in prayer led by Father Cipot. Then the procession began; Bishop Walsh carried the monstrance beneath a canopy held by young men, accompanied by an acolyte in cassock and surplice swinging a censer. The people walked in front along the sidewalk, down Water Street and up Fulton Street, moving at a moderate pace. Passersby, drivers and others along the way turned to watch; most seemed to think that the procession had something to do with Pope John Paul II, who lay gravely ill at the Vatican.

When the procession reached St. Peter's, the marchers filed in and Bishop Walsh placed the monstrance on the altar. All knelt in prayer. In the church already were rows of seminarians in cassocks and surplices, as well as several Missionaries of Charity and Sisters of Life.

Among the marchers was Daniel Lee, 30, an auditor in Manhattan who was spending the weekend traveling with the monstrance to the various churches.

"It's the Year of the Eucharist, a time to reflect - and for evangelization and vocations," he said.

Sister Adelina DiMare, M.S.C., said that she is hopeful that more people will answer the call to a priestly or religious vocation, so that young people will take up the work begun by those who now are growing older.

"God is going to help us," she said. "Jesus says the Church has to go on."

Consuelo and Robert Budelman Jr. of Ridgewood, N.J., are members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way. Budelman, a lawyer in Manhattan, attends Mass on lunch hour at Our Lady of the Rosary. He said they came to the event "to witness to our faith."

Mrs. Budelman said, "It's sad because the Holy Father is dying, but I'm sure he'd be happy to know this procession is taking place for vocations."

They marched with their son, Robert Budelman III, who pushed his 16-month-old daughter, Maria Angelina, in a stroller. He is the development director at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. He said that he marched "to support the effort and help be a sign to people about the need for vocations." It was "very inspiring" to see so many young people in the procession, he said. Noting the reactions of people on the sidewalks, he said, "We were able to turn heads. I think the Lord let us touch some people's hearts."

Father Cipot told CNY that the pope's impending death cast a shadow over the day, but he added, "I'm sure he'd want us to celebrate the Resurrection...There's joy and yet there's sorrow. That is the Christian life."

He said he sees hopeful signs that more vocations will come. Young men who represent the diversity of cultures in the archdiocese are coming to him expressing interest in priesthood, he said. Who are they? "Teachers, a doctor, engineers, lawyers, actors, writers, bankers," he said. "It's an amazing conglomerate of men - self-possessed, intelligent, articulate men, approaching me saying, 'Help me understand this.' " His role, he said, is "to help them make that big leap of faith and courage."

"Hopefully, with God's grace," he added, "they'll cooperate and step forward if they do discover they have a vocation."