Priest describes tearful ‘spiritual experience’ during consecration after video goes viral online

A video of a Catholic priest breaking down in tears and struggling to raise the chalice above his head while saying the consecration prayers during Mass spread across social media this week, prompting the priest to issue a statement through his diocese.

“Take this all of you and drink from it: For this is the chalice…” Father Brent Bowman prayed at the altar , followed by a six-second pause while celebrating Mass for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Hopkins, Minnesota, on Sept. 14.

He continued the consecration prayer through tears and then sobbed for nearly one minute at the altar, struggling to raise the chalice. He continued to cry as he raised the chalice and was weeping as he knelt before the blood of Christ after the consecration.

Instagram post Bowman’s emotional response to the consecration was captured on video because the parish livestreams its daily Masses on YouTube and it spread across social media platforms, with many viewers wondering what prompted the reaction.

In his statement, he explained that he did not witness what the Church considers a “Eucharistic miracle,” such as when the accidents of…