Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City blesses the gathered crowd at the top of the Tepeyac Hill at the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City during a Eucharistic procession on June 3, 2025. On March 18, 2026, the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage announced diocesan details for public stops along its East Coast route May 24-July 5 with ties to America’s 250th anniversary. (OSV News photo/Avery Holt, courtesy Archdiocese of Oklahoma City) 
Bishop Dennis E. Spies passes the Blessed Sacrament to Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., during a solemn handoff at Immaculate Conception Church in Morris, Ill., on May 19, 2025. The reverent exchange marked a key moment in the St. Katharine Drexel Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, followed by a Eucharistic procession through the town and a prayerful Holy Hour attended by several hundred faithful. 
The Cabrini Team, above, will take part in the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage May 24 to July 5. (Photo Special to The Record by Rachael Meier in partnership with the National Catholic Eucharistic Congress.) 
The St. Frances Xavier Cabrini route will travel the East Coast, and participants will visit some of the nation’s most historic Catholic sites. (Photo Special to The Record from the National Catholic Eucharistic Congress) 
Angelina Marconi, a parishioner of St. Louis Bertrand Church, is a will take part in the 2026 “One Nation Under God” Pilgrimage from May 24 to July 5. (Photo Special to The Record by Rachael Meier in partnership with the National Catholic Eucharistic Congress.)
Angelina Marconi, a parishioner of St. Louis Bertrand Church and an assistant athletic trainer at the University of Louisville, will join eight other “Perpetual Pilgrims” from across the nation this summer as they pray their way along the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Route, the third National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
Marconi, 29, and the other pilgrims will accompany the Blessed Sacrament along an East Coast route from Florida to Maine, traveling on foot and by van. It will conclude in Philadelphia on Independence Day weekend.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to see how Jesus will transform hearts this summer,” said Marconi in a recent interview. “It will be incredible to meet people from different areas of the country and to see how we all will be connected by Jesus in the Eucharist.”
The National Eucharistic Congress, a nonprofit, organizes the pilgrimage, which originated in 2024 ahead of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, part of the National Eucharistic Revival. The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage returned last summer with a route from Indianapolis to Los Angeles.
This year’s route is named for St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first citizen of the United States to be canonized. As the United States prepares to mark its 250th anniversary this summer, the pilgrimage will hold the United States in prayer, in particular. The theme of the pilgrimage is “One Nation Under God.”
According to the pilgrimage’s website, www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org/, the theme is more than a slogan.
‘This pilgrimage is an invitation to unify our country through prayer and to walk with Christ in the Eucharist. I look forward to joining our country in this spiritual pilgrimage as we are united under the love of Jesus.’
— Angelina Marconi, Perpetual Pilgrim with the National Eucharistic Conference
“It’s an invitation to realign our lives, communities, and country under the sovereignty of Christ. It’s a call to build unity through prayer, and to let Jesus, present in the Eucharist, renew and heal the heart of our country, one soul at a time,” it said. “As pilgrims on this route, we walk with Christ so that his love might draw our nation back to him. You’re invited to join us, in person or in spirit, and offer prayers and sacrifices for the renewal of America.”
Stops along the route are tied to the Catholic history of the United States. The pilgrimage will begin on Memorial Day in St. Augustine, Fla., at the site of the first recorded Mass in what is now the U.S., Our Lady of La Leche Shrine at Mission de Nombres.
“All I can do is think about how the Mass that was celebrated at Mission de Nombres and other early locations across Florida is the same sacrifice of the Mass that we still celebrate today,” Marconi said. “It will be joyous to join the community of angels and saints where Heaven meets earth during the opening Mass of the pilgrimage.”
The pilgrimage will conclude in Philadelphia — the nation’s original capital — the day after Independence Day. By then, the Cabrini Team will have traversed a majority of the 13 colonies.
“This pilgrimage is an invitation to unify our country through prayer and to walk with Christ in the Eucharist,” Marconi said. “I look forward to joining our country in this spiritual pilgrimage as we are united under the love of Jesus. … I will take the time to pray about our country and how we can be renewed through our Lord.”
Growing up, Marconi was an active member of her church’s choral ministry in Marion, Ark. She will lead music for the pilgrimage and looks forward to accompanying the pilgrims in song, primarily during the eucharistic processions, she said.
“Since music has always been in my life, it wasn’t until God called me to participate in music ministry in college that I fully understood that I could use this gift as a way to serve and bring people closer to him. Whenever I serve the Lord through music, it reminds me of the times in Scripture when God is being praised through psalms and songs,” said Marconi.The pilgrimage runs from May 24 to July 5. Public pilgrimage events focus on the Eucharist with Mass, adoration and processions, and charitable service and fellowship. The public can register to attend pilgrimage events at eucharisticpilgrimage.org.
