Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News.
National Eucharistic Congress attendees are likely to recognize the faces of the daily revival session emcees, who are known for their prominent media presence and various ministries.
Montse Alvarado, Sister Miriam James Heidland and Father Josh Johnson will host the multi-hour sessions, which
Marina Frattaroli describes herself as the National Eucharistic Revival's "first convert," after a related social media post led her to a website describing the church's teaching on Jesus' true presence in the Eucharist.
Now she's spending most of her waking hours with the
Pilgrims on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage's four routes are edging closer to Indianapolis, with the group traveling the northern Marian Route having arrived in Indiana July 1. Pilgrims on the other three routes will enter the state the week of July 7
Under the star-stenciled ceiling of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Pickerington, Ohio, Father Roger Landry, a priest chaplain traveling the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage's eastern route, gave thanks to God for his 25 years as a priest June 26.
"The pilgrimage of Christian
With less than a month to go, more than 40,000 Catholics have registered for the National Eucharistic Congress, the pinnacle of the U.S. bishops' National Eucharistic Revival. Organizers expect the July 17-21 congress, held in Indianapolis, to be a watershed moment, igniting
"I think my heart is going to explode," said Montse Alvarado, describing the way she expects to feel when she gathers with with tens of thousands of Catholics to adore the Eucharist at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium in July. "It feels like
Shayla Elm has gathered a trove of memories from her first five weeks along the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage's southern route.
Over a week in Louisiana alone, she and seven other "perpetual pilgrims" traveling the full 1,900-mile St. Juan Diego Route processed with the
As the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage enters its fourth week with a continuous string of large-scale events on each of its four routes, its perpetual pilgrims continue to notice God at work in simple, unexpected encounters.
Amayrani Higueldo, a perpetual pilgrim from Philadelphia traveling
In what is described as "the largest single investment" in prekindergarten-to-grade-12 Catholic education in history, the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation is donating $150 million to the Chicago-based Big Shoulders Fund to support Catholic schools in the Diocese of Gary, Indiana.
The
Since beginning their journeys mid-May, pilgrims on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage have braved excessive heat, thunderstorms and wind -- all of it closely monitored by a meteorologist in New Hampshire.
John Kelley rises daily around 5:45 a.m. -- earlier than pre-pilgrimage days --