The towns of Williamston, Colerain and Windsor were graced this past weekend by a Traveling Monstrance sponsored by Williamston’s Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
The religious procession was held in conjunction with the Diocese of Raleigh’s Centennial Celebration that began in January 2024. The event was held in Windsor on Friday, Aug. 16, in Williamston on Aug. 17 and in Colerain at the migrant farm on Sunday, Aug. 18.
The goal of the diocese was to hold the traveling monstrance in 80 Catholic Parishes across the state.
“The endeavor serves not only to unite the diocese during a milestone, but to focus on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist during a year,” according to the diocese.
A liturgical vessel that holds the Eucharist, a monstrance is part of the Catholic sacrament of communion.
The events serve to unite the diocese during a milestone year, according to Holy Trinity Pastor Vijaya Katta.
“It was a wonderful weekend. The weather was perfect and the crowd was blessed,” said Hamilton resident Judith Stewart.
The gold monstrance has a long history that began in Raleigh and will reach the seven remaining deaneries of the diocese including Albemarle, Cape Fear, Fayetteville, New Bern, Newton Grove, Piedmont and Tar River. The journey will cover half the state of North Carolina.
“It’s really the celebration that the Diocese of Raleigh is 32,000 square miles,” Monsignor David Brockman said. “It is a vast area, especially when you get out into the Albemarle Deanery, where you could have an hour or more, driving, between parishes… same in the Outer Banks.”
“You think of the people in New Bern, where the faith had its very beginning [in our state in 1821],” he said. “Bishop England came up on horseback, from Charleston… and celebrated Mass in the living room of the Gaston family.”
The travel also highlights diversity in the diocese, and each faith community will welcome the monstrance in their own way. The focus is on “prayer and honoring Our Lord … all within the context of Adoration, so there is a prescribed rite for that. But adding their pieces, as we have a multiplicity of different cultural groups, different languages … it’s the universal Church,” said Monsignor.
The Centennial Monstrance has been traveling the across North Carolina since the Eucharistic Congress in October 2023.
“As part of the centennial celebration of the Diocese of Raleigh, this special monstrance will be hosted by each of the diocese’s eight deaneries, or smaller, geographic regions in the more than 33,000 square miles of eastern North Carolina which comprise the diocese,” said diocese spokesperson John Dornan. “It is currently in the Albemarle Deanery, the fifth deanery it has visited. Since beginning its journey late last year, more than half of the over one hundred parishes and missions have had the opportunity to host the monstrance.”
The Centennial Monstrance will return to Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh for the Centennial Mass on Nov. 8 of this year.
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