Thirty-one days of travel, nine states and 18 dioceses later, the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage arrived at its first stop in the Diocese of Orange Wednesday morning, June 18.
Around 11:45 a.m., the pilgrimage van pulled into the back lot of Our Lady of Fatima Church in San Clemente, where more than 200 people gathered to welcome and pray with them.
The group of eight perpetual pilgrims left from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis on May 18.
Their arrival at Our Lady of Fatima marks the beginning of their events in the Diocese of Orange before they make their last stop of the pilgrimage at the Archdiocese of L.A. on Friday, a visit that will last through Sunday.
“I’ve been part of the planning team, so it’s just really exciting to see it come to life for everything we planned and talked and dreamed,” said Armando Cervantes, the director of youth and adult ministry for the Diocese of Orange.
Over the next three days, the pilgrims will travel on foot and by van to various Orange County parishes, culminating with a visit to the Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove.
They are expected to arrive outside Christ Cathedral on June 19 at 6:30 p.m. The Diocese of Orange is hosting a welcoming reception at 5 p.m. with food trucks and worship on Thursday.
The pilgrims will leave from the cathedral the next morning to head to L.A.
“It’s not the end,” perpetual pilgrimage member Ace Acuna said. “It’s just the beginning. The revival’s not ending in L.A., but at the same time, we’ve been on the road for 30 days, and we’re coming towards our last five days. There’s definitely a sense of nostalgia.”
Acuna works for the Aquinas Institute student ministry at Princeton University. He said it was the Eucharist that drew him back to practicing the sacraments and returning to his faith.
The group of eight perpetual pilgrims was selected from over 130 applicants.
They traveled mostly by van across the country, but when they arrived at a diocese, they would also visit different parishes on foot. Several priests, individuals and groups — including a group of pilgrims from California — have joined the pilgrims on different legs of the trip. One couple has been following along since Kansas, Acuna said.
“What a beautiful sacrifice that they are doing by just coming here and making their own pilgrimages to be with our Lord,” pilgrim member Leslie Reyes-Hernandez said about those who have joined along the way.
Reyes-Hernandez, a teacher in Phoenix, said she joined the pilgrimage because her own relationship with Jesus grew through attending adoration and daily mass, and she wanted to share that with others.
The pilgrims are representing the National Eucharistic Revival — a grassroots movement within the Catholic Church in the U.S. to recognize the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, rather than the belief that communion is purely symbolic of the body and blood of Christ.
“The seeds of the faith in this area of the country are so apparent,” Acuna said. “And I think it’s just so beautiful because that’s what the revival is all about, going back to the seeds of the faith.”
The pilgrimage will culminate at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in L.A. on June 22 with a mass and procession.