When Flash Mobs Were Cool...(see video below)

According to Wikipedia, A flash mob is a group of people that assembles suddenly in a public place, performs for a brief time, then quickly disperses, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and/or artistic expression Flash mobs may be organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails. The first known flash mob happened just over 20 years ago in Manhattan, New York on June 17, 2003 that was before Apple came out with the first iphone in 2007. 

On Ascension Thursday June 2, 2011, thirteen years ago, the first ever Eucharistic flash mob in Church history happened in the center of Preston, England ( which means 'Priest town'). It was  organized by the Capuchin Franciscans as a variation on the traditional Corpus Christi processions that used to be so common in many parts of the world. 

Thanks to Sean Zaniboni, Gerardo Gonzalez and the team for filming it and capturing it for posterity. The video is posted on Youtube by a channel called Capuchin Franciscan

It is titled, ‘Lift the City - a Catholic Eucharistic flash mob’. It is a must watch. One viewer commented, “I cried when I saw this video for the first time. Mind you, I'm a 6'5", 220lb, 23-year-old guy with a shaved head and I was an atheist”. 

As the video begins, the quaint English city square was bustling with people running errands and some lazily meandering through shops and local businesses at 1:15 pm. Some were walking, some pushing strollers and some on bikes. Others lingered and loitered around the circle. Seemingly, out of nowhere a Capuchin friar in a full brown habit, shaved head and rope around his waist (he looked like Saint Francis) goes right to the center of a circular design in the pavement and sets down a bag. From it he pulls out a priestly stole and kisses it. He then placed it over his shoulders. He goes back to the bag and pulls out a medium size monstrance and holds up the Blessed Sacrament for all to see. A man said: "What is that guy doing?" An old woman with him replied: "That's Jesus. Show respect."

Then suddenly, a man’s voice can be heard on a speaker. 

With a strong English accent, he begins, “Jesus Christ is in every book of the Bible. In Genesis, Jesus is the seed of the woman. In Exodus, He’s the Passover Lamb. In Leviticus, He’s the Priest, the altar and the line of sacrifice. In Numbers, He’s the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night…” At this point people are starting to stop and kneel. There’s an audible expression of confusion and excitement. He goes on, “In Deuteronomy, Jesus is the Prophet like Moses. Come and kneel before him now.”

The priest continues to hold up the Host in the monstrance as the other voice over the speaker keeps going through the different books of the Bible and how Jesus is present in each one. Periodically, he will repeat the invitation, “Come and kneel before Him now.” At the end of the video many people are surrounding the Eucharist and humbly kneeling before the Real presence. It is an amazing sight. The whole spectacle came to a crescendo with a spontaneous applause and a blessing over the crowd. The friar then placed the monstrance and stole back into the bag and walked away. 

Since then flash mobs have been outlawed by the British government. But that was when flash mobs were cool.

See video below or clickm on the link to view it on Youtube.