The Eucharist in America: 5 centuries of faith that shaped a nation

Before America became a nation, before its founding documents were written, and before its first flag was raised, the holy sacrifice of the Mass was already being celebrated on these shores.

For centuries, the history of Catholicism in America has been written in the shadow of hardship, sacrifice, and perseverance. At the center of that story has always been the Eucharist — the real presence of Christ — which sustained missionaries, settlers, soldiers, immigrants, and pioneers long before Catholicism became a visible part of American life.

As hundreds of thousands of Catholics gather for Eucharistic pilgrimages, congresses, and parish revivals across the United States to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary, they are participating in something that stretches back nearly 500 years. The National Eucharistic Revival may be new, but America’s devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is as old as the Church’s presence on this continent.

The first Masses on American soil Some of the first recorded celebrations of the Mass in what is now the United States took place nearly 500 years ago. These marked the beginning of a Eucharistic presence that would shape the nationʼs Catholic…