New Crusaders Join the Ranks at St. Joseph's
The Eucharistic Crusade came into being in 1914, founded by a Belgian priest, Fr. Edouard Poppe (1890-1924) to promote Eucharistic devotion among children. Its motto nicely summarizes the desire to encourage young people to strive for genuine sanctity: “Pray, receive communion, make sacrifices, be an apostle."
The Crusade is made up of three spiritual ranks:Page, Crusader, and Knight. Each rank has various commitments that the children make according to their age and ability.
On Wednesday, December 13th, twenty-seven St. Joseph’s children participated in a ceremony of the Eucharistic Crusade. Many of the children who had previous been in the rank of Page were promoted to the rank of Crusader, taking on the additional duties and responsibilities that entails. One student took the daunting step of becoming a Handmaid—a privilege and responsibility only allowed to those at least 12 years of age and willing to commit to a daily Rosary and a daily meditation of 15 minutes. In the younger grades, there were several enthusiastic students who took the step of joining the Crusade for the first time as Pages.
