FSSP pilgrimage, Mass photos

A priest and a dozen seminarians from the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) led their annual U.S. pilgrimage with supporters last week from Barnesville, Maryland, to Washington, D.C. The nearly-60 mile walk along the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal was organized "to atone for our sins and the sins of our nation; to implore God to convert our hearts and our country; and to pray for mercy for ourselves and for America in that day when we will all stand before the Awesome Judge from whom nothing is hidden."

Georgetown; Washington, D.C.

The annual march began over a decade ago under the leadership of Father James Buckley, who will be retiring as the spiritual director and professor at the FSSP's seminary in Denton, Nebraska, after many years of dedicated, faithful service to the Church. For the second year in a row, Father David Franco, ordained last year, offered the Masses during the three-day pilgrimage, including the concluding Solemn High Mass in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception's crypt in Washington, D.C. Attendance reached a record high for the annual pilgrimage Mass, filling the pews of the crypt, as a local schola chanted the propers and a choir sang a polyphonic ordinary and motets.

The next day, the seminarians assisted in the sanctuary for a Missa Cantata at Saint Mary, Mother of God church in the Chinatown section of Washington, D.C. Later that Sunday, they sang vespers at Saint Thomas the Apostle church in the Woodley Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

The following photos are from among those taken/arranged by a seminarian on the pilgrimage, used with his permission:

Missa Cantata at Saint Mary's in Barnesville, Maryland

Beginning the walk after Mass.

Low Mass at a campsite in Maryland.

Walking along the C&O Canal.

At Potomac Falls.

In the heart of Georgetown; Washington, D.C.

En route to the basilica shrine in D.C.

Approaching the basilica shrine in D.C.

Solemn High Mass at the basilica shrine in D.C., assisted by Fr. James Bradley as deacon and Msgr. Charles Pope as subdeacon.

Solemn High Mass, with Gregorian chant propers and a Lassus polyphonic ordinary.

The recessional of the Solemn High Mass in the basilica shrine's crypt, concluding the pilgrimage.