A Eucharistic Congress will be held on September 24-25, 2004 in Washington, DC at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Congress is sponsored by the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR), which represents more than 100 religious communities. The theme, Heaven Unites with Earth, was taken from Pope John Paul II’s April 2003 encyclical on the Eucharist, Ecalisia de Eucharistia. It highlights the profound mystery of God dwelling among us in the Blessed Sacrament and the unity of the Body of Christ. The two-day event will consist of celebration of the Liturgy, catechesis, prayer, Eucharistic adoration, and other activities focusing on the Eucharist. The Congress is free of charge and open to everyone. For further information on the Congress or to learn about the theology of the Sacrament or about saints who loved the Eucharist, visit www.cmswr.org.

A special image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a true relic which has been touched to the Tilma of St. Juan Diego in Mexico City, will be received in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., during ceremonies the weekend of September 11-12.

A special weekend crusade of evangelization, conversion, truth and healing will begin Saturday, September 11 at The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse. The afternoon celebration will introduce the relic image to the region for six states (Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa). The image will remain in La Crosse until 4 p.m., at which time will make the Crusade Pilgrimage to the Marian Center for Peace at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., where it will be permanently enthroned on Sunday, September 12.

On April 20. 2004, during a private ceremony led by Msgr. Diego Monroy Ponce, rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, 220 exact-size replicas of Our Lady of Guadalupe images were touched to the sacred original Tilma of St. Juan Diego, the first formal ceremonial procedure of this kind in over 472 years. Msgr. Diego individually signed each image with the words, "Touched to the sacred original for the International Life and Mercy Crusade, May 8, 2004," and declared these images as the authorized relics of evangelization that will extend the graces of conversion, truth and healing, the same as in 1531. These relics of evangelization are designated at least one for every country of the world of which there are 194 including the Vatican to fulfill Pope John Paul II’s prophecy which he stated in 1979 in Mexico, "From the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe the light of the gospel of Christ will illuminate the entire world by means of the miraculous image of His Mother."

Seven relics will be placed in the United States. For more information contact The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse at (608) 782-5440.