The pastor of San Giuseppe in Aurelia welcomed Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, archbishop of Quebec and primate of Canada, on behalf of parishioners, underlining the cardinal’s affable character.
In the rite preceding the Mass, the cardinal kissed a crucifix at the church entrance and blessed the assembly with holy water. He prayed before the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and then proceeded to the sacristy to vest for Mass. Prior to the opening prayer, the master of ceremony read an official decree from Pope Francis, assigning the cardinal his titular parish.
Lacroix said he has been praying for the community since Feb. 22, when he was assigned the parish, after being elevated to the College of Cardinals.
“I do not know Italian but I want to learn it to be able to dialogue with you,” he told parishioners in his introductory presentation, prepared in Italian.
Fluent in French, English and Spanish, the cardinal impressed parishioners, preaching and celebrating the entire liturgy in Italian, with only a few hesitations.
Making links with his titular parish, he noted the importance of St. Joseph in his life: as the patron saint of Canada and of the American Diocese of Manchester, where he lived for 11 years growing up; as an important devotion to Quebecers, manifest in St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal; and as his own patron, having been given the name Joseph as his first name in baptism.
In his homily, Lacroix reflected on how the feast of Corpus Domini is an invitation from the Church to grow in awareness of the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and in one’s life. The Eucharist is essential food for the Christian, he said, and every Sunday, Christians are invited to nourish themselves of it.
“Without Sunday, we cannot live.”
The Eucharist “allows us to encounter the Lord who journeys with us… to live in communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit but also with one’s brothers.”
It also heals, he said. It makes authentic Christian witness possible and teaches those who receive it to forgive and to love more.
“The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect,” he added. “It is nourishment for the weak. We need it to survive and to live in the heart of the world.”
Lacroix also joined the parish in its evening liturgical activities for Corpus Domini, including the procession with the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of the suburban Roman neighbourhood.
The cardinal seems to be taking his relationship with the parish as more than a mere formality or honorary title, assuring parishioners of his prayers and friendship, and spending more than 30 minutes after the Mass to meet and bless the faithful and to listen to the choir.
“I want this to mean something,” he said.
(Ieraci is a Canadian writer in Rome.)