Father Richard Fragomeni is scheduled to speak at the New York State (NYS) Eucharistic Congress, set for Oct. 20-22 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Auriesville.       

A priest of the Diocese of Albany, Father Fragomeni, Ph.D., has taught since 1990 at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he is professor of liturgy and preaching, and chairman of the Department of Word and Worship. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies at DePaul University in Chicago.          

His topic will be: “Bread of Angels, Gift of Baptism, Promise of Life: The Eucharistic Fulfillment of God’s Desire.”    

“When I was a child, my family would visit the Auriesville shrine on Sundays during the summer months. I remember well the wonderful campus of the shrine and the inspiring stories of the North American martyrs,” Father Fragomeni told The Good Newsroom in an interview. “Kateri Tekakwitha was central to our visits. My aunt would lead me to her statue and we would pray for miracles. ‘She is on the way to being a saint,’ my aunt would say. ‘And, if God grants us a miracle through her intercession, Kateri will be Saint Kateri.’ I was mighty impressed.” The shrine now honors Kateri as the first indigenous saint of the United States.

The priest noted that when he was invited to speak at the NYS Eucharistic Congress at the Auriesville shrine, he accepted immediately to be part of such a great religious event for the State of New York and to make a theological contribution at the shrine he visited as a child.

“I hope to communicate that the Eucharist is the ongoing gift of God that deepens our baptism into Christ,” he said. “As the third and repeatable sacrament of initiation, the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Holy Spirit who is invoked over our bread and wine to become the Body of Christ, and it is the same Spirit who is invoked over us, so that we may become more and more the Body of Christ.” 

Father Fragomeni has also served as the rector of The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, an Italian-American spiritual center in Chicago’s historic Little Italy. In addition to his teaching duties, he is a preacher of parish missions and gives presentations nationally and internationally on liturgical, sacramental and catechetical topics.      

He completed his S.T.B. in theology and M.A. in religious studies at the University of Louvain, Belgium. He earned a second master’s, an M.M. in vocal performance, and a Ph.D. in Sacramental Theology at The Catholic University of America. His books cover a range of sacramental, spiritual, and catechetical topics. He is a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy and the Catholic Theological Society of America.  

The NYS Eucharistic Congress will be held over 40 hours beginning Friday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration will take place each night, 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. The event will conclude after 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday. Learn more about and register to attend the NYS Eucharistic Conference here.