American Catholics kicked off the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in St. Augustine, Florida, over the Memorial Day weekend. In the days since, pilgrims from numerous dioceses have joined the procession — the theme of which is "one nation under God" — along its roughly 2,000-mile route, which threads most of the original 13 colonies.
The procession, which began just days after the similarly themed multidenominational Rededicate 250 event at the National Mall, will ultimately conclude over the 4th of July weekend in Philadelphia, where pilgrims will honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The "perpetual pilgrims" will also carry the Eucharist — which Catholics hold to be the real and substantial presence of Jesus Christ — through the national capital on Saturday.
'We ask God to bless the United States.'
"This procession is both an act of faith and a prayer for the country: that amid division and uncertainty, Americans remember that human dignity, freedom, and unity are rooted in something greater than politics or ideology," said Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress, in a statement obtained by Blaze News.
Fr. Charles Trullols, director of the Catholic Institute Center, which has partnered with the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, will receive the consecrated host at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Alexandria on Friday evening. He will then begin this leg of the pilgrimage and carry the Blessed Sacrament through the night, blessing Virginia and the District of Columbia along the way.
The procession will resume on Saturday morning and weave through the streets of Washington — stopping at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, then ending at "America's Catholic Church," the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for Mass.
Pilgrims will be led on Saturday by the Metropolitan D.C. Police.
"It is a great joy to bring the Body of Christ to the streets of our nation’s capital," said Fr. Trullols, whose organization has held Eucharistic processions in the national capital annually since 2023, in a statement obtained by Blaze News.
"A Eucharistic procession is a public expression of our devotion and belief in the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This year’s procession is especially meaningful to me, as Pope Leo XIV leads a Eucharistic procession this weekend in my home country of Spain, which historically suppressed Eucharistic processions in the 1930s."
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"As we approach America’s 250th birthday, we join the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in remembering and giving thanks for being One Nation Under God," continued Fr. Trullols. "We ask God to bless the United States and pray that hearts be set aflame with love for [the Eucharist,] the Source and Summit of the Christian life."
The pilgrimage has been placed under the patronage of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American citizen to be canonized as a saint.
Cabrini, the youngest of 13 children, was a nun who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Italy to take care of poor kids in schools and hospitals. She continued this mission in the United States, founding 67 institutions, including orphanages and hospitals. Years after becoming a citizen, she succumbed to complications from dysentery at one of her hospitals in Chicago.
Next week, as part of the broader religious celebrations coinciding with honors paid to America on her 250th birthday, U.S. Catholic bishops plan to consecrate the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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As the results trickled in for candidate Spencer Pratt, he projected confidence that not only did he already beat out Nithya Raman to make the runoff against incumbent Karen Bass — but he’s also confident Bass will be an easy opponent.
“Spencer Pratt is kind of already assuming he’s into this runoff,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere says, before playing a clip of Pratt talking to reporters before the results were all in.
“Are you going to debate Karen Bass again?” a reporter asked Pratt. “And what do you want to tell her if she sees this?”
“You know, I loved debating her on NBC. I look forward to a couple more on NBC and Fox. We can do debates every Friday if she would like because this actually became my most favorite thing to do,” Pratt responded.
“I hope she’s ready, because I literally could not be more excited,” he added.
“It is usually a good thing for a politician, Dave, to debate the dumbest people around them. So I think Spencer Pratt is in a good position here,” Stu says.
"It has helped a lot of people in the past. So I think it’s a very good idea,” co-host Dave Landau agrees, though he adds, “unfortunately, in California, I’m not sure if it’s going to help.”
“Yeah, it’s still going to be tough in Los Angeles for Spencer Pratt to win because when you have a situation where it’s two Democrats and one Republican, their votes get kind of split up,” Stu says.
“When you go the opposite way, and you have one Republican versus one Democrat, it’s very difficult to win in a city like this, especially in an election time that’s probably going to be pretty difficult for Republicans generally,” he continues.
“Pratt though is looking at this positively, Dave. He’s trying to take a positive spin on what is to come here in the next few months,” he adds.
In an interview following the latest election results, Pratt exclaimed that “obviously God wanted five more months” of him “exposing all the failures of our mayor.”
“So it’s going to be a fun ride. I hope she’s ready,” he said, adding that he was “born for this.”
“As far as debates go and going up against her and just trying to show track record,” Dave comments, “he’s got it in the bag.”
“As far as the, you know, votes that come in the bag in the middle of the night, those are the ones that I’d have to worry about,” he adds.
To enjoy more of Stu and Dave's lethal blend of wit, humor, and insightful commentary subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
The Supreme Court of the United States has shut down the National Football League’s attempt to keep a major lawsuit hidden behind closed-door arbitration — which began when Brian Flores interviewed for a head coach job with the Broncos.
“This is a bizarre story — has been going on for years and years and years and years,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere comments on “Stu and Dave Do America.”
Flores' lawsuit alleges that Broncos officials did not take him seriously as a candidate for the job because he’s African-American, as they showed up hung over and an hour late to interview him.
However, the Broncos released a statement that Flores’ allegations were not true and that he was a serious candidate.
“Now, what’s interesting about this is the reason why the background of all this is what’s called the Rooney Rule. Basically, it was an idea a while ago. They said there weren’t enough African-American coaches, and they said, ‘Hey, well, one way we can do that is force teams to interview African-American candidates for every job,’” Stu explains.
“The way they measure this and the way the complaint is sort of formed is, well, about 60%, let’s say, of the league's players are African-Americans. So therefore, they say 60% of the coaches should be African-Americans,” he continues.
Stu points out that despite the statistics, there are wildly different skill sets used in each position.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed this at all, but Andy Reid has a different build than, let’s say, [DK] Metcalf,” he says.
“It’s one of those things where you don’t need to be an incredible athlete to be a coach. So all of us whiteys go into coaching,” he adds.
Not only do the positions require different skill sets, but African-Americans are only 11% of the American population.
“They’re hiring to the best jobs available — the players — at seven times the representation of the population. That does not strike me as racist,” Stu says.
“I think they’re picking on merit because they want money and they want the best players on the field, and the best players typically wind up being African-American for whatever reason,” he adds.
To enjoy more of Stu and Dave's lethal blend of wit, humor, and insightful commentary subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Ferrari is preparing to launch its first fully electric vehicle — a luxury EV reportedly priced around $640,000 — but BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere believes the legendary automaker may be making a costly mistake.
The car was designed in part by former Apple designer Jony Ive and named after the Italian word for “light,” but it lacks the signature style and soul that made Ferrari famous.
“There’s certain things that happen when you’re watching one of these big product reveals where you don’t need to necessarily have the market dynamics to know immediately, like, this is just not going to work. It looks terrible,” Stu says.
“It doesn’t look like a Ferrari. It looks like they kind of tried to meld some tech device with kind of ... an American muscle car ... but of course without the cool engine,” he continues.
“It is designed by the guy who designed the iPhone,” co-host Dave Landau points out, adding that “it is a tech device.”
“These companies need to understand, you don’t have to be everything to everybody. You can just be an awesome Italian car company with great engines, and you’ve lived that way for a very long time. You don’t have to please the EV market. Let another company do that,” Stu says.
“You’re ruining the thing that people want,” Dave agrees, adding, “and then you’re just putting this electric in there, and people don’t want it.”
To enjoy more of Stu and Dave's lethal blend of wit, humor, and insightful commentary subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Ridgway did not want the challenging lifelong responsibility of taking care of his own flesh and blood. But he will do that for his dog.
A-list, relevant celebrities should be falling over themselves to perform at this event.
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