The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-07
EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS
 TO ASSEMBLE IN LONDON

London, Friday, August 2S.--For the first time since it's inception the Inter national Eucharistic congress of the Ro- year in London. The gathering will bs remarkable in other respects The first is, that in the person of Cardinal Yin. cent Vannutelli the occasion will bring to London the first papal legate who has set foot in England since the days of Cardinal Pole, ''The Cardinal of Eng land," and again, apart from the papal legate there will be eight other cardinals in London at the same time. It is many years since so many members of the sacred college have gathered together in any country outside of Italy. They are Cardinal Moran, archbishop of Sydney
 Cardinal Gibbons, archbishop of Balti- more; Cardinal Logue, archbishop of Ar magh; Cardinal Lecot, archbishop of Bordeaux; Cardinal Fisher, archbishop of Cologne; Cardinal Mercier, archbishop of Mechlin; Cardinal Ferrari, archbishop of Milan; Cardinal Mathieu, formerly arch bishop of Toulouse, and now fin curia." "
 The legate will be accompanied by his own special retinue, which will include one of the Pope's ecclesiastical chamber lains and two lay chamberlains, while each cardinal will have his own special suite. Besides, there will be present from every part of the world at least 100 bishops. Of prelates under episco- pal rank thousands are expected to come to London. In fact, the organizers of the congress look for the presence in London of something like 10000 persons in connection with the gathering, this, of course including many of the laity
 The great rendezvous of the congress on the devotional side will be the West minister cathedral. Here, on the evening of September g, a service will be held for the solemn reception of the papal legate and again on the afternoon of September 13, for the solemn closing of the congress. Each morning during the sitting of the congress, solemn high mass will be celebrated and in the evening there will be vespers and benediction. On Saturday morning the mass will be according to the Byzantine rite, afford ing the western Catholics an opportunity of assisting at the ancient liturgy used by so many of their brethren of the east. The Sunday services will, of course be of the greatest interest. In the morn ing the papal legate will sing pontifical high mass, in the presence of the cardi- nals and the sermon will be delivered by Cardinal Gibbons. In the afternoon there will be pontifcal vespers, sermon, a great procession of the blessed sacra- ment, ere Deum' benediction and solemn closing of the congress.
 The business meetings of the congress will be held in Albert hall and smaller halls in the vicinity of the cathedral. There will be three sections, two being conducted in English and one in French.
 The first of these gatherings, of which this is the nineteenth, was held in France in 1891, but was extremely small com pared with those held since. They had their origin in a number of pilgrimages to well known churches with the object of honoring the blessed sacrament or in other words of rendering homage to the fundamental Roman Catholic belief of the real presence Gradually they out grew their local importance. and in due time a permanent committee was ap-