For Eucharistic Revival Look to the Norbertines

Saint John Bosco, had a dream about the need for a type of Eucharistic and Marian revival within the Catholic Church.

In his dream he saw a large vessel out in open waters being battered by a storm. The captain of the ship, on deck steering the boat through the storm, was the Holy Father or what he interpreted as a man dressed in white as the pope. Just as the storm reached its zenith in ferocity, several smaller boats surrounded it and began to attack it with flaming cannonballs and other projectiles.

The crew on board began to panic and fight each other but the pope concentrated on moving forward toward two giant pillars that rose up out of the sea from the violent waves in the distance. As the boat which represented the Church got closer to the pillars the people saw that on one pillar was a giant Eucharist/Host and on the other stood Mary. The pope managed to steer the boat in between the pillars and chains were tossed out to attach the boat to each pillar which stabilized the boat and which also caused the enemies to flee. Suddenly, after being firmly tethered to the Eucharist and to Mary, the storm subsided and the Church was able to regain its sense of peace and unity. 

Many have considered Bosco's dream as a prophecy about a future pope who would one day revive the Church’s devotion and zeal for the Eucharist and for Mary at a time when it is being battered by the storm of internal schism, infighting, division and a severe, external attack from the secular world as a whole. This is not so different from the times we are living in right now. Given the current discord and the lack of faith in the Real Presence which the recent statistics have shown, a call for revival is certainly apropos.  

This is why in 2022, the USCCB called American Catholics to a eucharistic revival. The National Eucharistic Revival is a three-year initiative sponsored by the Bishops of the United States to inspire and prepare the People of God to be formed, healed, converted, united, and sent out to a hurting and hungry world through a renewed encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist – the source and summit of our Catholic faith. 

For those of us not attending the Eucharistic Revival Convention this summer, July 17-21, this Sunday marks an annual culmination of a world-wide Eucharistic revival that was started by a Norbertine sister back in 1246. All Catholics are about to celebrate the Eucharist in a concentrated and focused way this Sunday, June 2, the annual Feast of Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ).

The Feast of Corpus Christi originated in 1246 when Robert de Torote, bishop of Liège, ordered the festival celebrated in his diocese. He was persuaded to initiate the feast by St. Juliana, a Norbertine prioress of Mont Cornillon near Liège (1222–58). Juliana had a vision of the Church as a bright sun but with a black spot on it. Later it was revealed to her that the black spot was due to a missing feast day in the liturgical year. It was like a hole that the Feast of Corpus Christi would later fill.

She urged the Archdeacon of Liège to approve such a feast in the diocese. The Archdeacon became Pope Urban IV and in 1264 extended this glorious solemnity to the Universal Church.

The zeal for the Eucharist that the Church in America is trying to revive the Norbertines have kept inflamed for centuries. The secret of Saint Juliana was found deep in her own Norbertine charism, devotion to both the Immaculate Conception of Mary and to adoration of the Eucharist. These are the two spiritual pillars which have kept the Norbertines as a religious order not only alive but thriving under very difficult conditions within and without the Church.

The Norbertines established in France in 1120 are, in the words of their founder St. Norbert of Xanten, “prepared for every good work.” Vocations have been booming in California since the 1950’s and recently they expanded their presence in Orange County, California by building a new $120 million oratory and priory home to almost 100 Norbertines — over 50 priests and nearly 40 seminarians. From there they have recently branched out to Springfield Illinois with another new priory called Corpus Christi Priory in honor of their sister who initiated the early summer Feast Day. 

“The inspiration came that since we’re really a eucharistic order — St. Norbert is a eucharistic saint — and then that we’re in the midst of this eucharist revival,” the name therefore should be “something related to the Eucharist,” Father Puchner the Abbot said. “So that certainly was intentional. We wished to contribute to this renewal within the church by means of a eucharistic revival.” 

Anyone who has ever been in contact with the Norbertines knows that they are orthodox and solid both in their teaching/preaching and in their liturgies. When attending a Norbertine liturgy, there is no fear of liturgical abuse and there’s a sense of awe and wonder that their careful reverence inspires in the congregants. 

The zeal for the Eucharist is matched only by their dedication and veneration of Our Lady. They have prioritized Bosco’s two pillars and as a result they have been blessed with a growth and vitality which many other religious orders envy. 

For Eucharistic revival look to the Norbertines. For unity, stability and peace in the Church, it first must be anchored to both Mary and the Eucharist as a fulfillment of Bosco's dream. The Norbertines knew this centuries before St. John Bosco was even born. For personal holiness seek out the Norbertines to be catechetically and sacramentally fed, healed and strengthened.

* Some statistical data, quotes and information was drawn from this article...https://catholicreview.org/new-norbertine-abbeys-reveal-how-these-apostles-of-the-eucharist-are-thriving-in-u-s/