True Presence Nights reveal meaning of Eucharist

Five evenings of eucharistic adoration
Regional nights of eucharistic adoration called “True Presence Nights“ will be held throughout the Archdiocese of New Orleans. All start at 7 p.m. Their purpose is to help Catholics, through adoration and music, experience and deepen their faith and understanding that Jesus is present in the Eucharist.

► Oct. 5, Most Holy Trinity, 501 Holy Trinity Drive, Covington.

► Oct. 27, Our Lady of the Rosary, 3368 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans. - new location

► Nov. 3, Visitation of Our Lady, 3500 Ames Blvd., Marrero.

► Nov. 9, St. Catherine of Siena, 105 Bonnabel Blvd., Metairie.

► Nov. 11, St. Joan of Arc, 529 W. 5th St., LaPlace. - new location

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

“The Vigil Project has a dream: “to keep giving the Church more ... more music for every moment of our Catholic journey.”

In this Year of the Eucharist and St. Joseph, the Archdiocese of New Orleans, in collaboration with a Catholic evangelization group called The Vigil Project, has created five special nights of adoration and eucharistic celebration called “True Presence Nights.”

The first will be Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. Most Holy Trinity Church in Covington. Archbishop Gregory Aymond will be present at all five nights.

“This collaboration started over a year ago,” said artist John Finch of The Vigil Project. “The archbishop invited The Vigil Project to create multimedia resources for the archdiocese, ranging from prayer guides to music videos. At the same time, we were trying to create an album around Eucharistic Presence. It worked out wonderfully. All songs that we wrote last year – originally to be released on our album – have been produced as an album for the archdiocese. We’ve gotten a really good response.”

All 11 songs from the album are posted on The Vigil Project’s website (www.thevigilproject.com), and the Archdiocese of New Orleans has been posting new songs every few weeks on its website, www.nolacatholic.org, Finch said.

“The majority are original songs we wrote for the album,” he said. “There are a few well-known, traditional Catholic songs such as, ‘I Am the Bread of Life,’ ‘Sweet Sacrament,’ Christian artist Matt Maher’s ‘Lord, I Need You’ and ‘Holy God We Praise Thy Name.’” Some will be performed at the True Presence Nights.

True Presence Nights
Finch cites three main goals of the nights: to facilitate a profound eucharistic encounter; to gather Catholics in person for an opportunity to worship and participate in community; and offer simple eucharistic catechesis “in a way that is compelling to the faithful and deepens eucharistic devotion.”

Each night will be 90 minutes long, focused on eucharistic adoration. It will include a welcome from Archbishop Aymond, a prayer, a brief catechesis delivered by the archbishop or another priest, music performed by The Vigil Project and then transition into adoration, a procession led by Archbishop Aymond and benediction, Finch said.

The same programming will occur at each site, with confession available, but will differ slightly depending on the dynamics of each parish. “The True Presence” album will be available at each site.

“The desire is to bring the faithful back into the life of the church … belief in Communion with Jesus truly present in the Eucharist,” Finch said.

Vigil Project builds Catholicism
The Vigil Project grew from a meeting of musicians/singers Lizzie Boudreaux of Covington and Andrea Thomas of Cincinnati in 2016 to become what it is today with a large team of members.

The group includes Finch, who also lives in Covington; Lizzie’s husband Greg; Sophie Salopek and Andrew Ferguson from Baton Rouge; Thomas; producer and director of music Shawn Williams from Nashville; singer Corrie Marie from Baltimore; Hannah Shea; and Spanish artists Athenas and Nico Cabrera and Verónica Sanfilippo. A touring team of five or so members is at each event.

“The goal they had originally was to create a project for the seasons of Lent and Easter,” Finch said, and the group then decided to write an album.

Since each musician knew the others, the project with seven songs came together quickly as “Series I” in Fairhope, Alabama.

“There was an overwhelming response once we released the songs,” Finch said. “We felt there was a momentum and that God was calling us to do this.

“What was unique about The Vigil Project was that we have a dual mission – creating music for the Catholic journey and fostering a relationship with the parish and church musicians. We believe in serving at the parish level and providing resources in tandem with Catholic musicians and artists who want a community where they can grow in their faith (through retreats and workshops) to serve the church.”

Over the last five or six years, the project has grown into a nonprofit ministry that collaborates with artists from different countries. The Vigil Project also has released a 10-song Spanish album, “A Jesús Por María” in collaboration with Spanish artists Athenas, Cabrera and Sanfilippo. It is produced by Williams, who also plays violin.

“We are truly humbled with what God is doing,” Finch said.

In conjunction with the True Presence Nights, the archdiocese and The Vigil Project are involving youth in a youth songwriting contest that continues through Sept. 24. For details, visit https://nolacatholic.org/songcontest.

For more information on the True Presence Nights and to hear The Vigil Projects music from their new album “True Presence,” visit https://nolacatholic.org/eucharist. For information on The Vigil Project, visit www.thevigilproject.com.

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