Thousands of Knights and their families participate in the historic National Eucharistic Pilgrimage
By Columbia staff7/1/2024
“I think it’s perfect that we’re launching this National Eucharistic Pilgrimage on Pentecost,” Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston said May 19 during an outdoor Mass in northern Minnesota. “A revival happens when the Holy Spirit does something greater than we can do by our human efforts.”
The same day that Bishop Cozzens kicked off the Marian Route of the pilgrimage near the headwaters of the Mississippi River, Pentecost Masses were being celebrated at its three other launch points: New Haven, Connecticut (the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Route); San Francisco (the St. Junípero Serra Route); and Brownsville, Texas (the St. Juan Diego Route).
Teams of young adult “perpetual pilgrims” have since traveled with the Eucharist across the United States, stopping for Mass, adoration and processions at scores of sites along the way. All four routes converge in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21.
The pilgrimage and congress are part of the three-year National Eucharistic Revival that began in 2022, an initiative of the U.S. bishops to inspire deeper love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Bishop Cozzens, who chairs the board of the National Eucharistic Congress, has witnessed the work of the Holy Spirit in shaping the National Eucharistic Revival. One example is the shape of the pilgrimage itself, initially conceived as a single route. When Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly suggested expanding it to four routes, logistics experts were consulted. Their conclusion: “This is not possible. It can’t be done.”
A year later, two other Knights — Father Roger Landry of the Diocese of Fall River and Father John Anthony Boughton of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, resurrected the idea for processions from north, south, east and west, forming a cross over the country, and promised their help.
Bishop Cozzens backed the audacious plan; as he put it in his Pentecost homily, “It’s never been done. But we’re about to do it.”
The Holy Spirit has drawn tens of thousands of Catholics to Eucharistic events along each of the pilgrimage routes. Knights have played an active role in the pilgrimage, from planning logistics and providing hospitality for the perpetual pilgrims, to participating in Eucharistic processions in towns, cities and metropolises across the United States. Below are some of the voices and images of this once-in-a-lifetime event.
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MARIAN ROUTE
Rochester, Minnesota
“St. Justin Martyr, one of the first great apologists, writes a text in 155 A.D., and he talks in that text about the Mass and the Eucharist: ‘We do not consume the Eucharistic bread and wine as if they were ordinary food and drink.’ …
“In a few moments, I’m going to pronounce — not my words, which have very limited significance — I’m going to pronounce Jesus’ words. Who is Jesus? If he’s one more prophet, one more teacher, who cares? But if he is, as St. Justin Martyr says, the incarnate Word of God, then what he says is. God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God said, ‘Let the earth come forth.’ And so it happened. Jesus said, ‘Lazarus, come out,’ and so the dead man came out. ‘Little girl, get up,’ and she got up. ‘My son, your sins are forgiven,’ and they’re forgiven.
“What God says is. Justin Martyr says it: ‘By the power of his own words, this ordinary bread and wine now becomes the body and blood of Jesus.’ … So the Church has taught from the earliest days.”
— Bishop Robert Barron, homily, feast day Mass of St. Justin Martyr on June 1 at Pax Christi Catholic Church
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Manitowoc, Wisconsin
“It was such a blessing and unifying experience to have the Eucharist come into our home in such a special way. The grounds of our community were so alive — even the birds were participating in the procession.
“I am filled with hope as the Marian Route’s perpetual pilgrims continue their journey to the Eucharistic Congress in thinking of the witness they will bring to so many on the fringes of our Catholic faith. I hope others feel empowered by the magnitude of the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist, and I hope the Eucharistic Pilgrimage continues to gather us all into one body, one Church.”
— Sister Michelle Marie Ozuna, Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, Holy Family Convent, June 14
SETON ROUTE
New Haven, Connecticut
“I had the honor of attending overnight adoration May 19 at St. Mary’s, the starting point of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s Seton Route. It happened to be my birthday, and I figured there was no better way to kick off the age of 44 than being in the presence of our Lord.
“I arrived at 1:45 a.m., and by 3 a.m. I could see and hear the other adorers start to move around. I thought that perhaps they too were starting to get a little restless. At around 3:45, this restless feeling of mine was suddenly replaced by an incredible sense of calm. The subsequent quietness of the others convinced me they felt it as well.
“Coming on the heels of two rather turbulent years in my life, this moment felt like a message from God: ‘As long as you are in the presence of the Lord, you will have peace.’ It was something I believe I was meant to experience and something I will never forget. Through this national pilgrimage, Christ is showing us that we can experience his presence in the Eucharist on a more intimate level than we ever anticipated.”
— Matthew Ruby, San Salvador Council 1, New Haven
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Emmitsburg, Maryland
“From the start of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s conversion, the mystery of the Eucharist, the true presence of Christ’s body and blood, had what I might call a gravitational pull on her heart, and mind and spirit.
“Elizabeth, as a devout young woman worshiping in her own congregation, it is said, heard bells sounding from a nearby Catholic Church as holy Mass was being celebrated. The ringing of the bells first alerted her sensitive, open heart to a Eucharistic faith that would become the foundation of her life. For when Elizabeth traveled to Livorno, Italy, with her husband, William, in the hope that he might recover from a serious illness, she encountered there a warm, full-fledged Eucharistic devotion.
“Returning to New York, Elizabeth underwent a time of anguished searching, especially as her family and friends tried to dissuade her from converting. Yet her desire for the Bread of Life became ever stronger. … In 1805, she was received into the Catholic Church. She looked forward with happy anticipation to receiving the Holy Eucharist for the first time: ‘At last,’ she wrote, ‘God is mine. And I am his.’
“As we trace the Seton Route along the East Coast, may you and I be overtaken by the same Eucharistic faith that animated St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.”
— Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, homily at National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, June 6
SERRA ROUTE
Folsom State Prison, California
“On May 23, Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento carried the Eucharist in procession through the gates of Folsom State Prison to the chapel at the center of the facility. About 95 inmates were already waiting there.
“What I witnessed was reverence, respect and awe from the men. They were in awe as the bishop brought the Eucharist in and placed it on the altar. Following Mass, we had 20 minutes of adoration.
“The inmates later told me that they felt the powerful presence of Jesus coming into their lives in the middle of the prison. It was very moving just to see their faces, how really happy they were. They later said, ‘We’re not just people in prison; we’re connected to the Church. We count.’”
— Father Humberto Gomez, Catholic chaplain at Folsom State Prison and a member of Blessed Sacrament Council 5322 in Rancho Cordova, Calif.
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Denver
“I helped to carry the canopy over Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver and the other priests carrying the Blessed Sacrament through downtown Denver on June 9. Being in the front, I had no idea the number of people behind me. What I thought was just going to be a small procession, maybe 100 people, grew to over 4,000.
“I was proud to be part of such a tremendous expression of faith, which I have not seen since the World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. St. John Paul II’s message to me, a 24-year-old African American man, was that the Church was our inheritance, and that it was up to us young people to keep the faith going for other generations. The closing WYD Mass was the moment I chose to come back to the Church.
“I hope I did my little part by serving the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage procession. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
— Titus Conwell, color corps commander for Father Raphael C. McCarthy Assembly 2294 in Centennial, Colo., and a member of Our Lady of the Luminous Mysteries 13301 in Denver
JUAN DIEGO ROUTE
Brownsville, Texas
“The first day of our walk [May 19] was so hot, I can’t even put it into words. We had a 9-mile walk in Brownsville from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to another church, and by the time we got there, I was soaked in sweat. It was so bad that when I sat in the front pew for adoration, the flies were buzzing around me. So, for sure, that was one way I got to practice the virtue of humility that day. …
“In a homily [our chaplain] gave us today, he talked about how we’re like the donkey that Jesus rode on his way into town before he was crucified. The donkey is a very humble animal, and I feel like I’m getting to be a donkey for Christ in this experience. …
“All the devotion that I’m seeing is very beautiful. And even if I’m suffering in a small way, it’s really beautiful to be a part of this.”
— Perpetual pilgrim Camille Anigbogu, speaking May 30 at St. Laurence Catholic Church, Sugar Land, Texas
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Goliad, Texas
“On the pilgrims’ first day in the Diocese of Victoria, May 27, they had evening adoration at Presidio La Bahía, a historic fort and mission church, with the altar set up in the courtyard under some oak trees. I’ve never experienced adoration outside before.
“When they brought out the Eucharist, the whole atmosphere changed: The birds started flying everywhere, as if everything was moved in the presence of our creator and savior. And as the evening wore on and the sky got darker, it became even more intimate, more quiet, more peaceful.
“My daughter, AnaLyn, happened to be home from college then. She has an incredible connection with Jesus in the Eucharist, and when my wife, Donna, and I told her we had this opportunity to go to adoration, she didn’t think twice — she said, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re going!’ I’m so grateful we got to share the experience with her.”
— Deacon Tim Kozelsky, Knights of Columbus field agent, Flatonia (Texas) Council 3295
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Moss Bluff, Lousiana
“Our council at McNeese State University provided three Knights to assist when the perpetual pilgrims arrived at Camp Karol in Moss Bluff, Louisiana, on June 3. Two brother Knights and I, together with some others from around the diocese, helped receive them, show them their lodging, serve them dinner and clean up afterward.
“I had just gotten back from two weeks of Marine Corps training, surrounded by testosterone and meatheads. To come home and then a day later meet these young people who are committed to this long pilgrimage was amazing. We had some awesome conversations with the pilgrims and spent time with them in Eucharistic adoration. To experience their joy and excitement was contagious.”
— Nicholas Rougeau, grand knight of McNeese State University Council 18091 in Lake Charles, La.