June 25, 2024 // Bishop

Be a Part of History as National Eucharistic Pilgrimage Comes to Diocese

Paula Lent

Tradition teaches that the Church was born on Pentecost, when the grace of the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, who were charged with carrying out Christ’s mission on earth. On Pentecost Sunday, May 19, a new sending took place as officials launched the four routes of the historic National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.

After beginning at the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota, the pilgrimage’s Marian Route will make several stops in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend from July 5-10 as Perpetual Pilgrims bring Christ in the Blessed Sacrament to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress, which begins on July 17. The University of Notre Dame and several parishes across the diocese will mark the landmark occasion with celebratory events that will include Masses, adoration, processions, and more.

Bishop Rhoades invites all to participate in this historic celebration.

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National Eucharistic Pilgrimage Makes Its Way to Fort Wayne-South Bend

All Are Encouraged to Attend Events Across the Diocese in This Historic Moment for the Church

On Pentecost Sunday, as we commemorated the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that supernaturally empowered the disciples to go out and spread the Good News near and far, the four routes of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage kicked off in four states – California, Texas, Connecticut, and Minnesota.

Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., has said the nationwide pilgrimage marks a historic moment for the Church. “A cross-country pilgrimage of this scale has never been attempted before,” Glemkowski said. The four routes of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will travel through 27 states and 65 dioceses, covering a combined distance of 6,500 miles on foot and with the help of support vehicles. “It will be a tremendously powerful action of witness and intercession as it interacts with local parish communities at stops all along the way,” Glemkowski said.

Pilgrims from each of the four routes – beginning in the north, south, east, and west – will traverse the country with monstrances carrying the body of Christ truly present in the Blessed Sacrament and converge at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis on July 16. The Juan Diego Route began in Brownsville, Texas; the Serra Route began in San Francisco; the Seton Route began in New Haven, Connecticut; and the Marian Route, which will come through the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, launched from Crookston, Minnesota.

Bishop Rhoades is strongly encouraging the faithful across the diocese to participate in the events of the pilgrimage as it makes its way through the diocese, stopping for various gatherings, including liturgies, adoration, dinners, processions, and more. The Marian Route will enter the diocese in South Bend on Friday, July 5, and will include stops at the University of Notre Dame and parishes in Bristol, LaGrange, Angola, Waterloo, Auburn, Fort Wayne, Pierceton, Warsaw, and Plymouth throughout the course of six days.

At 3 p.m. on July 5, St. Thérèse, Little Flower Catholic Church in South Bend will host Mia Tiwana, a young adult who will speak on her conversion to Catholicism from Islam. Adoration will follow. The faithful will then join the Marian Route’s Perpetual Pilgrims for a procession with the Blessed Sacrament that will take them to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of Notre Dame, where Mass will be held at 5:15 p.m.

Holy Cross Father Brian Ching, who serves as the Rector of the basilica, noted that Notre Dame is well-poised to host the pilgrims and the various Eucharistic events that will happen around campus.

“We’re excited to be able to play a host to them on their journey, certainly excited to be part of the National Eucharistic Revival in this relatively unique way,” Father Ching told Today’s Catholic. “One of the great blessings of the basilica is that this is not something that is unusual for us in terms of hosting large groups or gatherings. The campus will host the pilgrims here on campus.”

Following the Friday evening Mass at the basilica, the McGrath Institute for Church Life will host a panel at 8 p.m. at Hesburgh Library during which renowned theology professors will discuss the gift of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the intimacy Our Lord desires with each one of us.

On Saturday, July 6, offerings will include morning Mass at the basilica and two performances  – at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. – of a new musical, “Behold God’s Love: A Eucharistic Musical,” at O’Laughlin Auditorium on the campus of  Saint Mary’s College. The musical is sponsored by the McGrath Institute, with book, lyrics, and music written by the Institute’s Carolyn Pirtle.

Throughout the pilgrimage, Saturdays are always set apart for local service work by the Perpetual Pilgrims and the local communities. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend has been chosen to host the pilgrims’ service project. All are invited to participate with the pilgrims in the creation of a community “unity garden” on the grounds of Catholic Charities’ South Bend office and St. Matthew Cathedral and School.

“The garden will serve as a welcoming and friendly green space, where neighbors, school children, parish members, and clients of Catholic Charities can gather, tend, and expand the garden and reap the benefits of nutritious and delicious food,” Catholic Charities officials said in a news release, which also noted that “after exploring many service opportunities with Maria Benes, National Eucharistic Pilgrimage Project Lead, we determined that the following project would have the highest impact upon the communities we serve, as well as a long-term impact.”

Local volunteers have been prepping the garden for the past few weeks, making it ready for planting and tending on July 6. Volunteers are invited to arrive by 10 a.m. in order to be introduced to the pilgrims. Work will take place until 2:30 p.m., with a break for lunch. In the event of bad weather, the service project will entail organizing the Storage Center, which Catholic Charities and the Refugee Ministry share with St. Pius X Parish in Granger.

Event organizers and other leaders in the community noted that service is an important part of the pilgrimage, because the Eucharist forms us in love on behalf of the world. We are called to become what we receive, thus being formed as bread for the world, serving as Jesus did. In this and other ways, the Eucharist unites us. As the National Eucharistic Congress itself offers a unique opportunity for Catholics to unite to celebrate the joy of our Eucharistic Lord, each stop of the pilgrimage will also offer a chance for Eucharistic communion.

On Sunday, July 7, the faithful are invited to attend Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at 10 a.m. Afterward, the community will join the pilgrims in a Eucharistic procession around the campus of Notre Dame.

Although most students won’t be around to welcome the pilgrims, Father Ching noted that their presence on campus during the school year helped prepare the soil for the pilgrim’s reception.

“I think in a lot of ways they’re doing the work of revival each and every day here,” Father Ching said. “We’re seeing an uptick in Mass attendance, both up at the basilica and our residence halls. We average [distributing] about 30,000 hosts a month on campus, which speaks to the number of people who are receiving the body of Christ on a regular basis here.” The campus has also held its own Eucharistic pilgrimages, and Father Ching noted that the upcoming procession on campus “will look very similar to the Eucharistic procession that we have during the school year.”

Following the procession at Notre Dame, the pilgrims will continue to bring the Blessed Sacrament to parishes across the diocese, beginning with St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish in Bristol, which will host a potluck lunch for the pilgrims at 1 p.m. followed by Eucharistic adoration at 2 p.m.

“We are excited,” said Father Bob Van Kempen, Pastor of St. Mary of the Annunciation. “It makes you part of the universal Church, because everybody is planning for the Congress. … This focus on the Eucharist and what the Church is doing throughout the world, I think that helps us to become one again.”

Continuing on July 7, the pilgrims will stop for adoration at St. Joseph Parish in LaGrange at 4 p.m. before traveling to St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Angola for dinner at 6 p.m. and adoration at 7:30 p.m.

On Monday, July 8, the St. Anthony community will host a morning Mass and short procession beginning at 8 a.m. The pilgrimage will then travel to St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Waterloo for adoration at 9:40 a.m. before making one of two long processions while in the diocese, as pilgrims and the faithful will walk with the Blessed Sacrament from St. Michael Parish in Waterloo to Immaculate Conception Parish in Auburn – a 10-mile walk that will take place from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Immaculate Conception Parish in Auburn will hold a short Benediction service from 4-4:15 p.m. before the pilgrims will head to St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Fort Wayne to enjoy a potluck dinner (6 p.m.) and Eucharistic adoration (7:30 p.m.). Beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 9, Bishop Rhoades will participate in Mass and a short Eucharistic procession with the pilgrims.

The fact that St. Vincent de Paul has a perpetual adoration chapel is a beautiful tie-in to the pilgrimage, and the parish’s pastor, Father Dan Scheidt, noted multiple effects that having perpetual adoration has had on his parish community.

“First of all, there’s just a more contemplative approach to life,” he told Today’s Catholic. “There’s always a place to go to be quiet and recollected with the Lord, to receive His peace. Secondly, it’s been a multi-generational blessing, with not just older people going there but teens and families; and for their experience of the faith to, in a sense, flow from the Mass and also prepare for the Mass, it adds more dimensionality to what our worship looks like. It’s not restricted to the Mass, but the Mass is revealed in a greater depth and expansiveness.”

Additionally, Father Scheidt added, there’s an evangelistic element to the adoration chapel. “Because the oratory is open to anyone, we’ve had many, many non-Catholics come to pray, and some, in their prayer there, have actually been inspired to become Catholic.

“And for me,” he continued, “I’m particularly moved by the intersection of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with a pilgrimage. So it combines two Catholic devotions, and the combining of them underlines, in a sense, the active and the contemplative nature of the Eucharistic mystery. Contemplative because we have a chance to feast on the Lord with our eyes and hearts, as well as our lips, and active in the sense of literally walking with the Lord into the world that He’s created and redeemed.”

After leaving Fort Wayne on the morning of July 9, the pilgrimage will make a brief stop for adoration at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Pierceton at 9:45 a.m., after which a procession will travel a little less than eight miles to Sacred Heart Parish in Warsaw, where pilgrims and the faithful will join the community for lunch at 2 p.m.

Father Jonathan Norton, Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Warsaw, noted a link between his parish’s name and the Eucharist, saying that “when the Lord wants to communicate the reality of the Eucharist as His body, blood, soul, and divinity, He does it by showing His human heart as well.”

At 6 p.m. on July 9, the pilgrims will arrive at St. Michael Parish in Plymouth, where they will enjoy dinner and adoration. The following morning, on Wednesday, July 10 – the final day of the pilgrimage’s tour of the diocese – a Mass and procession will be held beginning at 8 a.m. at St. Michael.

Father Fernando Jimenez, Pastor of St. Michael Parish, shared the local excitement, saying it includes “the parish and beyond – because I have shared those with other people, they are also excited because they are close by.”

As the pilgrimage travels through the diocese, faith leaders are encouraging everyone to attend events centered around this historic event.

“The aspect of pilgrimage oftentimes is seen as an optional extra for the hyper-devout,” Father Scheidt said, adding, “when, in fact, pilgrimage is at the heart of the Christian life. In fact, we’re, as St. Peter says, strangers and sojourners here below. So, our whole life is a pilgrimage from here to the heavenly Jerusalem. I think the more practice we can get for that to be embodied, the clearer our understanding will be of our life and destiny.”

To view more details about the schedule of events in our diocese, and to register to attend, visit eucharisticpilgrimage.com, click on the “routes” tab, and select the Marian Route.

 

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Pilgrimage Schedule

FRIDAY, JULY 5

3-3:30 p.m. – Testimony by Mia Tiwana at St. Therese, Little Flower Parish in South Bend

3:30-3:45 p.m. – Adoration at St. Thérèse, Little Flower Parish

3:45-5 p.m. – Procession from St. Thérèse, Little Flower Parish in South Bend to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame

5:15-6 p.m. – Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame

8-9:30 p.m. – Panel on Eucharist, hosted by the McGrath Institute for Church Life, at Hesburgh Library, University of Notre Dame

SATURDAY, JULY 6

8-8:30 a.m. – Mass the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame

10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. – Service project hosted by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, where volunteers will build a community garden at the South Bend office of Catholic Charities

1-3 p.m. – Performance of “Behold God’s Love: A Eucharistic Musical” at O’Loughlin Auditorium at Saint Mary’s College

7-9 p.m. – Performance of “Behold God’s Love: A Eucharistic Musical” at O’Loughlin Auditorium at Saint Mary’s College

SUNDAY, JULY 7

10-11:30 a.m. – Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame

11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. – Procession on the campus of the University of Notre Dame

1-2 p.m. – Potluck lunch at St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish in Bristol

2-3 p.m. – Adoration at St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish in Bristol

4-5 p.m. – Adoration at St. Joseph Parish in LaGrange

6-7:30 p.m. – Dinner at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Angola

7:30-9 p.m. – Adoration at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Angola

MONDAY, JULY 8

8-8:30 a.m. – Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Angola

8:30-9 a.m. – Procession at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Angola

9:40-10 a.m. – Adoration at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Waterloo

11 a.m.-4 p.m. – Procession from St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Waterloo to Immaculate Conception Parish in Auburn

4-4:15 p.m. – Benediction at Immaculate Conception Parish in Auburn

6-7:30 p.m. – Potluck dinner at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Fort Wayne

7:30-8:30 p.m. – Adoration at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Fort Wayne

TUESDAY, JULY 9

7:30-9 a.m. – Mass and procession with Bishop Rhoades at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Fort Wayne

9:45-10 a.m. – Adoration at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Pierceton

10 a.m.-2 p.m. – Procession from St. Francis Xavier Parish in Pierceton to Sacred Heart Parish in Warsaw

2-4 p.m. – Lunch and prayer at Sacred Heart Parish in Warsaw

6-7:30 p.m. – Dinner at St. Michael Parish in Plymouth

7:30-8:30 p.m. – Adoration at St. Michael Parish in Plymouth

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10

8-8:30 a.m. – Mass at St. Michael Parish in Plymouth

8:30-9 a.m. – Procession at St. Michael in Plymouth