TO THE MEMBERS OF THE HIERARCHY
Your Eminence/Grace/Excellency,
I wish you a Happy Feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit.
We celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Our Lord on June 2, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI in the programme for the Year of Faith, because of the strong link between faith and the Eucharist, had planned an hour of Eucharistic Adoration in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, in communion with all the Bishops with their local diocesan communities around the world.
On Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 5.00 p.m. local time (8.30 p.m. IST), Pope Francis will preside at an hour of Eucharistic adoration in St. Peter’s Basilica. A request is made that all the Bishops join with the Holy Father by celebrating in their own cathedrals an hour of Eucharistic Adoration, synchronized with the Vatican Basilica. Other parishes and Church Institutions could do something similar. This will give an opportunity for us to join the successor of Peter in prayer and adoration to Jesus alive in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
We discussed this at our last Standing Committee Meeting and our Apostolic Nuncio also made an appeal in Bangalore to the Bishops for our collaboration in this programme.
The Pontifical Council for New Evangelization which is co-ordinating events of the Year of Faith has invited us to send information about our participation to the following email address: adoratio-eucharistica@annusfidei.va
Later on they will also post on the Year of Faith website (www.annusfidei.va) the particular prayer intentions of the Holy Father and a suggested schema for the celebration. In the Year of Faith, may we continue to pray with our eyes fixed on Jesus, “the leader and perfecter of faith” (Heb 12:2).
With kind regards and best wishes,
Yours fraternally in Christ,
XOswald Cardinal Gracias
Archbishop of Bombay & President, CBCI