HONK IF YOU LOVE Jesus,” read a sign on their van as it pulled into Our Lady of Fatima, the San Clemente parish perched atop a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
As a crowd of around 100 worshippers gathered outside, the sun shone with sea breezes cascading up the hillsides. All eagerly awaited the Real Presence of Jesus Christ.
THE PROCESSIONS MAKES ITS WAY THROUGH THE STREETS OF ORANGE COUNTY. PHOTOS BY KAYLEE TOOLE/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
On June 18, Our Lady of Fatima was the first stop of the long-awaited National Eucharistic Pilgrimage coming through the Diocese of Orange. The pilgrimage began in Indianapolis in May, passing through the Midwest, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, San Bernardino and San Diego. Many thousands joined it alongside a small contingent of “perpetual pilgrims” traveling the entire time.
Now it was in Orange County from June 18 to 20, drawing an estimated 5,000 faithful for Masses, Adoration, processions and testimonies. The journey was dubbed the Drexel Route after St. Katharine Drexel, an American religious sister canonized after a lifetime of service for Black and Indigenous American Catholics.
The Drexel Route served as a culminating event of the National Eucharistic Revival, a multiyear effort to promote the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, a fundamental component of Catholic dogma that senior Church leaders have contended is waning.
In San Clemente, attendees of the midday event included locals, religious and priests from around the country and region.
THOUSANDS FLOCKED TO THE CHRIST CATHEDRAL CAMPUS TO BE PART OF THE NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC PILGRIMAGE ON JUNE 18.
Our Lady of Fatima pastor Fr. Antonio Lopez-Flores had the honor of receiving the traveling monstrance with the Eucharist. With the crowd around him praying, they processed into the sanctuary for prayer, testimonies, reciting the Rosary and Adoration.
“I was very touched by all the people who are coming along with Him, the people who are coming with the pilgrimage,” said Fr. Antonio. “They know the True Presence of the Eucharist … they have been driving for miles and miles, hours and hours. That’s very tiring. It reminded me we are a missionary Church, and we have to bring Jesus to others, to make Jesus present to others.”
Julian Venegas, a parish liaison who works in the Diocese’s Office for Worship that helped coordinate the pilgrimage, attended the revival movement’s National Eucharistic Congress last summer in Indianapolis. Seeing the group at Our Lady of Fatima reminded Venegas of the congress’ massive street procession.
“It’s definitely on a smaller scale, but the spirit is still there,” Venegas noted. “The devotion of the people, everything is still there. It’s wonderful to witness and it’s definitely a testimony to our faith.”
After Our Lady of Fatima, the group headed north by car to JSerra Catholic High School, where several hundred more attended Mass on the football field celebrated by Fr. Angelos Sebastian, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Diocese of Orange. The group then processed toward downtown San Juan Capistrano, a historic heart of Orange County known for its Spanish mission where St. Junípero Serra preached. Curious onlookers watched the group, while others kneeled as the Real Presence passed by.
As they ended their procession by converging inside Mission Basilica parish, the sunset washed over the Mission Revival-style building, where hours of Adoration and other observances happened into the night.
The next day, after stops at St. Thomas More in Irvine and Holy Family in Orange, the Drexel Route was enjoying the hospitality of St. John Maron, a Maronite church in Orange with leafy grounds and a quiet setting a few blocks from bustling Chapman Avenue. After Adoration and Confession, a group of around 100 people were readying themselves to process the Eucharist by foot down the street to Christ Cathedral.
Among them was Ace Acuña, a 24-year-old “cradle Catholic” living in New Jersey. He was one of eight chosen “perpetual pilgrims” to travel the entire Drexel Route.
“It is an amazing opportunity,” Acuña said. “Whenever I get asked what it’s like being a perpetual pilgrim, I always come back to JPII’s quote that life with Christ is an amazing adventure. I think we are really living that out, because day in, day out, you’re with Jesus, in the Eucharist, in the tabernacle.”
Acuña said a takeaway has been “a lot of hope for the Church.”
“We’ve had, several times throughout this pilgrimage, people who are curious,” he explained. “They came up and asked us what’s going on. I think a lot of people have this perception that the world’s getting increasingly secular, that people don’t want religion. But we’ve seen the openness and the curiosity of people. People are really hungry for something.”
Minutes later, Acuña joined procession along the Chapman Avenue sidewalk within view of hundreds of cars. With a guitarist helping the mood with song, they passed through UC-Irvine Medical Center, Theo Lacy jail, the county juvenile hall and the Orangewood Foundation foster care center, praying at each site.
Onlookers held up Rosaries, crucifixes and pictures of Mary as they walked by.
Once at Christ Cathedral, hundreds joined them, including St. Cecilia parishioner Leticia Garcia.
“When I was walking,” Garcia said, holding back tears, “I think at one point I felt like what it must’ve been when the disciples were behind Jesus.”
Garcia recalled seeing a child with pure joy as the procession came into view.
“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh! That’s how we should be.’ That’s how I felt in that moment,” she said. “That’s how everyone should be acting.”
After the procession concluded, the cathedral campus hosted hours of Adoration, praise music and special talks.
In his remarks in front of the Our Lady of La Vang Shrine, Bishop Kevin Vann pointed to a special metallic sacrament tower next to him. Such a large tower makes it easy to see the Eucharist inside, he noted.
“That’s like now,” Bishop Vann added. “The world can see you and see the Presence of Jesus in the walk you have done all these miles.”
The next morning, a special Mass was celebrated before the National Eucharistic Procession continued onward into the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, ending on June 22 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.