We are most grateful to the Knights of Columbus for the tremendous number of ways they have supported the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, as well as the many ways they strengthen the Catholic Church and families across the globe. It was an honor for the pilgrims on the Seton Route to begin in New Haven where the Knights of Columbus began and remain headquartered. This article was published by the Knights of Columbus in Columbia Magazine on July 1.
Father Roger Landry — a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, and a chaplain at Columbia University in New York City — is the only priest traveling one of the pilgrimage routes from beginning to end. Before the Seton Route kicked off May 19, Father Landry, a longtime Knight of Columbus, reflected on the significance of the route’s starting point.
“It is a phenomenal gift that the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage starts here at the church of St. Mary’s in New Haven in the parish of Blessed Michael McGivney, right at the church that houses his tomb. Father McGivney was a Eucharistic priest, his whole life centered around Jesus in the holy Eucharist. How proud he would be, more than 140 years after he was here, that the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage would begin at his tomb. We’re going to be asking for Blessed Michael McGivney’s intercession throughout our 65-day pilgrimage from New Haven to New York to Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C., Cincinnati and Indianapolis. All 65 days, we’re going to be counting on his help. …
“For us to be able to start everything here is going to infuse the Eucharistic pilgrimage with the real values of the Knights. Unity — the Eucharist brings about unity. Fraternity — Jesus wants us truly to become brothers and sisters with each other, made so by baptism and in the Eucharist. Charity — there’s no greater charity than in the sacrament of charity, the holy Eucharist. And finally, patriotism — there’s no greater gift that we could give our country than the Lord Jesus himself.”