Rev. James D. Conley, D.D., S.T.L. | Diocese of Lincoln website

One aspect of the National Eucharistic Congress (NEC) that was widely appreciated was the reverent atmosphere.

“There was enormous reverence for our Lord,” assured Bishop John Folda of Fargo.

Bishop Folda, formerly a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln and rector of St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward, was named a bishop in 2013.

The challenges of having Mass for tens of thousands of people in a football stadium, along with other liturgies—including what was thought to be the largest Eastern Rite Byzantine Divine Liturgy ever celebrated in the United States—were readily apparent.

The production team hired had worked on Christian gatherings in the past. With Bishop Andrew Cozzens’ desire to create something that would feel like a church that was both classic and modern, the team designed digital backdrops evoking gothic architecture and stained-glass windows. Slow, subtle transitions in lighting signified changes from an inspirational talk to Mass or Eucharistic adoration, visually preparing the crowd to enter into a mindset of worship and reverence without leaving their seats.

“They put a lot of effort into making it beautiful,” said Mary Dixon of St. Michael Parish in Hastings.

Eucharistic adoration in the stadium was remarkable.

“I was taken, especially when the Blessed Sacrament was brought in,” Bishop Folda said. “Immediately the atmosphere became recollective and totally silent, totally prayerful, totally focused on our Lord at the center of the arena… That was quite an extraordinary thing.”

He mentioned that one member of the production crew who is not Catholic revealed to his wife that Eucharistic adoration at this congress was “the most powerful religious experience” he had ever had.

Most people knelt on either concrete risers surrounding the space or on the hard floor covering the field. Some lay prostrate in Jesus' presence.

“Our sisters were marveling that when the music would die down, except for a little baby once in a while, you could hear a pin drop,” recalled Sister Kathryn Maney of the Marian Sisters of the Diocese of Lincoln. “It was that awe and reverence for our Lord.”

In Indianapolis Convention Center up the street, where several morning and afternoon liturgies were held, there were multiple occasions when the Blessed Sacrament had to be carried through crowded corridors from one room to another.

Each time, priests with ciboria were preceded by religious sisters or seminarians who rang bells to announce Jesus' presence. Conversations immediately ceased as people cleared paths and knelt in adoration.

Bishop Folda remarked, “It was truly an act of worship that was bringing us all together.”

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