‘Friars on Foot’ - New Orleans, La. to Memphis, Tenn.

(CNS photo)

Destination: For Dominican Fathers Francis Orozco and Thomas Schaefgen (shown in the illustration above), a 478-mile, one-month pilgrimage actually began May 29 after the 11 a.m. Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Church in New Orleans. The pilgrimage will end June 29 at St. Peter Church in Memphis, the National Shrine of St. Martin de Porres. For the rest of us, it will be a virtual journey on line.
Why to go: The idea of making a walking pilgrimage in the United States took root about four years ago when Dominican Fathers Francis Orozco and Thomas Schaefgen were studying together for the priesthood.
They saw the movie, “The Way,” featuring Martin Sheen, who portrayed a father honoring his late son’s memory by completing the 450-mile Camino de Santiago, the “Way of St. James,” a pilgrimage route across Spain taken for centuries by pilgrims.
“We had both studied abroad in Spain, but we thought, why don’t we do something more local, something in this country?” said Father Orozco, chaplain of the Catholic Student Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. “We looked up places, and there really weren’t any established pilgrimages in the U.S., so we said, ‘Let’s make up our own.’”
The friars will carry no money and hope others will join them for a few hours to pray or discuss the faith. They plan to stay overnight at churches along the way. Most will be Catholic, but in two Tennesee towns, they may stay at Protestant churches.
“We will have a pilgrim rule, and part of it will be to the pray the rosary and the Liturgy of the Hours every day, but that won’t take up the entire time,” Father Orozco said. “If there are people with us, we can talk about whatever they would like to talk about.”
Walking along interstate highways is prohibited, so the route will basically track Highway 51 north to Memphis.
(Grand) Kid friendly: Sure, they may even be able to help you follow the friars online.
Info: Twitter— @friarsonfoot
Facebook — Friars on Foot
Blog — https://friarsonfoot.wordpress.com/ 
— Compiled by Sharon Boehlefeld from CNS  information
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