Celebrating 400 years, day 1

The festival has begun. After more than four years of preparation, the city of Quebec came to life today with the beginning of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress.

More than 10,000 pilgrims are converging on the city this weekend:



The festivities began with a celebration of life:



and the procession of the Blessed Sacrament which was brought into the worship space along with the Ark of the New Covenant which has been traveling across Canada in preparation for the Eucharistic Congress:



The opening ceremonies were a wash of colour and pagentry:



More will be published in the coming days. Stay tuned.