Parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are gearing up for a new movement that invites an encounter with the Eucharistic Christ: the procession of the Eucharist as part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s Marian Route.

Departing from the Mississippi River headwaters in Itasca State Park on Pentecost, May 19, the Marian Route will stop at locations throughout the dioceses of Crookston, Duluth and St. Cloud before moving through the archdiocese May 24-31. The route will then move through the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, continue through Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana, and ultimately meet three other pilgrimage routes in Indianapolis July 17-21 for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.

The amount of time that the archdiocese will host the pilgrimage is “a privilege,” said Father Tim Tran, parochial vicar of St. Stephen in Anoka and the archdiocesan point person for the National Eucharistic Revival.

“It’s going through many different communities, from rural to inner city,” he said. “We see that as the Catholicity, the universality of the Church and how Jesus came to feed all.”

“We just can’t wait to bring it (the pilgrimage) to the highways and the byways, bring Our Lord there, bring people to him and walk together,” said Will Peterson — founder and president of St. Paul-based nonprofit Modern Catholic Pilgrim — during a conversation with “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley.

Peterson, a parishioner of St. Helena in Minneapolis, said Modern Catholic Pilgrim is helping coordinate all four National Eucharistic Pilgrimage routes.

“For us, it’s all about: How do we lead pilgrims to have that encounter with the risen Christ, especially in the Eucharist?” Peterson said. “And then, how do we send them … to run back into their communities with their hearts set on fire, to spread the good news and, really, to be changed and to change their communities? We’re just so blessed to have this opportunity.”

Father Tran said preparation for the upcoming pilgrimage ought to “be deeply rooted in prayer” and can include spending time “personally with the Lord in adoration, or the Eucharist, Mass and the sacraments.”

“Start there, with your own personal revival,” he suggested.

Father Tran said those who can’t physically attend pilgrimage events can participate in other ways.

“I think, in particular, of our elderly and those who have other responsibilities (meaning) that they cannot come, that the Eucharist — even when we’re separated from one another, in the different chapels throughout the world, in our archdiocese — it’s a point of communion. We are members of Christ’s body … and so even if you can’t participate physically, your prayers are going to drive and be that moving force for the (Holy) Spirit to spread that fragrance of Christ as we process throughout our archdiocese.”

Father Tran reflected on the final day of the pilgrimage in the archdiocese, May 31, as also being the feast of the Visitation.

“I see that as the first Eucharistic procession or pilgrimage, one might say, in world history because Mother Mary was the living tabernacle and also the living monstrance,” he said. “Having Christ in her womb, she processed throughout the Judean hill countryside to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. And that’s precisely what we’re doing — I just see that as a spiritual reflection on how it has converged to this moment.”

Father Tran prays the pilgrimage moves hearts so that “we become the agents of revival in our families, in our workplaces, in our communities, in our parishes, in our archdiocese, our country and the world. It begins with you and with me.”

“We’re not doing anything fancy, that’s the beauty of it,” Father Tran said. “We’re just walking with Jesus along the way. And that in itself will be the propulsion of this revival.”

WALKING WITH CHRIST

According to National Eucharistic Pilgrimage organizers, there will be 24 “perpetual pilgrims” who will make the full journey along one of the four pilgrimage routes traversing the United States. The perpetual pilgrims will ultimately converge in Indianapolis July 17-21 for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress. Six of the perpetual pilgrims will be traveling along the Marian Route.

The perpetual pilgrims will have two designated monstrances — one that can be used during formal liturgical celebrations and a second, more lightweight monstrance that can be used during the longer walking sections of the route, explained organizers for the archdiocesan portion of the pilgrimage. The monstrances were made in Italy, according to National Eucharistic Pilgrimage organizers.

Local parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will have the option to use either the monstrances designated for the pilgrimage or their own monstrances when the pilgrimage passes through their area, organizers said.

Meanwhile, organizers said the official monstrance used during the 1941 Eucharistic Congress, which was held in St. Paul, is planned for use during the May 27 Source and Summit procession along Summit Avenue in St. Paul from The St. Paul Seminary to the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Not only will the perpetual pilgrims have a traveling tabernacle in a support vehicle for times along the route when it won’t be possible to walk, organizers said, but there are plans to have a mobile Eucharistic adoration chapel as well, meaning the Eucharist will be exposed as the perpetual pilgrims are driving through portions of the archdiocese.

THE ROUTE

At least 30 archdiocesan locations will be part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s Marian Route. Here’s a look at the pilgrimage when it passes through the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis next month.

Editor’s Note: Some walking segments of the pilgrimage aren’t open to the public and there are some sections of driving. Locations and event details are subject to change; visit archspm.org/eucharistic-pilgrimage for the most up-to-date information.

FRIDAY, MAY 24

St. Albert in Albertville

Adoration: 5-6 p.m.

Procession to St. Michael in St. Michael: 6 p.m.

St. Michael in St. Michael

Mass and adoration: 7:15 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 25

St. Peter Claver in St. Paul

Mass: 4 p.m.

Reception: 5 p.m.

SUNDAY, MAY 26

St. Anne-St. Joseph Hien in Minneapolis

Procession: 9:30 a.m.

Mass: 10:30 a.m. (Vietnamese)

19th Annual Northeast Eucharistic Procession

In conjunction with the NEP this year, Northeast Eucharistic Procession services will begin at 1 p.m. at Holy Cross in Northeast Minneapolis. The route in Minneapolis is as follows:

Holy Cross

Sts. Cyril and Methodius

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Boniface

St. Maron

St. Constantine

All Saints

A flyer with procession information can be found online.

Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis

Mass: 5 p.m.

Adoration: 6 p.m.

MONDAY, MAY 27

Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis

Mass: 8:30 a.m.

St. Stephen in Minneapolis

Adoration: 9:45-10:30 a.m. (Spanish)

St. Albert the Great in Minneapolis

Adoration: 11 a.m.

Source and Summit Procession

The Source and Summit procession will begin with midday prayer at 12:45 p.m. at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. The procession will then proceed east along Summit Avenue, ending at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. The route in St. Paul is as follows:

The St. Paul Seminary

St. Thomas More

Cathedral of St. Paul

Benediction, then a reception: 4 p.m.

More information can be found online.

TUESDAY, MAY 28

Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul

Mass: 7:30 a.m.

Assumption in St. Paul

Prayer service: 9:30-9:50 a.m.

Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Paul

Rosary: 10:15-10:45 a.m.

St. Matthew in St. Paul

As of press time, events were not yet confirmed

Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul

Spanish/English praise and worship with adoration: 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

St. Joseph in West St. Paul

As of press time, events were not yet confirmed

St. Peter in Mendota

Adoration: 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 29

St. Peter in Mendota

Mass: 9 a.m.

Faithful Shepherd School in Eagan

Events are closed to the public

 St. John Neumann in Eagan

Adoration: 3-4 p.m.

St. Michael in Farmington

Holy Hour and evening prayer: 7 p.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 30

St. Michael in Farmington

Mass: 8:30 a.m.

St. Mathias in Hampton

Rosary: 2 p.m.

Procession to St. John the Baptist: 2:30-5:30 p.m.

St. John the Baptist in Vermillion

Holy Hour and reflection: 7 p.m.

FRIDAY, MAY 31

St. Mary in New Trier

Mass and procession: 7:30 a.m.

St. Paul in Zumbrota

Adoration: 9:30-10:15 a.m.

Procession to St. Michael in Pine Island: 10:15 a.m.

St. Michael in Pine Island

Adoration and Benediction: 3:15 p.m.