Procession Marks Close of Year of the Eucharist at Thomas
Aquinas College
(November 9, 2005)
SANTA PAULA, CALIF—On Sunday, October 30, students at
Thomas Aquinas College marked the closing of the Year of the
Eucharist with a candlelit procession that began in the College's
temporary chapel and made its way throughout the campus. The
Year of the Eucharist was established by the late Pope John
Paul II to encourage increased devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
Organized by student members of the two Legion of Mary praesidia
at the college, the Eucharistic procession began at 6:15 p.m.,
following exposition of the Blessed Sacrament during the afternoon.
Over 100 students participated in the event at which Rev.
Michael Perea, O.Praem., Assistant Dean for Religious Affairs,
officiated.
Beneath a canopy of red and gold, designed and made by students,
Fr. Perea carried the monstrance, attended by acolytes, candle
bearers and thurifers. The procession paused at seven locations
for prayer and blessings—the construction site of the
college's new Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity,
and the six residence halls—where students had placed
small altars for silent adoration.
Accompanying the procession were members of the college's
Schola whose Gregorian Chant hymns alternated with
motets sung by members of the Thomas Aquinas College Choir
who were also in attendance. The procession concluded with
solemn Benediction in the chapel. A reception followed with
breads baked specially by students for the occasion.
Says Fr. Perea, "Organized as it was by the two praesidia
of the Legion of Mary, ultimately this event was a work of
Our Lady. It was wonderful to see the students' love for Our
Lord in the Blessed Sacrament."
About Thomas Aquinas College: Thomas Aquinas
College is a four-year Catholic college devoted to studying
the Great Books under the light of the Faith, using only the
Socratic discussion method in all of its classes. There are
no text books, no lectures and no electives. Instead, the
College offers an entirely integrated curriculum using the
original texts of the great thinkers who shaped Western Civilization,
including St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, Aristotle, Plato,
Shakespeare, Dante, Euclid, Descartes, the American Founding
Fathers, Adam Smith, Newton and Einstein. Thomas Aquinas College
graduates consistently excel in the many world-class institutions
where they pursue graduate degrees in such disciplines as
law, medicine, business, theology and education. Many are
now leaders in these fields serving as educators, business
owners, lawyers, journalists, priests, doctors, and military
service men and women.
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