National Eucharistic Pilgrimage makes several stops in Duluth Diocese

The Northern Cross 

Duluth Bishop Daniel Felton blesses the faithful during Benediction at Lief Erikson Park in Duluth May 22. The blessing concluded the day’s Eucharistic Procession and was the last event for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage scheduled in the Duluth Diocese. (Photo by Deacon Kyle Eller / The Northern Cross)

After the Marian Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage started at the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park, it began winding its way into the Diocese of Duluth, making stops in Walker, Grand Rapids, Coleraine, and Duluth for holy hours, Masses, and Eucharistic Processions. 

The Marian Route is one of four routes beginning at the north, south, east, and west parts of the continental United States. They will all cross the country, making many stops along the way until they converge on Indianapolis in July for the National Eucharistic Congress, the first of its kind in more than 80 years. The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is the first of its kind. 

As pilgrims traveling with the Marian Route arrived in Duluth the evening of May 21, joint events began between the Duluth Diocese and the neighboring Diocese of Superior, Wis. Superior Bishop James Powers led a Holy Hour that evening, which was followed by a reception at the Holy Rosary Campus of Stella Maris Academy. 

Father Daniel Weiske prays before the Blessed Sacrament as part of a holy hour in Coleraine, a stop on the Marian Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. (Photo courtesy of Mari Jo Anderson)

The next morning, Duluth Bishop Daniel Felton, joined by Bishop Powers and Crookston Bishop Andrew Cozzens and hundreds of the faithful, celebrated Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in Duluth, followed by a Eucharistic Procession, which traveled across the city streets for the two-mile stretch to Leif Erikson Park on the shores of Lake Superior for Benediction. 

In his Mass homily, Bishop Felton was drawn to reflect on the many people who had served in hidden roles for the pilgrimage and for the Star of the North Eucharistic Congress in Bemidji that had immediately preceded its launch, jointly hosted by the Diocese of Duluth and the Diocese of Crookston, its neighbor to the west. 

The bishop noted that the “call to serve is at the heart and core of the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ” and recounted a story from his return trip from Bemidji earlier in the week. 

He had stopped for supper at the Sportsman’s Cafe in Deer River. “Friends, it doesn’t get more local than the Sportsman’s Cafe in Deer River,” he joked. 

Crookston Bishop Andrew Cozzens leads a Eucharistic Procession in Grand Rapids as part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. Bishop Cozzens has led the initiative for the U.S. bishops. (Submitted photo)

As he was eating, he said he overheard someone talking about the congress — the interesting talks, the nice people, and the long lines of “people waiting to talk to the priests.” After he finished eating, he walked over and talked to the man, who informed him he’d been a security guard at the event. 

Bishop Felton said it called to mind for him the countless men and women and young adults who had served behind the scenes to bring the massive event off, and how quickly they were forgotten, despite the fact that they should inspire us to be like them, because “in that moment in time they are Christ for us in that service.” 

The same remained true on the first legs of the pilgrimage, he said, with people preparing liturgies and food and programs. 

“And when we go down to the next part of the pilgrimage, we already forgot them, even though their service to us is an inspiration to us,” he said. “Because in that moment, all those people who have been behind the scenes, have been serving us all along the way, all of those people have been an expression of Jesus Christ, an embodiment of Jesus Christ to us and they didn’t want to be recognized, they don’t want to be honored. Everything they are doing is for the honor and the glory of God.” 

Addressing the perpetual pilgrims, who are traveling with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament all the way to Indianapolis, sometimes with multiple daily events, he encouraged them to remember such people in their prayers. 

Superior Bishop James Power carries the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of Duluth May 22 during a Eucharistic Procession. (Photo by Aidan Jones / Diocese of Superior)

“I’m going to challenge you that as you move on from one holy hour to the next, that you will spend the first part of that holy hour remembering and thinking of the people of the sites that you just left who were there to be a servant to you, to think of the people that were behind the scenes,” he said. “You will never know their names. You may not even know that they were there, but they were. But do not forget that when you move on to the next holy hour.” 

He encouraged all the rest, carrying on the “pilgrimage of life,” to do something similar, remembering each evening those who have served us unnoticed. “Do not forget them,” he said.