Bishop, Faithful Honor Indiana's Legacy Of Faith

Bishop Charles C. Thompson went “off script” Nov. 24 during the Evening Prayer service he led at the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier, the Old Cathedral, in Vincennes. “After we process out, I’m going to circle back around,” he told the dozens who braved bone-chilling cold to help close the Year of Faith in the Diocese of Evansville. “Those of you who wish to can join me in the crypt to pray the two prayers available on the Bishop Simon Bruté holy cards there.”

In that moment, virtually everyone in attendance joined Bishop Thompson in honoring the diocese’s amazing legacy of faith. Along with Servant of God Bishop Bruté (1834-1839), the other bishops of the Diocese of Vincennes are buried there – Bishop Celestine de la Hailandière (1839-1847), Bishop John Stephen Bazin (1847-1848) and Bishop Maurice de St. Palais (1849-1877).

The faithful prayed together the Prayer for Canonization, then Bishop Thompson led the second prayer – for the intercession of Servant of God Bishop Brute’ to obtain a favor. Just a few minutes earlier, the bishop reminded everyone of the holy ground they shared as they gathered to close the Year of Faith called by then-Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. It concluded on Christ the King Sunday.

“This crozier I use tonight is Bishop Bruté’s,” he said. “It is a sign of his pastoral care … of all that he and others did in this wilderness in the 1800s. We are here tonight on holy ground. Around the basilica are buried thousands of holy people from that time and earlier.

“We pray for the grace of God to carry on this legacy in the new evangelization,” he added. “Let us give glory and praise to God, and pass on our faith as those before us have. We have much to celebrate tonight … and much to do.”