Why would someone walk approximately 60 miles from Warrenton to Arlington during the peak of summer?
The reasons varied among the 15 individuals gathered early on the morning of Aug. 6 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Warrenton, but the calling was consistent. Their ranks included retirees, a seminarian, corporate workers, college students and an expectant mother. Bolstered by a reprieve from the high humidity and sweltering heat of the previous weeks, the pilgrims received a blessing from Father Charles C. Smith, pastor, posed for a group photo to document the occasion, and then began the trek from Warrenton toward Haymarket. While the initial objective that day was to cover the first 20 miles, something more happened.
The mission
Back in June, Father Nicholas F. Blank, parochial vicar of St. John, hosted an interest meeting for prospective pilgrims willing to walk to the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, the diocese’s mother church, with stops at other churches along the way. He told those gathered that, in declaring 2025 a Jubilee Year for the global church, Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to make a pilgrimage.
During the Middle Ages, a pilgrim walked as a form of penance assigned by a priest in confession. The individuals walking in this modern version carried crosses on their hearts. A grandmother walked for her grandbaby lying in Children’s Hospital. She carried a paper stamped with tiny pink footprints and the deep pain of not being able to do anything to help. Two others took the sorrow of a parent’s struggle with cancer. Another brought prayers for healing of families. Still another brought the hope for new beginnings. Each pilgrim beat a path from one parish to the next until they all reached the cathedral. Each pilgrim carried intentions to lay at the foot of the cross.
The journey
Many people strive for 10,000 steps a day. This group walked 44,000 steps on the first day. While the paces and levels of exertion were not uniform, all 15 finished the day in the beautiful church kneeling before the cross at St. Katharine Drexel Mission in Haymarket.
The second day started with Mass. Some new pilgrims joined as the journey continued down quiet country roads toward Corpus Christi Church in Aldie.
Along the way, bicyclists and others expressed curiosity at the group’s mission. The family of a Corpus Christi parishioner and pilgrim rode out as the hikers neared, honking horns, shouting “Go Catholics,” and playing the theme from “Rocky” to lift the hearts of those finishing the day’s 10-mile stretch. Father Michael G. Taylor, pastor, and seminarian Joseph Chester, met the pilgrims, offering nourishment and a tour of the recently constructed gem of the diocese.
Day three, the pilgrims gathered for adoration with the sunbeams coming through the wafts of incense drifting up to the cross. Receiving another blessing, the group embarked on the most difficult day with only 11 members. The goal was to reach St. Leo the Great Church in Fairfax. Some of the journey was on sidewalks, some on paths along power lines, some crossed over I-66.
No matter the physical condition of the traveler, the 20 miles that day hurt. The pilgrims’ progress was much slower. Each step became an act of sacrifice. As a group, they stopped together, took longer breaks together, and continued together. Despite discomfort, the entire group was marked by kindness, patience and enjoyment of each other. A quick stop at St. Timothy Church in Chantilly allowed for a moment of Eucharistic adoration. Sitting before Jesus, their purpose became clear. They just needed to be faithful and take another step and then the next until it was finished.
The arrival
Day four, the original size of the pilgrims doubled as they were joined along the way by individuals and families with strollers. Each new walker brought a sense of impact and importance to the original group. This day was special.
The end goal was the cathedral in Arlington, 14 miles away. A volunteer who ran support and met the group at specified locations with his truck laden with water, Gatorade and snacks, waited at the final stop with boxes of donuts. Upon spying the first walkers arriving, he texted a message to the group, “We have pilgrims!”
Knowing the group could make it, feeling the sense of success, an indescribable joy came. Jesus was there and he waited for each pilgrim to arrive. In a corner of the parking lot, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge welcomed the group. A private celebration of victory radiated with what can only be described as pure jubilation.
So, why take a pilgrimage in this Jubilee Year? To realize what we do matters. Who we do it for matters. If each pilgrim on this journey only achieved survival, then the pain and time spent was truly wasted. Each footstep in faithfulness, each intention carried to the cross was met by Jesus and the purest sense of joy. All they had to do was take one step forward and then just one more.
Krasny is a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist Church in Warrenton.
