As Catholics gear up for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress, anticipation is growing among the faithful, and curiosity is being piqued as the general public begins to learn of a display of faith that will be historic in scope.
Around the world, pilgrimages have dotted the chronology and maps of world history. In the U.S., National Eucharistic Pilgrimage coordinators believe this year’s events will involve more than 100,000 people participating in events on one of four routes in the U.S. that lead to Indianapolis: the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Route from the east, the St. Junipero Serra Route from the west, the St. Juan Diego Route from the south and the Marian Route from the north.
The Marian Route pilgrimage, which began around Pentecost at the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca Minn. is set to cross the Illinois-Indiana border on July 1. There, pilgrims will be hosted by the parish family of St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church for Eucharistic Adoration, prayer, procession, and later, a benediction and party on the beach at Whiting Lakefront Park.
“When I saw about the Eucharistic Revival, I thought, I have to be there,” said Mary Grace Dy, 54, a St. Thomas More parishioner and a Secular Franciscan. “I look (ahead) to the pilgrims coming from all over the country.”
All the conversation about walking has some local believers preparing for the temporal toll of walking up to 10 or 15 miles on various jaunts from Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties. The diocesan stretch concludes with prayer on July 5 at St. John Kanty in Rolling Prairie.
Whatever the preparation necessary to be able to confidently traverse a portion of the Region on a summer day – from proper hydration to pacing oneself – Dy said she’s committed to making the journey “doable.”
“I thought who could walk that far?” Dy said. “It is kind of amazing. I was thinking maybe if I was younger, I would want to do that. But then I learned you could actually walk part of it in the diocese and I was so excited.”
A seasoned priest, who, like fellow clergymen, confects the Eucharist in persona Christi, Father Mick Kopil is happy that the Church decided to take the Real Presence to the streets.
“When I first heard about the Eucharistic Revival, and specifically about the National Pilgrimage, I was very excited that we as Church are making such a bold statement, in a public way, about our faith in Christ's presence in the Blessed Sacrament,” said Father Kopil, pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Valparaiso. “We hold this presence as so great a gift that we want everyone to know it and share it.”
As he prepares to cover miles on the local Marian Route, he knows he will be among true friends. “I am being accompanied by family members in the Body of Christ.”
Irene Copak of Winfield has experienced a resurgence of faith in recent years, concerned about “the world we live in.” The St. Matthias parishioner said, “This then expanded my search for the truth in the Christian world, in which I have concluded that the truth is alive and well only in the one apostolic Catholic Church that Jesus Christ has founded.”
Aiming to bring her children on a segment of the local pilgrimage, the 40-year-old hopes to deepen her relationship with Jesus and is in the market for a pair of “good walking shoes.”
Diocesan coordinator for Youth and Young Adults, Vicky Hathaway, who is directing aspects of the local Eucharistic Pilgrimage, said that several parishes including St. Michael the Archangel, Schererville, St. Mary of the Lake, Gary, Nativity of Our Savior, Portage, St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Student Center, Valparaiso, St. Paul, Valparaiso, Queen of All Saints, Michigan City, St. John the Evangelist, St. John, and Holy Family Parish, LaPorte, are generously preparing to host faithful.
Prayer, music, food and even an Independence Day party are on the itinerary at the mile-marker campuses along the pilgrimage route. “They will highlight the culture within their communities and I’m really excited to see that … especially the praying together,” said Hathaway.
As perpetual pilgrims (select people who will cover the entire route) and local walkers rally around the Blessed Sacrament held aloft in a monstrance, Father Kopil hopes the experience will parallel his trip to Israel last year. He said before large-scale hostilities broke out in the Middle East, he was a part of the “most enriching pilgrimage I ever made,” going to the places of Jesus’ life and where he was lifted on a cross before resurrecting.
“I took a group of pilgrims to the Holy Land last year,” Father Kopil said. “It was impactful to me because I got to be a witness to each individual having a personal encounter with Christ in the land of His birth, ministry, death, and resurrection.”
Dy has also been to the Holy Land. As a pilgrim there in 2023, she said she has been “so blessed” that her devotion to the Cross and to the Lord in the Eucharist were made to be the focal points in her life.
Joining with a growing list of Northwest Indiana Catholics committed to walking portions of the local Eucharistic pilgrimage route, Dy sees those events and the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis (July 17-21) as being life-giving to all people.
“I want to be a part of (the Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress) because I think it is like a new Pentecost, that’s how I first pictured it,” Dy explained. “People are going to be there and I want to be there when Jesus enters this huge place.”
For a detailed itinerary of the Marian Pilgrimage in Northwest Indiana, visit dcgary.org/2024Pilgrimage.
Caption: Pilgrims process in a 12-mile walk from Laporte to Walker, Minn., along the Paul Bunyan State Trail during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage May 20, 2024. (OSV News photo/Courtney Meyer)