Annual Three Hearts Pilgrimage seeks to unite families, pray for country

(OSV News) -- Six years ago, Marcus Robinson and a few other dads organized a short pilgrimage for their sons. The boys loved it so much that they did the same pilgrimage the following year, and the year after that, inviting more and more people each year.

"Many of the pilgrims say it's the highlight of their year and that they really want to come back and participate," Robinson told OSV News. He said the first year they did it, in October 2020, about 500 people responded to the invitation to join them and pray for the country in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is one of those things that people talk about for the rest of their lives," he said.

This year, the now annual Three Hearts Pilgrimage plans to welcome 3,000 participants for the 35-mile, three-day pilgrimage through rural Oklahoma to Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Hulbert.

Named to honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Immaculate Heart of Mary, and most chaste heart of St. Joseph, the Three Hearts Pilgrimage seeks to foster family relationships while praying for the country.

"We focus on the family and that's what the pilgrimage is for," Robinson said. "We are walking in defense of the traditional family as well as the sanctity of life."

This year's event is scheduled to begin Oct. 9, with a rally at the Illinois River in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, for pilgrims to come together in comradery, hear a talk and camp out overnight. The pilgrimage is set to begin next morning, with a planned midday stop for Mass outdoors and lunch.

That night, Oct. 10, Eucharistic adoration takes place while pilgrims camp outside. The pilgrimage then continues to Clear Creek Abbey for a pontifical Mass followed by a BBQ lunch Oct. 11.

"Seeing the joy and the beauty that comes from the pilgrims doing this together with one another is my favorite part of every year," Robinson said. "You see fathers connecting with their sons and mothers with their daughters. They are all doing something very difficult, but they have a profound sense of spirituality and accomplishment."

Over the years, Robinson said, he has seen how the pilgrimage has become a powerful opportunity for families to come together to participate in a meaningful bonding experience.

"These days, families do not really do many meaningful things together in American society," Robinson said. "We get lost in television or video games or sports during the week and oftentimes do not take the time to really engage with reality and prayer."

He said, "Going on this pilgrimage as a family draws them together and allows them to feel close as a family."

The pilgrimage has become an annual tradition for many families, as both kids and parents alike look forward to traveling to Oklahoma to see friends from past years as they walk together.

"Part of what draws everybody back is seeing the familiar faces and experiencing that bond and that community of being with one another once a year," Robinson said. "I think it is a big draw for the families and the communities as a whole."

Families and individuals travel from across the country to participate in the pilgrimage and even from other countries, showing the appeal and desire among Catholics to participate in pilgrimages.

"There's a big appeal to human nature to be engaged in reality and sacrifice," Robinson said. "Offering up something to God, getting away from the world and the digital chaos that's around us, reengaging the family, reengaging the friends, the community, being a part of a larger Catholic community and realizing that there's many like minded folks from all over the country that want to participate in something like this."

Robinson said he hopes that over the next 10 years, more and more Catholic high schools and colleges will send their own groups to the pilgrimage.

"The future lies in the youth," Robinson said. "The more participation we get from young adults, the better."