More than 1,000 people processed through the streets of downtown Washington, D.C. on Saturday morning as the third annual National Eucharistic Pilgrimage made its way through the nation’s capital.
“Today we are going to bring Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament to the streets of Washington, D.C.,” Father Charles Trullols, the director of the Catholic Information Center, said in a homily during the June 6 morning Mass before the procession began.
The procession offers “public witness to our faith,” Trullols said, displaying “the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, body, blood, soul, and divinity” to each person the procession passes by. Dozens of onlookers stopped to watch the procession, with many taking photos and videos.
The route began outside the Catholic Information Centerʼs K Street headquarters and went past Lafayette Square, which faces the White House. It also passed Farragut Square, McPherson Square, and the Veterans Affairs building.
Children who had recently received their First Holy Communion laid flower petals on the ground and the procession was led by cross and candle bearers, followed by religious sisters, the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance, the priests, the choir, and the lay people.
“I think it’s just a great opportunity to be a witness for Christ to a city that is so lost and while we were out there I was praying that someone who was out there would see it and come back to the Lord and find peace in the Lord and Christ,” Katie, from Jacksonville, Florida, told EWTN News.
“It’s just a beautiful witness out here today and Iʼm so grateful this was available especially to those who need it,” she said.
John, from Maryland, highlighted the significance of processing with the Eucharist in the nation’s capital less than one month before the country celebrates the Fourth of July.
“I think it’s very cool that this being the 250th anniversary of America we can do something like this,” he said. “It shows the freedom of religion in this country, and that it’s a great country to be in.”
The procession was one stop in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, a project of the National Eucharistic Congress that is bringing processions to dioceses across the country. This year’s route focuses mostly on visiting the original 13 colonies of the United States to honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Trullols noted in his homily that the pilgrimage theme is “one nation under God,” which he said is “not merely a patriotic slogan,” but an invitation to place our lives, our families, and communities under Christ.
A nation under God “does not sustain itself automatically,” Trullols said. Rather, it can only be sustained “if its people choose to place God first.”
The Catholic Information Center has held a Eucharistic procession in downtown Washington for four straight years, initially independent of the broader pilgrimage. Trullos told EWTN News that the pilgrimage reached out to the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., which then reached out to center to partner this year on the procession.
“This procession is an expression in our capital for the love of our country and the desire to pray for our people and our nation,” Trullos said.
He estimated the attendance was around 1,300 people, noting it’s growing “much bigger” every year they host it.
There are nine perpetual pilgrims traveling with the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage for the entire journey, which began in St. Augustine, Florida less than two weeks ago and will conclude in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the Fourth of July weekend.
Mary Carmen Zakrajsek, a perpetual pilgrim originally from Carmel, Indiana, said in a news conference after the procession that bringing the Eucharist into the streets has captivated people who encounter it: “Jesus walked this earth and he’s walking it again. He has not abandoned us.”
Zakrajsek called the pilgrimage a “unifying moment” and echoed the language in the Declaration of Independence that rights are endowed by our creator.
“Our moral authority does not come from the State,” she said. “It comes from God.”
