NEW YORK — It’s an ordinary day on the streets of New York, except that God is passing by.

A small army of commuters crosses at the light, making the turning taxis wait. A delivery boy angles his way through the crowd on his bicycle.  A garbage truck howls as it crunches the big black plastic bags full of mushy refuse from last night’s dinner at a swanky restaurant.

Then, down the street comes a young, clean-cut priest in black cassock and white surplice, carrying a gold monstrance with the host proudly displayed. Incense swirls around it, and 18 men march beside it. The procession is followed by a bevy of pious Christians praying Hail Marys.

This scene is likely to be repeated several times in New York from April 1-8, when the Archdiocese of New York takes possession of a special monstrance blessed by Pope John Paul II for praying for vocations.

There are few things New York does on a small scale, and this event will be no different. The monstrance, which is normally kept by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and transported around the country by the Serra Club, will be carried through the streets of New York City in a 60-hour Eucharistic procession. Participants in this unprecedented event will be asked specifically to pray for vocations.

“After three years of anger and frustration, the picture is much wider than that of the small slice of sadness that is the pedophile priest,” said Father Ed Cipot, director of vocations for the Archdiocese of New York and coordinator of the event. “That seems to be all people look at. I want our men to stand up and be counted in a remarkable way, in this remarkable time and in this remarkable archdiocese.”

The idea of having a Eucharistic procession through the streets of New York to pray for vocations began modestly and had the help of a few saints, according to Father Cipot. 

He was praying to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton on her feast day, Jan. 4, in her shrine at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in lower Manhattan. He was worried that no one would show up at a series of Eucharistic adorations he had organized in a church on Manhattan’s West Side.

“I prayed to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton that it would be more than just me and Jesus,” he recalled.

The next morning, on the feast of St. John Neumann, he received an e-mail telling him about the monstrance coming to the Archdiocese of New York. The idea of doing something bold with it began to form. He prayed to St. John Neumann about it.

The priest got a call the next day, Jan. 6, from someone who wanted to organize a vocations Mass and gather a large group of people to pray for this intention. By now, Father Cipot felt he was onto something. He prayed to Blessed Andre Bessette, whose feast day it was, and the idea took hold.

The monstrance that will be used in New York is one of six blessed by Pope John Paul last November to be used around the world during this Year of the Eucharist. He asked that the faithful use them to pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.

The initiative grew out of a Regnum Christi apostolate spearheaded by a Connecticut man who organizes “adoration for vocations” holy hours with monstrances blessed by the Pope. The New York monstrance was a gift to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops from vocations.com, an apostolate that promotes prayer for vocations.

From April 1-4, the monstrance will move in procession to 18 churches in Manhattan, starting at the shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton on the southern tip of the island and ending at the shrine to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini on the northern tip. From April 4-8, the monstrance will go on to 40 other parishes in the other counties of the archdiocese for adoration.

It will spend at least one hour at each church, except for St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where it will remain for 24 hours. At every other church, there will be a holy hour marked by Eucharistic adoration, prayer and song — in a variety of languages and styles. At a church in Chinatown, the parish choir will sing in Chinese. Worshipers in Hispanic neighborhoods will sing and pray in Spanish.

At St. Peter’s — the church closest to the site of the former World Trade Center — every student from the archdiocese’s seminary, St. Joseph’s in Yonkers, will greet the monstrance with palms that have been spray-painted with gold.

“This will be to celebrate the entrance of the risen Eucharistic Lord into our parishes, into the archdiocese and into our lives,” said Father Cipot.

By the end of the procession, the monstrance will have traveled more than 12 miles through the heart of the Big Apple, including Times Square. The New York Police Department will provide five men to help with street crossings and prevent heckling.

The monstrance will travel to 50 dioceses in the United States during the rest of the Year of the Eucharist. Seventy dioceses had requested it.

As Jamie Blosser, who works in the office of vocations at the U.S. bishops, put it, “It has been much more successful than we ever anticipated. Eucharistic processions are rare in the U.S. The fact that we have the monstrance and that it is the Year of the Eucharist has provoked an interest.”

Sabrina Arena Ferrisi writes

from Jersey City, New Jersey.

A Kick-Off to Vocations

There are important anniversaries connected with the procession. Father Ed Cipot does not believe they are a mere coincidence, but a blessing in the Archdiocese’s vocations effort.

The monstrance will arrive at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on April 2 at 3 p.m. and stay for 24 hours. At 2 p.m. on April 3, which is Divine Mercy Sunday, 2,000 young people are expected to gather for a Mass, celebrated by Cardinal Edward Egan, to pray for vocations.

The last day that the monstrance will be in the Archdiocese of New York, April 8, will be the start of a three-year period leading up to the archdiocese’s 200th anniversary.

During the next three years, the archdiocese plans to do everything it can to increase vocations.

Father Cipot, the archdiocesan vocations director, is looking to stir the hearts of men who have a vocation but are too reluctant to act on it. He knows what it is like to have a vocation and take a long time to act on it. When he was 36, the death of a good priest friend challenged him to look at his own life.

“I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t hear voices. But I had a sense, an intuition that asked me, ‘What are you doing with your life?’” he said. “Whenever I talk about vocations, I tell people that each call is unique to each person. That’s because Jesus calls each of us by name.

“I’m looking to shake the consciences of men where God has planted a seed,” he said. “Let’s start the discussion to see ‘Is God really calling me to be a priest’? I’m convinced there are many out there. I want our men to stand up and proclaim, ‘I am a man of faith.’”

Vince Druding and Geoff Gentile will be part of a group of 18 men who have committed to walking the entire procession. The number 18 was chosen because the eighth and 10th letters of the Hebrew alphabet make up the word for life. The group consists of seminarians, lay men, married men, and some who are considering a vocation to the priesthood.

“The Archdiocese of New York has really struggled with vocations,” said Druding, a seminarian, “though scandals have not been a diocesan problem. It has affected people in the parishes as a nationwide problem.

“I felt a call within my call to help vocations. This came out of the scandals and my anger about it.”

“We only have the Eucharist because we have priests,” said Gentile, a layman who works in New York’s financial sector.

“And it’s out of a love for the Eucharist that we need more priests.  Looking at the activities I’m involved in outside of work, such as organizing special Masses, Eucharistic adoration and other gatherings, it can sometimes be difficult to find priests to enable these events.  If we have fewer vocations, it will become more difficult for lay apostles in the world to bring others to the Eucharist.”

— Sabrina Ferrisi