Eucharistic Congress St. Patrick Picture. (1932).

Ireland hosted the Eucharistic Congress in part to celebrate the 1,500th anniversary of the coming of St. Patrick to Ireland. One million people come to the Phoenix Park to hear mass celebrated by the Papal Legate, Cardinal Lorenzo Lauri, as part of the 31st International Eucharistic Congress.  “It would be idle to attempt to estimate the size of that awe-inspiring crowd. From the top of the colonnades the inexperienced eye was dazed by its dimensions.… It was just an infinity of men and women, marshalled into their places with consummate skill; ordered, decent and reverent, setting an example to the world of popular piety, and behaving with a quiet dignity that was worthy of the occasion which evoked it.” The Irish Times describes the scenes at the closing mass of the 31st Eucharistic Congress in the Phoenix Park.