Corpus Christi in Galesburg

I'm in Galesburg, Illinois these days, giving a parish mission at Corpus Christi, a parish run by the Rosminian Fathers. They are named after Blessed Antonio Rosmini (1797-1855), an Italian priest who founded a religious congregation called the Institute of Charity in 1828. Hence his followers have the initials "I.C." after their names. Pope Benedict XVI beatified Fr. Rosmini in 2007.


Galesburg is the birthplace of the poet Carl Sandburg and in 1858 was the site of the fifth Lincoln-Douglas debate.


Corpus Christi is celebrating its 125th anniversary and the title of my mission is "Living a Eucharistic Life." The church, completed in 1885, has a 150 foot spire and neo-gothic architecture. This parish, part of the Peoria Diocese, has the distinction of being one of only ten churches in the U.S. to have the body of a saint, St. Crescent, a young martyr of the early Church whose relic was removed from the Roman catacombs in 1838. More on that another time....