Congresses are about representation, and we want you! We are aiming for 10% of all people attending Mass weekly in the Diocese to be a part of this event. We believe that this will be a day you remember, in good times and in bad, the rest of your life, a day where God’s presence is so keenly felt and the joy of the Gospel so obviously alive that you will tell your children about it. This day is being created to stoke the fire of each parish in the diocese to be places of worship, evangelizing, and serving the poor and vulnerable.

Registration for diocesan parishes (and orders, Newman Centers, Catholic high schools, and Saint Mary’s University) is open two months before anyone else can register. This early bird registration period is also open at a discount to our diocese to encourage as many as possible to come on June 10th.

Each parish or cluster has one or two appointed Eucharistic Congress Galvanizers. Most parishes will encourage people to register as individuals or families (you will be asked to click on your home parish). Some parishes will choose to attend as a group. Please contact your Galvanizer if you are not sure whether you should sign up individually or as a parish group.

Who should come?

We will be encouraging a strong invitation initiative in the parishes. Mention it to your friends at Church–tell them you are going, and they should come with you! Please ask your parish’s Eucharistic Congress Galvanizer how you can help invite people.

There are groups within each parish we especially invite:

  1. First communicants from Fall 2022-Spring 2023. Come as a family–and wear your first communion clothes! You will be able to participate in the Eucharistic procession with other first communicants across the diocese.
  2. Those received into the Church at Easter 2023. Again, bring your family. You will be acknowledged at the Congress.
  3. Those who received the sacrament of confirmation between Fall 2022-Spring 2023. You will also be acknowledged at the Congress!
  4. People who have been married in the parish in the past three years. You, too, will be acknowledged at the Congress.

This Congress will be family friendly: we encourage family attendance! Although the talks are aimed at adults, there will also be children’s activities, music for all, and a family-friendly service project. There is no child care provided, so children are expected to stay with a related adult. But all are welcome!

If parishes want to engage in a phone tree invitation system, you can find a simple “how to” explainer here.

The Opening March: the Diocese of Winona-Rochester parishes and Catholic organizations and apostolates

The Congress will formally begin at 9am with an opening march of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester parishes and Catholic apostolates, to honor the diversity of the diocese and all represented at this Congress. Each parish, Catholic school, service organization, religious order, and recognized lay ecclesial movement in our diocese will be invited to participate. As people enter the Arena, a person or small group from each parish/order/organization will process in with a banner. This will be organized through the Parish Galvanizers and contacts with orders and organizations. We do ask participants to create a processional banner for the event. Although you can get a banner or sign created online (here or here, for example), you may consider making a cloth banner as an act of craftsmanship (in addition to the pole and hanger). The name of the parish/organization/order and an image of the patron saint, or logo, or meaningful Christian symbol to the parish would be appropriate. Some guidelines are here:

Examples of banners from GoEucharist.com (Diocese of Charlotte, NC). Our opening march will be inside, so the processional banners will be a bit smaller.

We recommend that all banners be constructed using the following specifications:

  • Banner size to be no more than 5×3 feet (could be less)
  • Lightweight material (as it will be easier to carry)
  • We recommend not including the date, so the banner can be used for other purposes.

Please bring a pole with the following specifications:

  • Diameter of 1¼ inches.
  • Vertical pole should be 7 feet long.
  • Horizontal pole should be 3.5 feet long. (Poles may be smaller if the banner/sign is smaller.)
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