Drawn to their knees: Young adults fill historic basilica for Holy Hour in St. Louis on eve of Sheen’s beatification
The turnout for the event left kneeling room only in the church, which had been filled with young people and consecrated religious whose focus was solely on the Lord.
Hundreds of young adult Catholics gathered at a basilica in St. Louis for a Holy Hour the night before Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification, worshipping Christ in the Eucharist as the late archbishop had daily for more than 60 years.
The Sept. 23 Holy Hour started at 7:30 p.m. CT, with Confessions remaining available throughout the evening. It was difficult to tell where lines for the Sacrament of Reconciliation began amid the rows of people crowded in the back of the church, which was filled with many guests who had traveled from across the country for the beatification of the archbishop known for his use of media to evangelize and his prayer life. Fittingly, the historic day of the beatification was preluded by this evening spent before the Blessed Sacrament, Whom Archbishop Sheen was deeply devoted to.
As a young man, Sheen had resolved to make a daily Holy Hour, and for the next 61 years, even on the day of his death, he upheld this resolution; he never allowed any excuse to come between him and this crucial time of prayer before God. Many have emphasized that his time in prayer was fundamental to all the rest of Archbishop Sheen’s ministry and life cultivating holiness.
The witness of the young adults attending the Sept. 23 Holy Hour underscored this same love and reverence for the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist — and an unmistakable desire for time with Him.
Shoulder to shoulder, young adults knelt with their eyes raised toward the monstrance on the altar, set beneath a large, striking image of the Crucifixion. As their voices rose together in song, including “What a Beautiful Name,” some raised their hands in praise while others remained still in prayer.
People also knelt in the center aisle of the church, quietly placing themselves before Christ.
The evening drew sisters from several religious communities, including the Sisters of Life, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Missionaries of Charity, founded by St. Teresa of Calcutta. As they knelt with the young adults before the Blessed Sacrament, their lives of consecration to the Lord offered a quiet witness to the grace at work in the room.
The Holy Hour concluded with Benediction, which included singing the Latin hymn Tantum Ergo. The hundreds in attendance sang the hymn at full volume.
The faithful then received a blessing from Christ in the Eucharist and prayed the Divine Praises, declaring, “Blessed be God, blessed be His Holy Name…”
The prayerful evening reflected the devotion to Christ in the Eucharist that Archbishop Sheen maintained throughout his life – even on the day he died. Earlier on Sept. 23, at a conference in St. Louis, CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt said that the manner of Archbishop Sheen’s death was his “final sermon,” as he knelt before the Eucharist for the last time.
This was a moment, Reinhardt said, not captured by any cameras, but was “the one God saw. It said, without words: At the end, when there is nothing left to say and no audience except God, without speaking, he said, still kneeling: ‘I am yours. I have always been yours. I will always be yours.’”
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