NEW HAVEN, May 18 — On the first night of the Seton Route of the National Eucharistic PIlgrimage, after the Pentecost Vigil celebrated by Hartford Archbishop Christopher Coyne and a Eucharistic Procession in the neighborhood surrounding St. Mary's Church in New Haven, there was a Eucharistic holy hour organized by several young adult groups in the Archdiocese of Hartford followed by all night adoration.
During the Holy Hour, Fr. Roger Landry, chaplain for all 65-days for the Seton Route and one of 56 national Eucharistic preachers, gave a talk entitled "The Holy Spirit and Adoration"
In his talk, Landry mentioned how in the Church of St. Mary, featuring a beautiful stained glass window of the Pentecost scene, it is fitting to focus on how Mary not only prepared the members of the early Church for the descent of the Holy Spirit, but teaches us how to relate to the Holy Spirit's work as he helps us to adore Jesus.
Quoting three passages from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, Landry reiterated the apostle's words that "we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us," how he helps us to "cry out, 'Abba, Father,' changing who we are as we pray, and how he is the "love of God poured into our hearts" so that with that love we might love God the Father and his Eucharistic Son.
Mentioning Pope Benedict's words at World Youth Day in Cologne in which the 265th Peter underlined first the infinite distance between God and the human race but then how God closed the gap to embrace us, the priest of the Diocese of Fall River outlined how the Holy Spirit both fills us with the gift of reverence so that we might approach the Eucharistic Jesus with awe and how we prepares us to receive God's extraordinary embrace.
He finished by illustrating the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, patroness of the eastern route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, St. Manuel Gonzalez Garcia, co-patron of the National Eucharistic Revival, and Bl. Michael McGivney, whose relics are in St. Mary's Church.
To listen to Fr. Landry's talk, please click here.