National Eucharistic Pilgrimage Comes to Maine

Inspired by the nation’s 250th birthday and the work of the National Eucharistic Revival (2022-2025), the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage came to Maine last week. 

Beginning on May 24 in St. Augustine, Florida, site of the first Mass to be celebrated on American soil, the pilgrimage will conclude in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of July. It is stopping in 18 dioceses along the way, and the Diocese of Portland was privileged to be among them.

Our Lord, carried in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, was welcomed to Maine with people waving, cheering, processing, praying, adoring, and celebrating.

Bishop James Ruggieri received the monstrance carrying the Blessed Sacrament from Bishop Peter Libasci outside Immaculate Conception Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, June 23, and from there, the Blessed Sacrament was carried in a car procession to St. Martha Church in Kennebunk. The procession stopped along the way at Kennebunk High School, where more vehicles awaited its arrival and joined in. Once at the church, a walking procession was held, followed by adoration and an opening Mass, welcoming the pilgrimage to Maine.

In his homily, Bishop Ruggieri said, "Today, the Lord comes to us in the Eucharist. The Eucharistic Pilgrimage is not simply an event passing through Maine. It is a reminder that Christ himself walks with his people. The same Lord whom John the Baptist welcomed is present among us, truly and substantially, in the Most Holy Eucharist," Bishop Ruggieri said. "He is not distant from our anxieties. He is not indifferent to the condition of the nation. He is not absent from the burdens of Maine, the burdens of the Church, or the burdens of our own hearts."

"Through the reality of the real presence of Christ in holy Communion, we are united with each other. We become one," said Father Edward Clifford, pastor of Holy Spirit Parish during the eucharistic Holy Hour at St. Martha. "The theme of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage for 2026, on the 250th anniversary of the United States, is One Nation Under God...It is through Christ that we are united people of the world: people today, people from the past, the saints, all who have gone before us, who received the Lord in this special way."

Following the opening celebration at St. Martha Church, overnight eucharistic adoration was held at the St. Anthony Franciscan Monastery in Kennebunk, where the pilgrims spent the night. From there, the pilgrimage visited St. John the Baptist Church in Brunswick, the Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul in Lewiston, and St. Peter Church, Sacred Heart Church, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, St. Christopher Church on Peaks Island, and St. Christopher Church in York.

At each stop, hundreds have turned out, including a group of sisters you traveled together from Aroostook County to participate in the pilgrimage.

"I just felt that it was a way of getting closer to the Lord. I feel like we need things like this to set a spark. I feel like processions are really very important in the life of the Church and that we should continue doing that, and I just wanted to be a part of that," said Barbara Roy of St. David.

"I love pilgrimages. It gives me a boost, a good boost to get through life," said Nola Daigle of St. Francis. "It's just knowing that the Lord is with us and all the graces we receive from all the Masses and the prayers that we do. "

The stop in Brunswick included Mass at St. John the Baptist Church and a procession through the streets. In Lewiston, a concert of sacred music was held along with an accompanying exhibit of the Shroud of Turin which featured an exact replica of the shroud.

Thursday morning's events began with a eucharistic procession from St. Peter Church to Sacred Heart Church, about 1.3 miles away, where adoration was held. Leaving Sacred Heart Church, the pilgrims walked to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for midday Mass and then a ferry ride to Peaks Island for adoration and a barbecue.

The pilgrimage's Maine visit concluded on Friday, June 26, with Mass at St. Christopher Church in York which was celebrated by Bishop James Ruggieri and concelebrated by Bishop Emeritus Robert Deeley, Father Scott Mower, who is the pastor of Parish of the Ascension of the Lord, and Father Ryan Rojo, who is accompanying the pilgrims.

In his homily, Father Mower spoke of the gifts of the pilgrimage.

"We have been so blessed over these past few days to be a part of this tremendous pilgrimage of the whole eastern seaboard on the 250th anniversary of our country. Everything just seemed to come together here to place ourselves before God, asking that we may be wise enough and open enough to discern his will and then to put that forward. So, we reflect today upon that as the pilgrimage moves onward from here...and we ask that we may continue to bask in that and grow in that," Father Mower said. "May we step forward, feeling a renewal in our relationship with the Lord and help to carry that out into the world around us."

From the Diocese of Portland, the pilgrims traveled to Massachusetts, with their next stop in the Archdiocese of Boston.