Handbells rang, announcing Christ’s arrival. Incense burned through the streets in a thurible hanging from chains.
Four priests in their Copes — a long, full-length ceremonial cloak — slowly walked through Indiana University’s campus Monday evening, leading dozens of people from St. Charles Borromeo Church to St. Paul Catholic Center.
Following the clergy, the congregation sang hymns including, “Hail Our Savior’s Glorious Body,” “O Jesus, We Adore Thee” and “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name.”
It was a Eucharistic procession, a public walk that takes place on Catholic holidays to show faith and honor Jesus Christ through the streets. Monday was the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a celebration that honors the cross as the instrument of human salvation. The two churches collaborate once a year in the fall semester for a procession.
The Eucharistic procession began at 6:45 p.m. at St. Charles right after mass on Third Street, when the priest placed sacramental bread into a sacred vessel, the monstrance. The clergy and the congregation, consisting of local families and IU students, started the 1.4 mile walk beginning on Third Street and ending at St. Paul on 17th Street.
“It’s this beautiful time of processing with Jesus through the campus and just asking him to bless the campus and bless all of the people,” Father Ben Keller, a priest at St. Paul, said after the procession.
The campus is within parish boundaries, geographic lines that determine the local territory assigned to a specific church. The procession paused for a break by the Cox Arboretum to continue the hymns and bless the campus. After the break, the clergy and congregation continued their walk to St. Paul.
“This is one of the best things that we do because we’re really able to physically bring Jesus to campus,” Danielle Heitkamp, director of development at St. Paul, said.
After an hour and half of walking, the procession arrived at St. Paul, where the final blessing of the Eucharist took place and the procession concluded. The congregation enjoyed a reception afterward, celebrating with one another over refreshments, fruit and vegetable trays, cheese boards and water.
“It was just a great joy to bear witness, it was a really fun time,” IU senior Andrew Isbell said.
