By MARCY PARKER
Archived Article from The Record – June 17, 1950
A cool June breeze blew last Sunday through the back doors of the Churchill Downs grandstand and out over the infield where Louisville’s 24th annual Corpus Christi Procession was about to begin.
In the shaded haven of the stands an estimated 31,000 women, their starched children, nuns, and non-marchers waited expectantly.
The day was perfect. The sky was a serene blue with a few puffs of clouds stacked close to the horizon near the Southern Parkway side of the field. To the far right in the Churchill Downs parking lot row upon row of cars huddled together, a film of silver steam rising from their roofs.
Two White Altars
In the infield dotted with brilliant fuchsia and yellow, flowers laid out in triangles, rectangles, circles, and irregular patterns, groups of men and black-cassocked priests scurried around the two white altars making the final preparations for the procession.
From grey-mouthed loudspeakers placed at intervals along the track, the Rev. John Lyons, pastor of Our Mother of Sorrows Church, and the Rev. William Zahner, assistant pastor, alerted the huge crowd for the start of the procession. “Ladies and gentlemen, in three minutes our Corpus Christi Procession will begin. We remind you that this is a time of prayer.”
As the black cassocks disappear from the infield, a few remaining Holy Name Society men stand motionless, their heads tilted forward in anticipation. From behind the stands come the dull thumping of the drums of St. Anthony’s, St. Helen’s, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Joseph’s, and Flaget High School bands ending concerts that had been blaring but heart-stirring.
Quiet Tension
In the stands a quiet tension holds the women and children, their faces turned toward the main altar in a pose of waiting, anticipation, expectancy. Into this picture of serenity stirred only by a few flapping flags comes a car, displacing wisps of brown dust as it wheels around the back of the main altar and stops.
From the car stepped the Rev. Julian Pank, assistant pastor of Holy Name Church, a humeral veil drawn over his shoulders and covering the pyx which he carried. Father Pank placed the Blessed Sacrament on the main altar where It remained during the procession.
Two-Hour Procession
After the enthronement of the Blessed Sacrament, the spectators in the grandstands relaxed and sat back to watch the two-hour procession which formed ever-changing patterns of colors, now the solemn black of cassocks, now the vivid scarlet of monsignors’ capes and robes, now the varied hues of Holy Name Banners, papal flags, and the flag of the United States. Rank after rank of men emerged from the tunnel, marching slowly and devotedly to the incantation of the Rosary and the litanies carried over the public address system.
Responses to the prayers echoed in the enclosed stands as the women and non-marchers participated in this tremendous public religious service. Some learned forward, their elbows forced against the railing and their knotted fists dug into their cheeks, a picture of intentness.
Children sat on their mothers’ laps, some lolled and hung on the railings, others stood on the chairs, twisting and turning as they looked at the many people behind them, in front of them, and all over the crowded stands. Other children sat quietly, their shoulders slumped and their hands relaxed on their knees in an attitude of awe. Some bobbed up and down in a display of curiosity, restlessness.
As the last traces of the procession ended, the Most Rev. John A. Floersh, Archbishop of Louisville, the Rev. Roy Dentinger, deacon, the Rev. William M. Diersen, subdeacon, their gold-colored vestments sweeping behind them, marched under the canopy to the altars.
Soldiers At Attention
At each Benediction, as the Archbishop lifted the monstrance, blessing each section of the stands with the sign of the cross, trumpets rent the air with high, clear notes of salute.
A line of soldiers from Fort Knox snapped to attention in homage to their King. A rumble of noise burst from the stands and then quieted to a whisper as the approximately 62,000 Catholics knelt in adoration.
The Holy Name Band and Choral Club from their places in the Clubhouse chanted the Tantum Ergo. Incense smoke wafted on the air in gauze-like film, scarcely visible.
Second Benediction
This was the climax of the day, the moment toward which the procession had been moving, the raising of the monstrance in the second Benediction; and as the last strains of the trumpets faded, more than 60,000 voices were raised in the stirring hymn, “Holy God We Praise Thy Name.”
As Father Pank again carried the Blessed Sacrament to the waiting car which churned the dust as it sped away, women, nuns, and children rose from their places in the grandstands, and the men from their boxes.
Display of Faith
Two hours had passed since the start of the procession, two hours of marching and praying. Yet no one seemed tired. Everyone appeared refreshed, and happy with the great public display of Catholic unity and Catholic faith.
The cool breeze was still blowing through the stands and over the infield as the immense crowd began to disperse. And the sky was still serene with the puffs of clouds stacked on the horizon.
