Hundreds join historic eucharistic procession on bridge over Ohio River

People start to take to their knees in Christ’s presence at the base of a ramp to the Louisville, Ky., side of the Big Four Bridge over the Ohio River as a eucharistic procession to Jeffersonville gets under way on July 9, marking the entrance of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s southern route into the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)

By Natalie Hoefer

JEFFERSONVILLE—The sense of anticipation was high on July 9 as the crowd gathered at the ramp to the Big Four Bridge on the Louisville, Ky., side of the Ohio River.

Excitement gave way to reverence as Louisville Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre led the historic eucharistic procession on the bridge over the Ohio River between Louisville and Jeffersonville. Pilgrims lining the way joined along as the hymn-singing procession passed.

As he reached the Indiana side of the bridge, Archbishop Fabre stopped and passed a monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament to Archbishop Charles C. Thompson. It was an act that marked the beginning of the final leg of the St. Juan Diego—or southern—Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that began in Brownsville, Texas, on May 19, Pentecost Sunday. (See our news coverage and photos of the National Eucharistic Congress at www.archindy.org/congress.)

Archbishop Thompson now led the procession of several hundred into the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, home of the pilgrimage’s final destination: the National Eucharistic Congress to take place in Indianapolis on July 17-21, the first such gathering in 83 years.

Archbishop Fabre noted the significance of the procession during a prayer service in the Big Four Pavilion at the base of the bridge in Jeffersonville.

“Brothers and sisters, we send these pilgrims on their way across the river from the Archdiocese of Louisville to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis as they continue on their journey to Indianapolis and the National Eucharistic Congress,” he said. “There they will join with others who have sojourned from around the country to share in God’s invitation for renewal and devotion to Jesus through the great gift of the Eucharist.

“As they continue on this journey, we pray together that their zeal will light hearts on fire along the way, fostering encounters with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.” (Related: See a photo gallery)

‘It was exhilarating’

“We’ve been building up to this for a long time. It’s a great thing,” Archbishop Thompson told The Criterion moments before the procession began. “The excitement is building. I think our people are excited about celebrating the core of our identity and our mission as Catholics in the Eucharist. It’s who we are and what we’re about.”

The archbishop’s words were affirmed by Philip Hendershot. After the procession continued on to St. Augustine Parish in Jeffersonville about four blocks away, he and two friends remained at the pavilion processing what they had just witnessed.

“The physical presence in the Eucharist is a bedrock belief in our faith, and it’s waned in so many people,” said Hendershot, a member of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Clarksville. “Even myself, you know, as a younger man, had doubts about that. But my belief in it is stronger all the time, and this [procession] is just another way to boost that.”

Hendershot appreciated “seeing the Eucharist outside the walls of the church. It’s pretty rare, and it’s a great thing for everyone to see. I think it’ll help Catholics and non-Catholics alike to appreciate what it is we believe.”

He likened the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s southern route—encompassing six states with 94 stops in 18 dioceses as of July 9—to the universality of the Church.

“In this case, it’s a very distinct event that people from Texas [and the other states on the southern route] through today have been a part of,” said Hendershot. “It actually passed through Louisiana where I went to college. So, I really feel a kinship to all the folks that have seen the very same Eucharist that we saw today.”

Beside Hendershot stood his friend Stephen Day, who had never before participated in a eucharistic procession.

“It was exhilarating,” said the member of St. John Paul II Parish in Sellersburg. He said he had seen pictures of prior parts of the pilgrimage in The Criterion.

“But to witness it in person was even more breathtaking. My buddy and I walked up on the bridge, and there were tears running down our faces. So very, very moving.”

Day’s participation in the procession was a continuation of his growing relationship with Christ in his recent bout with cancer.

“The Lord kind of got me through my time of health issues,” he said. That time “deepened my faith, and I looked forward to this [procession] happening today to become a part of my faith in an even deeper way.”

Standing next to Day was David Schmidt, one of the friends who prayerfully supported him through his cancer journey.

Schmidt has been on a journey of his own. The born-and-raised Catholic has been worshiping at a Christian church, but recently began “on the path to get back to St. John Paul II Church.”

“I do believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist,” he said. “That part is the part missing in the other Christian church, and I miss it.”

Participating in the procession “was a fantastic, great feeling,” said Schmidt. “It was just an affirmation” of his desire to return to the Church and to Christ in the Eucharist.

“Yes, you’ll absolutely see me at St. John Paul II,” he said.

‘The Lord is doing so much in our country’

The weather during the procession was hot and humid. But MacKenzie Warrens was “sweating bullets” for another reason.

“I was the one that made the call to actually go,” said Warrens, one of the southern route’s perpetual pilgrims, referring to the decision not to cancel the procession despite the potential for a thunderstorm.

“I was kind of sweating bullets the whole time watching the radar, like, ‘All right, is the storm going to come or not?’ ”

The storm veered to the north. It was another sign to Warrens of how God abundantly provides.

“One of the big takeaways for me on this journey is God’s providence,” said the Kansas City, Mo., native who now lives in Houston. “The Lord always provides, and he provides abundantly.”

Of the “thousands” of special moments she’s witnessed on the pilgrimage, Warrens singled out one to share with The Criterion.

The perpetual pilgrims were participating in a service opportunity at a homeless ministry in Biloxi, Miss., housed in the gym of a former Catholic school destroyed by a hurricane.

One man they served shared that he made his first confession in the gym in second grade. But it had been years since he’d received the sacrament. He said he now confessed directly to God and saw no need to involve a priest.

A Franciscan Friars of the Renewal brother traveling with the pilgrimage spoke with the man about the theology behind the sacrament, and the man changed his mind.

“Our priest heard his confession right there in that gym where [the man] had his very first confession,” said Warrens. “He walked out, and he was like, ‘I can’t wait to go to confession again!’

“We’ve just had countless moments like that, where the Lord enters someone’s heart and just lights it on fire.”

Warrens said the pilgrimage has been “absolutely beautiful. The Lord is doing so much in our country. He is so excited to just have access to people’s hearts. … It’s kind of surreal that we are closing in on the very end.”

‘For a moment, they got to be with Jesus’

But not before the St. Juan Diego route stops at seven parishes in the archdiocese before joining the other three routes at St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis on July 16.

St. Augustine Parish was the first of those seven stops. A reception, including witness talks by the perpetual pilgrims, was held in the parish center after the eucharistic procession, followed by 12 hours of adoration.

With the assistance of “many great people,” Father Adam Ahern, pastor of St. Augustine, helped plan the July 10 path of the longest eucharistic procession on the St. Juan Diego route—a 15-mile trek from St. Augustine to St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish in Floyd County, with a stop at St. Mary Parish in New Albany along the way.

“Other parishes of the [New Albany] Deanery are hosting different sections along the route, to make it a whole deanery-wide effort,” he said.

As for the eucharistic procession over the bridge between Louisville and Jeffersonville, it was a dream come true for Father Ahern.

“I was ordained in 2015, and my first assignment was at Our Lady of Perpetual Help [Parish] in New Albany,” he said. “From that day until now, I’ve been wanting to do a procession across the walking bridge. Because, come on, how cool is that to walk across the Ohio River with the Eucharist, right?

“Coming across the bridge, I was just all smiles, like, ‘Ah, yeah! This is sweet!’ I just really loved it.

“This is such a public display of our Catholic faith,” Father Ahern continued. “I’m sure there were people on that bridge that had never seen or heard of anything like this ever before.

“And for a moment, they got to be with Jesus.” †

 

Related story: Eucharistic Pilgrimage routes meet in Indy with Christ leading the way