National Eucharistic Pilgrimage reaches Maine before turning toward Philadelphia

(OSV News) — Catholics of all ages walked through downtown Manchester, New Hampshire, June 21, following the Eucharist in a monstrance sheltered by an embroidered baldichino raised on four poles.

Accompanied by guitar, they softly sang along in praise: “My beloved is the most beautiful, Among thousands and thousands, Yeshua,” repeating the Hebrew name for Jesus.

The Eucharistic procession, which crossed the Merrimack River between Ste. Marie Parish and St. Joseph Cathedral, was around the 30th on the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s itinerary since its caravan of nine young-adult “perpetual pilgrims” began this year’s six-week route May 24 in St. Augustine, Florida.

In the weeks since, the pilgrims have traveled along the East Coast through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

On June 23, the pilgrims arrived in the Diocese of Portland, Maine, the northernmost diocese on their East Coast pilgrimage, after a closing Mass and Eucharistic adoration in Portsmouth that culminated in Bishop Peter A. Libasci of Manchester transferring the Eucharist to Bishop James T. Ruggieri of Portland.

Along the pilgrimage, they have stopped at parishes and religious institutions, as well as public sites and memorials, many of which have highlighted the United States’ Catholic history as the nation prepares to mark its 250th anniversary.

In near-daily blog reflections posted at OSVNews.com, the pilgrims have described unexpected encounters with people who have stumbled across pilgrimage events. While at the Basilica of St. Stanislaus in Chicopee, Massachusetts, June 19, perpetual pilgrim Eddie Gutierrez, a tax accountant in Phoenix, said he met a man who had ducked into the church and was curious about what was going on.

When Gutierrez explained that the Mass and procession would include Polish prayers, the man said, “Oh man, this is awesome but it’s not for me — I’m not Polish,” Gutierrez recounted.

“He said it in a way that he excluded himself right away, and I immediately said, ‘No, of course it’s for you!’ I told him we are all welcome and in the Eucharist there are no boundaries of language,” Gutierrez wrote. “We exchanged quick smiles and he thankfully stayed for Mass.”

The next day, perpetual pilgrim Angelina Marconi, an Arkansas native now living in Kentucky, described processing alongside storefronts in downtown Keene, New Hampshire.

“At lunch before the procession, Bishop Libasci talked about how important it is for us to have encounters with the Lord in the Eucharist,” she wrote.

“As we were following Jesus in the Eucharist through the town’s center, I couldn’t help but notice people seemed to be stopped in their tracks to see what was going on,” Marconi continued. “Conversations were paused. Heads were turned towards windows. Eyes were locked on the Eucharist. … As we sang the name of Jesus, my prayer was that those who saw Jesus had a stirring in their hearts to seek Him out or maybe a call to deepen their relationship with Him.”

After spending June 12-14 in the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, the perpetual pilgrims brought the Eucharist June 14-15 to the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, which included Divine Liturgy with members of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic.

In a video interview and podcast posted June 18, Franciscan Father Casey Cole, a social media influencer from Macon, Georgia, who preached at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson June 15 while the perpetual pilgrims visited that diocese, shared with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney of Paterson the importance of making the Eucharist so visible.

“So much of the last couple years has been focused on what the Eucharist is, emphasizing the true presence of Christ, that he is truly there, body, blood, soul and divinity, and I think rightly so,” Father Cole said, referring to the National Eucharistic Revival, an initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2022-2025 that included the first National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in 2024.

“This is something that we found in our country that a lot of Catholics didn’t understand or didn’t fully live out,” Father Cole said. “But I’ve been fascinated over the last couple years and felt a need to emphasize: So what? So what if Jesus was up there? Does that have any effect on my life? … The reception of the Eucharist transforms us and sends us out. That if we are to receive Jesus, we are to become the body of Christ.”

The perpetual pilgrims were slated to move June 26 from the Portland Diocese to the Archdiocese of Boston, where they expected to also encounter Catholics from the ?Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton that day, and on June 27 participate in a Eucharistic procession on Boston’s Freedom Trail, beginning at the Boston Common and ending in Charlestown with adoration and Benediction at the Bunker Hill Monument.

In the last week of the 2026 pilgrimage, the pilgrims are also expected to spend June 29-30 in the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, and June 30-July 2 in the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, before arriving in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for its final events July 2-5 that coincide with that city’s U.S. Semiquincentennial celebration.

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