It was a beautiful day on Sunday, June 23rd for St. Boniface Church to
celebrate the annual Feast of Corpus Christi. The Corpus Christi
celebration involves Mass, followed by a procession to the two outdoor altar
houses and then returning to the church for benediction.
Father Ron Voisin led one decade of the rosary at each of the two altar
houses with the singing led by Rosemary Flanagan and the senior choir.
St. Boniface is one of only a few parishes in the Hamilton Diocese that
still carries on this age-old tradition to honour the Holy Eucharist. Giving
directions along the way was Connie Bruder and Carolyn Stemmler, while Heidi
Wagner organized the groups in church before heading outside.
Marshalls for the event was Frank Keller and Earl Haid who stopped traffic
that would interfere with the procession. Bell-ringing was also done by
Elmer Zettel. Altar servers were Adrian & Maja Gronek and Hayden Weber,
followed by the various members of the parish carrying flags, Gary Embro
carrying the Canadian flag, Fran Vegh carrying the flag representing the
Catholic Women’s League, the flag for the Holy Name Society was carried by
Bill Drexler and the Knights of Columbus flag was carried by Ron Kennedy.
Next came the children strewing flowers throughout the procession. For this
day only, they were encouraged to drop flowers on the pavement and walkway.
They were followed by torchbearers Hailee and Griffin Kuntz with the 4th
degree Knights of Columbus and Father Ron Voisin in the priest mobile with
Carl Reinhart driving. The canopy bearers Tony Wagner, Nick Wagner, Tom
Bruder and Tony Zettel. Dan Stemmler carried the monstrance. A stop was
made in front of the “monument for the Unborn” and Twin Oaks Nursing Home
for a special blessing. The parishioners then followed.
Tim and Fran Vegh and Danny and Diane Strickler and Doug Zinger decorated
the two altar houses.
This year was the first year the Maryhill Knights of Columbus held a brunch
following the Corpus Christi celebrations at Maryhill Heritage Park
Community Centre. This included scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee for
a donation with the proceeds going to the Monsignor Stephen Foerster Charity
Trust.
