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Saint Paul
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Stillwater teens walk 22 miles in pilgrimage to Cathedral of St. Paul

The Gospel passage read at weekend Masses Aug. 29 and 30 came to life on one of the most picture-perfect weather days of the summer. 

Heeding the words of Jesus in Mathew 16, who commanded anyone with wishes to be his follower to “take up his cross,” teenagers from St. Michael and St. Mary parishes in Stillwater carried a 5-foot wooden cross for 22 miles Aug. 29, starting at St. Michael and ending at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. It was a prayer pilgrimage organized by Father Austin Barnes, parochial vicar of the two parishes, to pray for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic and for a good school year. 

The 18 teens and a handful of adult chaperones, including Father Barnes’ mother, Cathy, arrived at the cathedral after the nine-hour journey tired but satisfied with the accomplishment, resting on the steps for an hour before attending the 5:15 Saturday vigil Mass. 

“I am pretty exhausted,” said Sarah Ostrom, who went on the walk with her older sister, Ellie. But, it was definitely worth it. I really enjoyed it.” 

A highlight for her was the four rosaries the group prayed during the walk, plus a Divine Mercy Chaplet, one of her favorite prayers. But, the best part came last, when she walked through the doors and into the cathedral. Her family moved to the Twin Cities a year ago from Wichita, Kansas, and she was seeing the cathedral for the first time. She called going inside for Mass “a beautiful way to end” the pilgrimage. 

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Father Barnes formalized the plan for a prayer pilgrimage several weeks ago, patterning the journey after one he had taken in 2016 with a group of young adults. They went on a longer pilgrimage, starting north of Stillwater in Scandia and walking 33 miles to the cathedral. He also had done part of the Camino de Santiago in Spain in 2015. 

“With COVID, there hasn’t been a whole lot of camps or retreats or anything this year,” he said. “I was thinking this would be … kind of a retreat.” 

Sarah Ostrom, right, walks over a bridge as the group makes its way from North St. Paul to the Cathedral, following the Gateway Regional Trail. In front of Ostrom is Mari O’Malley. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

The day started out with a 6 a.m. Holy Hour at St. Michael, followed by a brief gathering outside the church, with Father Barnes sprinkling holy water on each person. He then asked for a volunteer to be the first one to carry the cross. Danny Valerius eagerly agreed. 

Though he felt the extra weight, he also experienced “little bursts of grace from God.” 

“It got difficult near the end,” he said. “I felt close to him (Jesus). I knew he was by me, and I knew that he was helping me carry the cross and walking with me. The burden was light with him there.” 

A long walk while carrying a cross is exactly the way these teens were able to carry out the message cathedral Rector Father John Ubel preached in his homily, which was based on the second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. It includes St. Paul’s admonishment, “Do not conform yourselves to this age.” Father Ubel asked the congregation what that statement meant, then used the pilgrimage as an example. 

“Everything about our society now is for convenience sake,” Father Ubel said in an interview with The Catholic Spirit after Mass. “And so, this is very countercultural for young people to walk more than 20 miles for anything.” 

He spent time with the group after Mass and heard one teen talk about how carrying the cross helped him forget about the pain in his feet he developed while walking. Father Ubel called that an example of “trying to be selfless.” He also noted that this was one of the few pilgrimage groups to come to the cathedral since the pandemic closed down churches in March. He called the experience of having this group journey to the cathedral “wonderful to see.” He also bantered with the teens in the courtyard after Mass, asking how many steps they had taken. One member of the group shot back with an answer: about 52,000. 

Cecilia deLeon, left, and Danny Valerius (carrying the cross) lead the way at the start of the pilgrimage from Stillwater to St. Paul Aug. 29. Behind them is St. Michael church, where they started the day at 6 a.m. with a Holy Hour. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

The first steps came just after sunrise, and cool breeze refreshed the walkers as they made their way through the streets of Stillwater, passing St. Mary church a few blocks into the pilgrimage. At the edge of town, they connected with the Brown Creek Trail and later the Gateway Regional Trail, and followed the Gateway all the way to St. Paul, where they passed the State Capitol and proceeded down John Ireland Boulevard with the Cathedral in sight. Along the way, they stopped at Rotary Park in North St. Paul for pizza and a brief reflection and blessing by the pastor of the two Stillwater parishes, Father Michael Izen. 

Matt Trom went on the pilgrimage with two of his sons, Jonathan and Josh. The pandemic has given him more time at home, and he took full advantage of the opportunity to be with the middle two of his nine children. 

“It was just a blessing to be able to spend time with my boys, but then also with all these kids,” he said. “It’s really an encouragement to see happy and holy kids just spending time with one another.” 

Trom also had gone on the walk from Scandia with Father Barnes in 2016. On that one, he said people were “practically crawling” by the end of the 12-hour walk. He took a cautious approach on this one, joining the group about five miles in. He made sure to take some footsteps while holding the cross, which was fruitful time for reflection about the meaning of the cross in the spiritual life. 

“When I imagine carrying the cross, I always think of it as torture,” said Trom, 46. “And, that’s what it was intended to be. But, carrying the cross today was a joy. And, in some respects, I think that’s what it was for Jesus, too, knowing that this was for us, this was for our salvation.” 

Nearly everyone got a chance to carry the cross. Mari O’Malley, who walked with her twin brother, Peter, and another brother, Thomas, carried the cross at her waist rather than on her shoulders, but still walked away with a sense of how heavy it must have been for Jesus. She enjoyed the communal aspect of the pilgrimage, and had one simple takeaway: “It makes me want to pray more with my friends.” 

Praying as a group is what Vianney Nguyen, youth evangelization and discipleship coordinator, had in mind when he joined with Father Barnes to organize the event. And, he called Father Barnes’ idea of having each teen carry the cross “the best part.” 

“We’re called to take our own crosses, but then we’re also called to share the suffering together,” he said. “We’re all united through that suffering to our Lord.” 

 

 


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