June 9, 2026

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s Ignite event slated for June 18 at Forest Park

REGIONAL
By Carolee McGrath

SPRINGFIELD – The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, entitled One Nation Under God, will visit the Diocese of Springfield June 18-20, with several events planned across the diocese. One of the events, “Ignite,” will feature witness talks and live music in multiple languages, along with eucharistic adoration and a candlelit eucharistic procession. It is being held at the Forest Park Amphitheater on Thursday, June 18 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

“People can expect a night of encounter with Jesus, through eucharistic adoration. We will also have the rosary prayed in five different languages, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, English, as well as Polish,” said Bekah Nevarez, ministry associate in the Office of Missionary Discipleship, which is organizing the local route of the pilgrimage for the Diocese of Springfield.

“This (Ignite) is the only event during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that’s taking place in a public space. We thought Forest Park would be a great space given that we’re in this diocese. Maybe we can get other people who are not part of the faith to be interested in what’s going on,” she said.

The pilgrimage, a continuation of the landmark National Eucharistic Revival Congress held in 2024, is in honor of the 250^th birthday of the founding of the United States. A spiritual journey, it began on Pentecost Sunday, May 24, in St. Augustine, Fl., near the site where the first Catholic Mass was celebrated in what later would become the United States.

It is currently making its way up the East Coast stopping in most of the 13 original colonies, concluding in Philadelphia Independence Day weekend.

The pilgrimage, will make its way through New York to The National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge on Thursday, June 18.

“It’s such an honor and a privilege for us to be selected as the first stop in New England before the pilgrimage goes throughout New England, eventually ending up in Philadelphia,” said Joe Austin, the director of the Office of Missionary Discipleship.

The pilgrimage is being made by van with 9 young adults, called perpetual pilgrims and a chaplain. At each stop, local dioceses will plan processions and events.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patron saint of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. St. Francis Cabrini was an Italian born nun and first U.S. citizen to be canonized. On Friday, June 19, the pilgrimage will stop at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Springfield, which was built by Italian immigrants.

Also, on June 19, the pilgrimage will stop at St. Stanislaus Basilica in Chicopee and end with a closing procession, all night adoration and Mass at Thomas Aquinas College in Northfield.

Several parishes are doing community service events in honor of the pilgrimage. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish is assembling blessing bags to be given to the homeless. The youth of St. Elizabeth Parish in Ludlow are making and collecting cards which will be given to veterans at the Massachusetts Veterans Home at Holyoke.

There is also a Holy Hour, Sunday, June 14 in the outdoor chapel on the ground of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Ludlow at 7 p.m.

To learn more, go to diospringfield.org