Evening star., 1926-06-20
1000 MASSES OPEN
CATHOLIC CONGRESS
! AT CHICAGO TODAY
Services Will Continue From
5 Am. to 8 Pm. in
All Churches.
CATHEDRAL is DRAPED
IN SILVER AND GOLD
Railroads Report Train Service
Taxed to Utmost as Thou
sands Arrive.
By the Associated Press.


CHICAGO. June 19.-Nith the ten
der to Pope PiuX XI of Il spiritual
bouquet" of 1000, 900 communions as
an aim OF the inaugural ceremonies.
the twenty y-eighth International Eu-
Charistic Congress will be formally
opened tomorrow by the celebration of
more than 1000 masses in 367 churches
of the Catholic archdiocese of Chicago.
Pilgrims from all the world will join II
cardinals. 400 bishops, upward of 5000
priests and 10 600 nuns in worship and
alteration of the holy eucharist. The
ceremonies will continue through
Thursday.
Many of the visiting priests have
been in the confessional almost con-
tjT:2ously for two days, preparing the
devout pilgrims for the reception of
the eucharist. At the Cathedral of the
Holy Name 80 priests, grouped in four
shifts for night and day services, be-
gan hearing confessions in IA dozen
languages today. One shift will be in
the cathedral confessionals constantly
until the congress ends.
Rites to Last All Day.
Beginning at am. with solemn
high mass in all parishes, the inaugu
! raj rites of worship and prayer will
be almost continuous until after s
o'clock at night, when one of the visit
ing bishops will speak in holy hour
services in each of the churches. In
virtually all parishes masses will be
celebrated at halfhour intervals until
noon.
AS a symbol of the unity and con-
tinuity of the many widely spread
ceremonies which will mark the five
day festival, the blessed sacrament
VIII be exposed at the cathedral altar
from tomorrow morning until the
congress ends in the solemn Eucha-
fiStic procession at Mundelein Thurs
day afternoon. Night and day a
guard of honor will kneel in The
cathedral sanctuary in an unbroken
Offering of prayer.
Immediately preceding solemn pom
tifical high mass in the cathedral at
IL o'clock, the formal installation of
his eminence John Cardinal Bonzano,
the papal legate to the congress, will
mark the stately opening of the in.
ternational religious celebration. Four
masters of ceremonies and is assist
ants, under the direction of Mgr.
Carlo Respighi, prefect of pontifical
pear in the Respondent sanctuary as
masters of ecclesiastical formalities.
PapaI Brief to Be Read.
After the celebration of the mass by
the Right Rev. Thomas Louis Heylen,
Bishop of Namur, Belgium, and presi
dent of the permanent committee on
Eucharistic Congresses, the papal
brief will be read by the Very Rev.
Mgr. Dennis J. Dunno of Chicago.
Cardinal Munderlein's address of well
come to the legate, the response of
Cardinal Bonzano and the elevation of
the sacrament in a huge golden nous
trance for continual alteration will
conclude the cathedral ceremonies.
Sectional meetings for the various
national groups, which will be con-
Quoted in 30 languages, will begin at
o'clock. The day will be closed
with solemn pontifical benediction at
the holy hour services.
Pope Plus, in a message to the
congress, today invited all American
Catholics 80 unite their spirits with
ours in prayers for a rich spiritual
harvest in the ceremonies.
I'VE impart anew with our whole
heart to all our children the apostolic
benediction,' the message concluded.
Many Races Represented.
The congress will present one of
the most cosmopolitan gatherings in
the United States in many years.
American Indians, Eskimos, native
Continued on Page 3, Column ~