{"id":330948,"date":"2026-06-10T17:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T17:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/330948\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T17:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T17:58:10","slug":"corpus-christi-procession-draws-north-philly-residents-closer-to-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/330948\/","title":{"rendered":"Corpus Christi Procession Draws North Philly Residents Closer to Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jay Sorgi \u2022 Posted June 10, 2026 <\/p>\n

It was, as Father Matthew Biedrzycki called it, a day to bring the Real Presence of Christ to the people of North Philadelphia, as Christ Himself would have done.<\/p>\n

About four dozen pilgrims who had just attended a culturally diverse Corpus Christi Mass at St. Malachy Church in North Philadelphia\u2019s Yorktown neighborhood took Christ to the streets with them, carrying the Blessed Sacrament on one of many eucharistic processions held in the city<\/a> and throughout the five-county area on Sunday, June 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the biggest blessings that I\u2019ve had as the priest here at St. Malachy is to be able to bring Jesus to the streets and to invite others to an encounter with Him,\u201d said Father Biedrzycki, pastor of St. Malachy Parish.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the ways that we\u2019ve done that through the eucharistic processions is to literally bring Him into the presence of His people, people longing for light in a world of darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n

The choir sang in sunlight, offering the traditional spiritual hymn \u201cLead Me, Guide Me\u201d while Father Biedrzycki carried the Body of Christ from the 176-year-old church.<\/p>\n

The hymn rang out as the procession passed the nearby home of the late Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the gospel-infused artist whom many credit as the inventor of rock and roll music.<\/p>\n

They shared Spanish hymns like \u201cPan de Vida\u201d while bringing the Blessed Sacrament to Broad Street and crossing the busy thoroughfare.<\/p>\n

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Father Matthew Biedrzycki kneels before the monstrance at the Church of the Gesu on June 7, concluding a Corpus Christi procession through North Philadelphia. (Photo by Jay Sorgi)<\/p>\n

With the Latin hymn \u201cTantum Ergo\u201d on their lips, including the final stanzas of St. Thomas Aquinas\u2019 \u201cPange Lingua,\u201d the pilgrims lifted the Blessed Sacrament high as they entered their \u00a0destination, the Church of the Gesu at St. Joseph\u2019s Preparatory School in Francisville, about a mile away from St. Malachy.<\/p>\n

Ifeanyi Onuoha, who joined the procession in North Philly, called the experience a rejuvenating reminder of his Catholic identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cExperiences like this remind us of why we do what we do, why we believe in God,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a profound feast in the Church that is centered on why we are Catholics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many people simply drove or biked past the procession, but some onlookers took in the procession, perhaps encountering a eucharistic procession in the streets of Philly for the first time, and not knowing what to make of it.<\/p>\n

Father Biedrzycki said such a first encounter can unlock people\u2019s desires for the divine.<\/p>\n

They are \u201clonging for something more, longing for an encounter with God, but they may not know what that is yet,\u201d he said. \u201cMoments like this are really providential, and I pray that many had a chance to encounter the Lord in some way today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who attended Mass before the procession saw ancient Latin words inscribed upon the tabernacle, which translated into English mean, \u201cI am the Living Bread which came down from heaven. Behold the Bread of Angels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Father Biedrzycki\u2019s homily indeed shared the depth of God\u2019s love for all of humanity through the beauty of the Eucharist broken for us, engaging us in living a life of the same love.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, in the Eucharist, we are permitted to taste love, to enter into Communion with love, and so then, not only being able to live with love, but more importantly to be led by love in all that we do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018In other words, entering into holy Communion, the Lord invites us to look at ourselves and to prepare love.\u201d<\/p>\n

He linked that preparation of love to the call for greater discipleship by everyone, challenging each person to pray for someone they hope to bring into the faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an opportunity for us not only to grow (but) to lead others to do the same, to public witness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The procession\u2019s endpoint at Church of the Gesu is also another step in a joint effort to forge greater bonds between the parish and the Jesuit high school, connections that both parties hope will grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather Biedrzycki has made an effort to include this church, because of the former parishioners now at St. Malachy,\u201d said Prep history teacher Bill Connors, who helped organize the the procession to the church whose parish closed in 1993.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to have people who are not students of St. Joe\u2019s Prep come in here, use this church, worship in this church.\u201d<\/p>\n

These Corpus Christi pilgrims who ended the procession at the Prep encountered the same traditional expression of faith that Pope Leo XIV employed earlier that day in Madrid, Spain, reminding others that Christ \u201cwho processes through the streets in the monstrance is the same one who identifies with the poor, the downtrodden, those who are alone and forsaken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those words were not lost on Onuoha.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite profound. It\u2019s a message that people need to hear in our world today. It\u2019s a message of hope,\u201d Onuoha said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives us that hope that things are going to get better if you center your faith on God.\u201d<\/p>\n

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