Quincy University students and members of QU Campus Ministry traveled from Brush Creek, Missouri to Quincy, Illinois on foot. The occasion for the trip was a pilgrimage to commemorate the life of the Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, the first Black priest in America. The pilgrimage started at Saint Peter’s Church, in the area where Father Tolton was born. Father Daren Zehnle showed the pilgrims the cemetery behind the church. There was a section where slaves were buried that were unmarked once upon a time. According to Father Zehnle, the burial spots are marked now thanks to geophysical locating method called Ground Penetrating Radar.

Father Tolton escaped from slavery, crossing the Mississippi River into Quincy, Illinois. The pilgrimage traced the steps Father Tolton had taken in his escape to freedom. The pilgrimage was a 35–mile walk spanning two days.

“I am here because I wanted to grow closer in my faith and I thought it would just be fun to do,” Annie O’Dear, freshman, said. “I expect to grow closer to God, make new friends and enjoy the company.”

Along the pilgrimage, a truck with water and supplies was parked as a checkpoint for every mile. Sometimes, the people on the pilgrimage walked three miles before reaching the checkpoint. Some of the wandering wayfarers also wore safety vests to let oncoming traffic know there were people walking on the road.

For the night, the pilgrims set up camp near the Mark Twain Caves. Members of Campus Ministry brought their own tents and sleeping bags.

“We had to plan out, like, how far we were going to walk, the breaks, and all the money we had to get to pay for food and stuff,” Hunter Hildebrand, freshman, said. “It was a lot of, just like figuring out how we’re going to do this and like, how far we’re going to walk before we take a break. We had to reserve the church and we had to reserve a campground so we have a place to stay. It was just more like, just figuring out to make sure that people would be safe and be able to enjoy the trip and not get hurt.”

The pilgrimage to commemorate Father Augustus Tolton concluded at the Saint Peter’s Cemetery in Quincy. The pilgrimage ended with a Mass service at the cemetery and then supper at the Maya restaurant. Father Zehnle said the pilgrimage was more about learning, getting in touch with with friends, the saints, and God, not as an exercise, but as a challenge, to strengthen one’s faith.