By TAMI QUIGLEY Staff writer
A group of approximately 15 young adults made a pilgrimage through the City of Brotherly Love as they traveled to Philadelphia Aug. 25 for the daylong event sponsored by the Diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry (OYYAFM).
In a day infused with faith, fun and fellowship, the group toured shrines and other popular sites, and enjoyed lunch at Spruce Street Harbor.
“This is the first time our office sponsored a pilgrimage for young adults. We wanted to host an event that could provide fellowship as well as something interesting and educational,” said Alexa Smith, assistant director of OYYAFM.
“There are so many great shrines to visit in Philly, and we thought a tour might be a good opportunity for young adults to get to know each other in a new setting.
“It’s a new outlet that we thought might interest young adults who aren’t already involved in young adult ministry.”
Churches the group visited were he National Shrine of St. John Neumann, Old St. Joseph’s Church, Old St. Mary’s Church, Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, and the National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia.
“It was a wonderful experience to spend the day touring the shrines of Philadelphia with young adults from our Diocese,” said Smith.
“Visiting historic churches and learning about the holy men and women they are dedicated to was a way to showcase the depth and richness of our Catholic faith, and it seemed like the young adults in attendance really valued this opportunity.
“It was also inspiring to see the passion in each of our tour guides as they shared stories from the lives of saints like St. John Neumann and St. Rita of Cascia. The pilgrimage was a great reminder that we are part of a universal Church with both a vibrant past and a hopeful future.”
Smith said the group included two Diocesan seminarians – Keaton Eidle and Aaron Scheidel – who met the young adults in Philadelphia and spent the whole day with them. Both attend St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia.
A few more seminarians joined the group briefly at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. Francesca Frias, assistant coordinator of OYYAFM, also made the pilgrimage.
Young adults sharing their thoughts on the day were Tina Tran, parishioner of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Whitehall; Sarah Bridge of Delaware, who heard about the trip from friends at her alma mater, DeSales University, Center Valley; and Peter Skrzypczak, of St. Ann, Emmaus.
“I had a wonderful and blessed time on the pilgrimage,” said Tran. “I enjoyed learning about the beautiful stories of the Church at each site we visited and admired the beauty of the churches themselves.”
“Seeing the different historical sites of faith was so powerful,” said Bridge. “Seeing the incorrupt body of St. John Neumann was truly a life-changing experience and I felt my faith deepen as soon as I walked in the church.
“Seeing these sites and participating in this pilgrimage with other young people reminded me that God is still very much alive in our community and will continue to be.”
“I really enjoyed the trip and just having the chance to be around like-minded Catholics,” said Skrzypczak.
“The Philadelphia pilgrimage was a great chance to slow down for a day and examine my relationship with God. I really would like to go on another one of these trips in the future.”
National Shrine of St. John Neumann is dedicated to the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia and the first American male to be canonized. The shrine is located in the lower church of St. Peter the Apostle at 1019 N. Fifth St. The main church was begun in 1843.
Adjoining the lower church is a small museum, which displays exhibits relating to the life of the saint. The shrine and church are under the care of the Redemptorists, the religious community of which St. John Neumann was a member.
Old St. Joseph’s Church was the first Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia, founded in 1733. It remains an active parish in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and is run by the Jesuit Fathers. It is located at 321 Willings Alley.
The church structure is uniquely sited and nearly impossible to see from the street. Eight Catholic dioceses trace their roots to Jesuit missionaries from Old St. Joseph’s.
Old St. Mary’s Church, founded in 1763, is located a block away from Old St. Joseph’s at 252 S. Fourth St. in the Society Hill neighborhood. Members of the Continental Congress and other public figures including George Washington and John Adams attended services on occasion at the church, which was the city’s most prominent Catholic Church at the time.
The second Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia, it was built as a Sunday church to be used by the parishioners of Old St. Joseph, and eventually became a parish in its own right. It was prominent in the life of the colonial and revolutionary Philadelphia, and was the site of the first public commemoration of the Declaration of Independence.
Old St. Mary’s became the first cathedral of the Philadelphia Archdiocese in 1810, and remained as such until 1838. It is still an active parish in the Archdiocese.
Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, the mother church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, opened in 1864 and is located at 18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The burial crypt under the main altar is the final resting place of most of the ordinaries of the Archdiocese, as well as other Bishops and clergymen of Philadelphia.
National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia is located at 1166 S. Broad St. in South Philadelphia. The shrine holds dear the values of St. Rita of Cascia: peacemaking, healing, forgiveness and reconciliation. It operates under the auspices of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova.
Spruce Street Harbor Park is an urban beach at Penn’s Landing. Open during the summer, it features a boardwalk along the Delaware River with a beachfront atmosphere, about 1,000 hammocks hanging under thousands of LED lights hung in the trees during the night, and multiple restaurants, pubs and bars.
