St. Mary Church revives Corpus Christi procession in Huntley June 19

About 200 parishioners and clergy at St. Mary's Church in Huntley prayed and sang in the first Corpus Christi procession in recent memory through the streets of town on June 19.

Sunshine and balmy weather greeted the procession, led by the pastor, Father Christopher DiTomo, holding a golden monstrance beneath a bright red canopy held aloft by poles.

Parishioners followed and prayed the rosary and a litany in the 2.5-mile march from the church, along Dundee-Huntley Road, through village streets, and finally coming to the old parish along Woodstock Street, just north of downtown.

The procession is a centuries-old practice among Catholics, and this event was the parish's participation in launching the U.S. Catholic bishops' three-year National Eucharistic Revival.

"We will launch the Eucharistic Revival with our Corpus Christi pilgrimage," Father DiTomo said. "In the Holy Eucharist Jesus accompanies us and goes before us on our journey as disciples. Let us follow him with renewed devotion!"