Eucharistic Pilgrimage Boards Sternwheeler, Sails Down Ohio River – EWTN Global Catholic Television Network

by Daniel Payne

CNA Staff, June 30, 2024 / 08:00 (CNA).

Worshippers on the Seton National Eucharistic Pilgrimage trail recently boarded an old-fashioned sternwheeler and journeyed down the Ohio River with the Blessed Sacrament.

The ship departed from Steubenville, Ohio, on Sunday, June 23, and traveled 30 miles downriver, blessing several groups and locations.

Father Roger Landry holds the Blessed Sacrament aboard the Sewickley on the Ohio River near Steubenville, Sunday, June 23, 2024. Author: Colleen Rowan

Writing in the National Catholic Register, CNA-friendly photojournalist Jeff Bruno called the event “incredibly biblical.”

Nuns pray along the Ohio River near Steubenville, Sunday, June 23, 2024. Author: Colleen Rowan

Bruno described the multitude of pilgrims gathered on the banks of the river, “with deep love and adoration for Christ, eagerly awaiting his arrival.”

The faithful kneel before the Blessed Sacrament during its procession aboard the Sewickley on the Ohio River near Steubenville, Sunday, June 23, 2024. Author: Jeff Bruno

“I traveled from place to place and met different communities of believers: different but the same, because they were all waiting for Jesus on the gently flowing banks of the Ohio River,” Bruno wrote.

Pilgrims kneel as the Blessed Sacrament passes aboard the Sewickley on the Ohio River near Steubenville, Sunday, June 23, 2024. Author: Colleen Rowan

The Seton Route Pilgrimage began May 18 with Mass at the birthplace of the Knights of Columbus, St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut.

The four pilgrimage routes will ultimately run through 6,500 miles, 27 states and 65 dioceses, carrying Christ in the Eucharist.

Pilgrims pray as the Blessed Sacrament passes aboard the Sewickley on the Ohio River near Steubenville, Sunday, June 23, 2024. Credit: Colleen Rowan

The routes will converge in Indianapolis on July 16 during the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, which will be held July 17-21.