Pentecost Pilgrimage: A Journey’s First Steps Toward Catholic Renewal

Two Routes in Kentucky Will Converge on a Historic Path to St. Joseph’s Basilica

In this article, a detailed narrative of the historical significance of the upcoming Great Novena Jubilee Year Pilgrimage is provided. In another article, we will explore the histories of the six designated pilgrimage churches in our Archdiocese of Louisville.

This year of 2025 marks the 240th anniversary of the Basil Hayden party who set up the first Catholic colony at Pottinger’s Creek, opening up the pathway to the West for our faithful ancestors.

Around twenty families would endeavor to make the journey together and band together against all odds. It was then discovered that this original destination around the present day Holy Cross church, the oldest site of worship in Kentucky, was poor farm land. In other words, someone in search of worldly wealth would not have stayed on this soil.

They would have separated from the other pioneer Catholic families and moved elsewhere, and by this isolation placed their faith in peril. A remarkable testament to these earliest Catholic settlers’ religion and morals is that they stayed.

Holy Cross Church of the First Catholic Settlement, Pottinger’s Creek

A photo of which I am unsure of the origin, discovered in my great-grandfather’s genealogy materials

It is also worth mentioning the inherent danger in embarking upon the pathway.

I recently discovered that one of my own forefathers on my mother’s side, a wise old man named Thomas Hill, was shot in the leg by an Indian while coming to our Commonwealth on a flatboat. Countless are tales like these among the roots of our own heritage, even if we don’t know it. Perhaps we are affected more than we realize by the deeds of our ancestors as if our hearts could be shaped by their courage or lack thereof.

The pioneer gentility still remains at a place such as Loretto Foodland, where one cannot collect their groceries without all passerby striking up conversation or interrogation. Kentuckians also have an immense appreciation for the little pleasures of life. Centuries ago, nothing was taken for granted during a time when life itself could be lost by the breath of a tomahawk breaking through the air.

I pause to recall a hardy priest like Fr. Nerinckx, who “crossed wilderness districts, swam rivers, [and] slept in the woods among the wild beasts,” as Archbishop Spalding described his heroism, “traversing all parts of Kentucky in the discharge of his laborious duties.” As he made himself “all to all, to gain all to Christ,” so too do we have an evangelical call that beckons us forth, that blazes a path through the wilderness—making straight the way—and summons us not only to share our faith but to grow in faith ourselves.

The Call

That is what I believe the Great Novena movement does well. Like our Catholic ancestors who would have withered away without unity, it invites us to reclaim a sense of community and solidarity. Spiritual shipwreck awaits us if we cease to gather together. Obvious to say, in these times, we live our lives often in isolation and suffer a loss of perseverance and hope.

No longer anxious about unexpected Indian attacks or worried about living off the land, new struggles and trials emerge, unique in their viciousness. While perhaps these pitfalls are not as immediately threatening in the physical sense, the tides of the world stand ready to collapse in upon us if we don’t stay above them.

We could make the voyage of life without a map, without tools for navigation, or we could firmly establish our sails to catch the wind of tradition. How blessed we are to have had such strong fathers and mothers of faith that their prayers still resoundingly ask the Holy Spirit to move among us once again.

This Saturday, a Northern Route beginning at the Cathedral of our Archdiocese of Louisville and the Shrine of St. Martin of Tours will travel down to the Holy Cross church previously mentioned.

With knobs in the distance, between shadowy trees, I imagine a car coming around the loop, in a circular movement as they move closer to this magnificent field of headstones. The 1823 church itself is quaint, exuding the humility of those who built it. It is surrounded by graves, many of which are unmarked. Crossing under the gate, one feels a sense that they step foot onto sacred ground. It is as if these ancient voices greet their visitor, encouraging and consoling them, admonishing them by the grit of their faith, and kindly asking them to pray for their souls.

With most of these Northern Route pilgrims coming from the bustling city of Louisville, these quiet graves are eager to welcome many who have never made a trip to this place.

To us on the Southern Route, familiar with these woods, we will also be excited to be united with this group of Northern pilgrims. But first, our own journey will begin at St. Helen’s in Glasgow, a noble church in its own right on the fringes of the Archdiocese. From which, we will then travel to St. Augustine’s in Lebanon.

May I quickly make mention of the symbolic significance of visiting these spiritual fortresses and homes. The Cathedral of the Assumption stands for the entrance of Mary into Heaven, reminding one also of the start of her journey, which was travelling to her cousin Elizabeth after learning that she would be the Mother of Jesus, and then later to Egypt to escape persecution. Likewise, our first Bishop, Benedict Joseph Flaget, lived through that terrible French Revolution before coming to Kentucky. Notably, he died 175 years ago this year. His body now rests underneath this Cathedral, a visible beacon of light that rises up amidst a city often beset with darkness and monuments of worldly enterprise.

St. Martin of Tours, as we detailed in a previous article, remained standing as bloodshed and a path of destruction knocked at its door on Bloody Monday. It is the Shrine of martyrdom in our Archdiocese, from those who died on that tragic day, such as Rev. Charles Joseph Boeswald, to being the resting place of two Roman martyrs from the c. 300s, Sts. Magnus and Bonosa.

These saintly bodies were sent away after the uneasy time of Italian unification in 1901, when it was suspected that relics like these could be discarded by the opponents of Catholicism.

St. Magnus. The other side altar houses the body of St. Bonosa.

Pope Leo XIII granted permission for St. Magnus and Bonosa to journey to the United States, where their new resting place would be at the Shrine of St. Martin of Tours.

St. Augustine is a name that is heard often today. That is because of Pope Leo XIV, who comes from the Augustinian order. The first pope from the United States, our new Holy Father is also an excellent communicator and missionary. These much needed skills, and the larger theme, will certainly not slip by the pilgrims who make this stop.

Lastly, while perhaps chosen as one of the six Jubilee Year pilgrimage sites because of its great distance away from the rest of the places, I don’t think it a stretch to say that St. Helen’s church is significant because her namesake, the mother of Emperor Constantine, is the patron of archeologists, due to her work in preserving the artifacts of the Holy Land.

This Pentecost Pilgrimage, and the mission of our Kentucky Catholics Historical Society, is to make our heritage come alive, inspiring the modern person to imitate some of the same heroism, learn from the faults and failures of our heroes, and revive the almost overwhelming sense of faith that has but a flimsy layer of dust upon it.

That is why, after pilgrims experience the wonder of each one of these holy grounds, all will then converge on the path to Holy Cross, just as those first brave men and women did over two centuries ago, and many generations since. It is the center and gem of our Kentucky Holy Land.

Taking time for lunch and enjoying the edification of a talk by Joseph Dube, a signature speaker of our Historical Society (watch a former talk of his here), one must be exhausted in their travels.

However, as a bold adventure nourishes the one who undertakes it, and faith resupplies as it grows, pilgrims will take their footsteps toward St. Joseph’s Proto-Cathedral. They will then get in their cars and drive toward Bardstown, passing many Catholic parishes along the way as well as uncountable lawn statues of the Blessed Virgin (it was once said that this small area contains the most of these in the entire world, as if such a thing could be recorded).

Passing through the Kentucky wilderness, a traveler would be able to spot the steeple of St. Joseph’s, towering in the distance above the trees. It was erected by Bishop Flaget to be the triumphant flame of his new Diocese of Bardstown.

Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore—Bardstown? What does the small town of Bardstown have to do with these metropolises? It was the cradle of the American Catholic Church in the West.

Photo of the author. At the old Flaget hospital across the street, now the library, I was born under the shadow of this steeple.

All of us pilgrims will approach this architectural masterpiece in awe. Gathered in front of the steps of this grand edifice, we will then enter for Mass, where we shall partake in the same Sacrifice our Catholic ancestors celebrate, that is, the Eternal Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As they were once called to spread the light of their faith across this Dark and Bloody Land, as were the first Christians at Pentecost, nearly 2,000 years ago, we are now called to do the same.

The Great Novena is a nine year movement leading up to the 2,000th anniversary of the first Pentecost in 2033. This Jubilee Year of 2025, a year of pilgrimage, a year of remembering and entering into the story of faith, of building upon the foundation dedicated by our ancestors, is only the beginning of the journey. And isn’t it already grand?

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To learn more about how to become a pilgrim and experience the joy of this Pentecost Pilgrimage, visit the Great Novena website. Let us know if you have any questions! Not able to attend these events? You can still participate in the movement. Click here for more details.