BRAINTREE -- As the Year of the Eucharist enters its final months, parishes are preparing for the culminating event, the Eucharistic Congress: Jesus Is Here, to be held June 18 at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.

Bishop Robert Reed is to emcee the daylong event, which will include music, guest speakers, Eucharistic adoration, opportunities for confession, a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley, and a Eucharistic procession. There will also be vendors and exhibitors from different organizations, as well as praise and worship music.

The congress will mark the end of the archdiocesan Year of the Eucharist, which began in 2020 but was extended due to restrictions on in-person events during the pandemic. Parishes used this period as an opportunity to expand eucharistic adoration and catechesis, and many are now making a push to encourage people to attend the congress.

Barbara Keville, who belongs to the Holy Rood Collaborative in Chelmsford, has organized all-night eucharistic vigils at different parishes for decades. Her collaborative has been advertising the Eucharistic Congress with posters and flyers for people to take home. She reported that churches in the Lowell area have been holding Holy Hours for the success of the congress.

Keville said she is glad her community is "starting to pick up speed" in promoting the congress.

"Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is very special, but also the catechesis of eucharistic adoration is very important," she said.

Adoration was already a focus for Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Parish in Waltham, but they also expanded opportunities for it during the Year of the Eucharist, according to the pastor, Father Jim DiPerri.

"For many years, we've been highlighting Eucharistic adoration, but, particularly, we have increased it throughout the pandemic," he said.

The parish has been holding adoration every weekday from 9 a.m. to about 3 p.m. Additionally, Our Lady's Academy and the religious education program have continued having students participate in adoration on a monthly basis -- even when the pandemic forced them to adapt the practice. When students could not gather as a large group in the church, the clergy brought the Eucharist in a monstrance to each classroom.

"The custom of having adoration monthly for the children was done prior to the pandemic and then was continued in a different way, but (it is) the same Lord," Father DiPerri said.

The parish's Knights of Columbus chapter is planning to attend the Eucharistic Congress as a group.

Christ by the Sea Catholic Collaborative in Cohasset and Hull observed the Year of the Eucharist in several different ways. The parishes have been offering adoration at the same time that confessions are available each week. At St. Anthony Church in Cohasset, they moved a side tabernacle to the main altar, giving it a more central location. Additionally, the bulletin has included a quote about the Eucharist each week, from a list compiled by a seminarian who served his summer assignment at the parish.

The collaborative has also been making plans and stirring up interest for the congress. During Lent, they gave away almost 1,000 copies of Lenten Gospel reflections written by Bishop Robert Barron, who will be one of the speakers at the congress, in the hope of introducing him to those not familiar with his work. The parishes have also arranged for a coach bus to transport people from the South Shore to the congress.

Father Scott Euvrard, the pastor of Christ by the Sea Catholic Collaborative, said he thinks the congress will be important, not only because of its subject matter but also as a reminder to the faithful "that we are part of a larger local Church here in the Archdiocese of Boston."

He said he believes it will help the local communities "to think beyond our parish boundaries and to realize we're part of something much larger."

Father Euvrard also expressed hope that increasing devotion and knowledge of the Eucharist "will not only help people in their individual journey of faith but will help the Church to be stronger."

Registration for the Eucharistic Congress is open for individuals and groups at www.bostoncatholic.org/jesus-is-here. Early bird pricing will be available until March 31, and ticket sales will end on May 22.