A large Eucharistic procession through Midtown Manhattan is planned for Tuesday, October 15, following a special Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral – a multipart, afternoon event organized by the Napa Institute, which led a similar Midtown event last year that drew 4,000 people.

The cathedral activities will begin at 2 p.m. with veneration of a Blessed Carlo Acutis relic, followed by a 3 p.m. holy hour that will include confession and praying of the Rosary. Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Espaillat will lead the holy hour, and he has worked with The Good Newsroom to promote the event in a video message on Tuesday, inviting people to participate.

At 4 p.m., Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. The homily will be delivered by Monsignor James Shea, president of the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. The one-hour procession will begin at 4:45 p.m. onto the streets and back to the cathedral, where Cardinal Timothy Dolan will offer a benediction at 5:50 p.m.

The gathering will conclude at 6:15 p.m. Veneration of Blessed Carlo Acutis relic will resume and end at 8:30 p.m.

“This will be a very important procession; it shows that our faith is growing,” Scarlet Orbe, parish office manager at Holy Cross Church in the Bronx, told The Good Newsroom in an October 4 telephone interview. “People are in need of the Lord, in thirst for the Lord.”

Orbe said a group, which could include up to 100 people, from her parish will attend the Eucharistic procession and its related events.

Father Arthur Mastrolia, pastor of St. Clare Church on Staten Island, said the event will be “such a large devotion to the Blessed Sacrament right in the middle of New York City. It is a tremendous testament to our people’s belief in the Lord’s presence among us.”

Citing the recent National Eucharistic Revival activities, the pastor added, “It is a real incentive for all of us Catholics to be more devout in our relationship with the Eucharistic Lord.”

The Napa Institute, based in Irvine, California, was co-founded in 2011 by Tim Busch and Father Robert J. Spitzer, S.J.

Its mission statement says in part, “The Napa Institute’s mission is to prepare leaders to bring faith, truth, and value into the modern world. The institute’s mission includes: highlighting the Catholic faith’s truth and beauty; equipping and encouraging; bringing unwavering faith and determination to a new era; promoting Catholic education, evangelization, and spiritual renewal; examining critical issues in faith and culture for Catholic leaders … emboldening advocacy for religious liberty, free movement of peoples, and the sanctity of human life.”

For more information, visit The Napa Institute’s website.