Seminarians participate in pilgrimage to Czestochowa shrine

John Peter Zappe and Lucas Folan, seminarians of Paterson Diocese, participated in the 37th annual walking pilgrimage from Aug. 8 to 11 from the Great Meadows neighborhood of Warren Township to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pa.

The four-day, 57.5-mile-long pilgrimage concluded with Holy Mass celebrated at the shrine by Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami.

Zappe, who had made the pilgrimage in 2023, was asked this year by Folan to walk with him and his group. It was Folan’s first time participating in the walk.

Folan, who is studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, heard about the walk previously. Father Mariusz Koch, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, who had been Folan’s spiritual director at the seminary, has been involved with the pilgrimage for years.

“He had spoken about what a great experience it is, and he suggested to many people that they do it,” Folan said.

Folan served this summer at Holy Spirit Parish in Pequannock, until the first week of August.

“I was blessed this past year to go to Poland and visit the actual shrine to Our Lady of Czestochowa. It just seemed like the timing worked out to have that connection as well,” Folan said.

Zappe, of Green Township, had walked the Camino de Santiago in France previously with friends.

“The walk to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa was like the Camino, but much easier, much closer to home, and a not as long time commitment,” Zappe said.

Folan, Zappe, and those who walked with them were challenged by the summer heat and rain, especially on the first two days.

“Whether it is rainy or sunny, there is no way out of the challenge of the weather. You go into it with that expectation that you are exposing yourself to nature and the world,” said Folan, of Parsippany.

Zappe, who studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary in South Orange, said, “When you finish the pilgrimage, you can see the shrine at a distance. We were all singing songs like the Ave Maria. Then, when we arrive Our Lady of Czestochowa, Father Mariusz and Archbishop Thomas Wenski greeted us and give us a blessing.”

The duo then proceeded to the statues of St John Paul II and Our Lady of Czestochowa, thanking in prayer both for their safe pilgrimage. Then they entered the main church there for Mass.

“That is always a beautiful experience,” Zappe said.