BUSHWICK — Thousands of Catholics took their faith from the pews to the streets in a Eucharistic procession that wound its way through Ridgewood and Bushwick on the afternoon of June 28.
The procession, in which a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament is carried aloft throughout the entire route, was organized by the churches in Deanery B2, a group of churches in North Brooklyn.
The procession — the fourth annual for Deanery B2 — began at St. Martin of Tours Church in Ridgewood with the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and included stops in St. Barbara Church, where the faithful prayed the Litany of the Holy Eucharist, and St. Joseph the Patron Church in Bushwick, where the Litany of the Sacred Heart was recited.
The final destination was St. Brigid Church in Bushwick, where the Solemn Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament took place.
The annual Eucharistic procession Deanery B2, which also includes All Saints-Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii and Mary of Nazareth parishes, began in 2023 in response to a call from Bishop Robert Brennan for all the diocese’s deaneries to organize such processions, said Father Carlos Velásquez, pastor of St. Brigid Church and director of liturgy for the diocese.
“Eucharistic processions are an opportunity for us to bring the real presence of Christ, the sacramental presence of Christ, into the streets of our neighborhoods,” he explained. “It’s a way in which we can give public witness to the faith through our actions. And that’s what we’re called to do regularly.
“We’re called to go forth into the world and bring the Lord’s light and His peace into the world.”
The deanery’s first procession drew more than 4,000 participants from the various churches in the deanery, which includes churches in Bushwick, Ridgewood, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and parts of South Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene, according to Father Velásquez.
The processions in subsequent years also drew sizable crowds, he said.
The deanery’s area is so large that the Eucharistic procession route changes each year so that different churches within the deanery get the chance to serve as prayer stations along the route.
The reason for the large turnout, Father Velásquez noted, is the number of large, active churches in Deanery B2.
“Thanks be to God, all of our churches are fairly active and have great Mass attendance on Sundays,” he said, adding that “the majority of our parishioners are immigrants from Latin American countries who have an incredibly pious devotion and a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.”
“I think it’s just the nature of our communities,” he explained.
While the procession is a serious affair, there is always boundless joy as the faithful take to the streets, Father Velásquez said.
“We’re not just walking with the Lord. But we’re singing, we’re praying, we’re adoring the Lord as we walk,” he added.
The procession also gives parishioners of the deanery’s various churches the opportunity to work in partnership. For example, men from the churches take turns holding the canopy under which the priest walks with the Blessed Sacrament. And children from all of the churches who recently received First Communion throw rose petals on the street as they walk.
“There’s a great sense of ecclesiastical communion that takes place. Sometimes, the experience one has is what they know of their own parish,” Father Velásquez said. “The procession gives us a sense of the greater local church and a way to collaborate with the neighboring parishes all around us.”
