Registration for the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is officially open, and if you’ve been keeping an eye on the schedule—which just dropped—it looks like a massive undertaking. The theme, “One Nation Under God,” lines up with the country’s 250th anniversary. It’s set to kick off at Pentecost and wrap up around Independence Day weekend, which feels like a long time to be on the road, but that’s the point, I guess. The route follows the Eastern seaboard, specifically the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route.
There’s this specific group of nine Perpetual Pilgrims who will be carrying the Blessed Sacrament. They’re crossing through eighteen dioceses and even two Eastern-rite eparchies, moving across the original thirteen colonies. It’s a lot of ground to cover. Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress, mentioned that this is really about a visible renewal of faith—taking the Eucharist out into the streets. Or at least that’s the hope.
The smell of incense is likely to be a constant companion for those joining the processions through cities like St. Augustine, D.C., and Boston. In Florida, you’ve got events at the Our Lady of La Leche Shrine, and they’re even covering the history of the Florida martyrs. It loops back to history repeatedly, which is—well, it makes sense given the anniversary theme. They’re hitting the Basilica of the Assumption in Baltimore, too, which is the oldest cathedral in the U.S. and was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. It’s interesting how they’ve woven the architecture into the schedule.
Actually, wait—I should mention Philadelphia. The whole thing winds down there over Independence Day weekend. Archbishop Nelson Perez called it the “City of Saints,” noting that they hold the relics of St. Katherine Drexel and St. John Neumann. They’re planning 24 hours of adoration at the cathedral and even screenings of the film “Cabrini.” It sounds like a lot to coordinate, but maybe that’s the scale of it.
If you can’t make the trek in person, the organizers are still looking for people to submit prayer intentions. They’re aiming for 250,000 “Holy Hours” of prayer, which is a big number to track, but they seem pretty focused on it. You can also catch an online lecture series on the Manna app that looks at the intersection of faith and American culture.
Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, the chair of the Congress, seems to think this is about more than just the walk. It’s about dependence on God, he said. Whether or not it shifts the national conversation is something we’ll see, but the plans are definitely set. You can find the full list of stops on the Misryoum-linked site if you’re trying to figure out where they’ll be on a specific Tuesday in June. Or maybe a Wednesday. Just check the site.