Save the date: May 27.
That is when all people of faith are encouraged to join the source and summit of the Catholic faith — the Eucharist — in a procession on historic Summit Avenue in St. Paul.
Starting with a prayer service near St. John Vianney College Seminary and The St. Paul Seminary along the Mississippi River in St. Paul and proceeding east more than four miles to the Cathedral of St. Paul, the event will be part of the Marian route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which starts at Lake Itasca in the Diocese of Crookston on Pentecost weekend, May 18-19.
During that same Pentecost weekend, groups of eight young adults will begin from Lake Itasca, San Francisco; New Haven, Connecticut; and San Juan, Texas, with all four pilgrimages set to end at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium for the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21. Those days will be filled with worship, speakers and events centered on the Eucharist.
The gathering along Summit Avenue — which police will block off from traffic — will be the largest event planned for the pilgrimage from the time it enters the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis at St. Albert in Albertville May 24 to when the pilgrims leave the archdiocese at St. Michael in Pine Island May 31, said Amy Tadlock, the archdiocese’s manager of organizational effectiveness and a key planner for the archdiocesan leg of the pilgrimage.
Details for the 36 public stops for the pilgrims while they are in the archdiocese are being worked out, but people from Catholic schools, parishes and ministries in towns along the route will be among participants, Tadlock said. The towns involved can be found at archspm.org/eucharistic-pilgrimage.
Summit Avenue, known for its parkways, historic churches, Victorian-era mansions and homes, and views from the Cathedral of downtown St. Paul, seems an appropriate place to celebrate the source and summit of the faith, Tadlock said.
The three-year U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) National Eucharistic Revival, culminating with the four pilgrimages and the Eucharistic Congress, is a historic time for the Church, she said.
The USCCB’s goal is to “encourage renewed devotion to the Eucharist — and the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is a unique element in the initiative,” Tadlock said. “It’s something that’s never been done before. The walk along Summit Avenue … is an opportunity for the faithful to participate in this historic event.”
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