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Updated: On ‘The Journey’ pilgrimage, youth learn about roots of Catholic faith in Southern Maryland

(This article has been updated with video links and more details about the event and participants.)

The buzzing of cicadas and a few colorful glints of dragonflies and butterflies – remnants of summer – could be seen and heard on St. Clement’s Island State Park during “The Journey” youth pilgrimage. 

The Catholic youth who attended the event on Sept. 24 in St. Mary's County, Maryland, were greeted with beautiful and breezy weather as they learned about the early beginnings of Catholicism in the English colonies.

The Southern Maryland Roots Youth Group, located in Chaptico, Maryland, organized "The Journey" High School Pilgrimage on St. Clement's Island, using the slogan, “Why did they come...” The high school students were ferried to the island for the first rendition of this pilgrimage.

The day-long event began with registration at the St. Clement's Island Museum grounds and ended with a rap performance. The activities included a “Nun Run” scavenger hunt, a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, a living rosary and keynote speakers. Students could also receive the sacrament of Confession from one of the many priests in attendance.

Youth and adults participating in “The Journey” pilgrimage in Southern Maryland on Sept. 24 arrive on St. Clement’s Island. (CS photo/Javier Diaz)
Catholic youth participating in “The Journey” pilgrimage to St. Clement’s Island on Sept. 24 to learn about the roots of the Catholic faith in Maryland pose for a photo with a member of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará religious order. (CS photo/Javier Diaz)

The site was significant to the event because the high school students learned about Maryland's first colonists from England who came ashore on the island in 1634, and on that site, Jesuit Father Andrew White celebrated the first recorded Catholic Mass in the English colonies.

The island, located in the Potomac River off the coast of Colton's Point, now contains a replica of the Blackstone Lighthouse as well as a 40-foot cement cross erected in 1934.

Cardinal Gregory arrives at St. Clement's Island in Southern Maryland for “The Journey” Catholic youth pilgrimage on Sept. 24, 2022, which was held where the first recorded Catholic Mass in the English colonies was celebrated in 1634. (CS photo/Javier Diaz)

Theresa Friess, who serves as a youth minister for Catholic parishes in Southern Maryland, said it took about three years to coordinate the day, even through the pandemic. Inspiration first struck her while at a 2019 youth conference in Florida.

“That’s when the Holy Spirit hit me, I was amongst 5,000 other youth ministers and religious that believe in the same thing I do, and to be with them like that, in prayer and singing, it just hit me that, wow, we need to do something like that here on St. Clement’s Island where the first landing happened, where the first Mass happened,” Friess said.

According to Friess, it was important to her to have the event focus on high schoolers.

“These kids really suffer today, and God is the missing piece,” Friess said. “We have to show our kids that God comes first, and so when opportunities like this come along, you never know when the Holy Spirit” is going to inspire youth, she said.

She said there is already talk of trying to organize another pilgrimage for next year, however, the cost is a concern.

In the photos above and below, Cardinal Gregory prepares to process to the altar for the Sept. 24, 2022 Mass on St. Clement’s Island that was the centerpiece of that day’s pilgrimage for Catholic youth to the site where the first recorded Mass in the English-speaking colonies was celebrated in 1634. Behind him is the 40-foot cement  cross erected on the island in 1934 to commemorate Maryland’s 300th anniversary. (CS photos/Javier Diaz)

Concelebrating the midday Mass with Cardinal Gregory beneath a tent were Father Ryan Pineda, the pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Newtowne; Father Sam Plummer, the pastor of St. Mary’s of Piscataway Parish in Clinton; Father Larry Swink, the pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in St. Mary’s City and St. Peter Claver Parish in St. Inigoes; Jesuit Father Thomas Clifford, the pastor of St. Ignatius Parish in Chapel Point; Father Stephen Wyble, the pastor of Holy Angels Parish in Avenue and Sacred Heart Parish in Bushwood; and Father Charles Cortinovis, the cardinal’s priest secretary.

During his homily, Cardinal Gregory stressed the important role of Mary in the Church. 

“In this place, where the Church landed centuries ago, we continue to call upon this special woman who is ever attentive to her children, and like every wonderful mother, she always answers each one with love,” Cardinal Gregory said. “We come to this island knowing that the Church landed here, and it brought with it the mother of us all, and she has remained and followed us because she is our mother.”

A statue of Mary was placed at the base of the 40-foot cross on St. Clement’s Island during “The Journey” youth pilgrimage on Sept. 24, 2022. In his homily at the Mass that day on the island, Cardinal Gregory stressed the important role that Mary played for Maryland’s first Catholic colonists and continues to play for today’s faithful. (CS photo/Javier Diaz)

The reading was from the Gospel of Luke, about the Annunciation.

“Quite simply, we are her children, we are those for whom her firstborn freely gave His own life, we are those who recognize her unique place within the Church and at the head of all women,” Cardinal Gregory said. 

The choir from St. Mary’s Ryken High School in Leonardtown sang at the Mass, including freshmen Emma McDonald and Joseph Dibonabenturo.

Emma McDonald and Joseph Dibonabenturo, freshmen from St. Mary’s Ryken High School in Leonardtown sang during the Mass at St. Clement’s Island on Sept. 24 for “The Journey” Catholic youth pilgrimage. (CS photo/Javier Diaz)

This Mass was McDonald’s first time hearing the cardinal give a homily.

“I thought it was really inspiring in a way, the Blessed Virgin Mary has always been a symbol to look up to, so I think personally that it was really inspiring and empowering to hear things good said about her,” McDonald said. 

McDonald initially did not know what to expect from the pilgrimage, but her interest in history had her excited from the start. 

“I thought [the island] was really amazing, where the first Catholic Mass in the English colonies [was celebrated], so I thought was really amazing, I love history,” McDonald said. “I think it’s really cool I had the opportunity to sing here.”

Dibonabenturo noted that Maryland was in the English colonies, not to be confused with St. Augustine, Florida, founded by Spanish settlers decades prior. For Dibonabenturo, this was the second time he has sung for a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Gregory.

“I really liked singing and the boat ride, I’m kind of a nerd about maritime history and design so actually riding and understanding everything, as I’m riding, was pretty cool,” Dibonabenturo said of his favorite parts of the day. 

The cardinal was presented with a framed image of the island after Communion. According to Friess, this was a thank-you gift. The cardinal was also asked to bless items such as prayer cards and rosaries that were given to archdiocesan seminarians and women religious in the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará order.

In the photos above and below, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory gives Communion to youth and blesses them during a Sept. 24, 2022 Mass at St. Clement’s Island in Southern Maryland that was part of “The Journey” youth pilgrimage. (CS photos/Javier Diaz)

Father Wyble, the pastor of Holy Angels and Sacred Heart parishes who assists as one of the chaplains of the Southern Maryland Roots Youth Group, said, “[This event helps us] remember who we are, where we came from, what Catholicism is all about, what our Lord died for in order to give us, which is his Church and all its sacraments that are precious to the world, certainly to us.”

Sister Maria Theotokos, a member of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará order, was one of the keynote speakers after lunch. Sister Theotokos recently graduated with a doctorate in Church history from The Catholic University of America. 

Sister Maria Theotokos, a member of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará religious order, was one of the keynote speakers at “The Journey” Catholic youth pilgrimage at St. Clement’s Island in Southern Maryland on Sept. 24, 2022. She looked at the religious conditions in England that helped spur the journey for those pioneer English colonists to Maryland. (CS photo/Javier Diaz)

As an answer to the event’s slogan “Why did they come…” she spoke on the history of Catholicism in England and the schism between Anglicans and Catholics in the 1500s as King Henry VIII was recognized by Parliament as the “Supreme Head of the Church of England.” Her focus was on Catholic figures St. Thomas More and St. Henry Morse. 

Although born a Protestant, Morse converted to Catholicism at 19. He spent four years in prison in England shortly after his conversion, charged with committing treason. While in prison, Morse began his novitiate with the help of a fellow prisoner who was a Jesuit priest. While Father Andrew White went to the United States, Morse stayed behind.

“Henry Morse, who stayed in England, 10 years later he offered his life for the ultimate sacrifice and was a martyr, so it’s kind of beautiful, right? That Andrew White came here, leaving behind him someone who said, ‘I’ll stay with the underground church and I’ll die for it,’” Sister Theotokos said.

 St. Henry Morse was hung, drawn, and quartered in Tyburn in 1645. 

“So those who came, the journey, why did they come? They came because they loved the Mass, they came because they loved the priests who gave them the mercy of God through Confession, they came because they loved the rosary, they came because they loved Our Lady, they came because they were proud and grateful to be called to the fullness of the Catholic Church,” Sister Theotokos said.

She said that in England, there were two options for death as Catholics, “either by blood or the spiritual death of just giving up on the sacraments, just give up on grace and on Our Lady, it’s another kind of death but it’s not a life-giving death.”

Pictured above are Millie Huseman and Theresa Friess. Friess organized "The Journey" Catholic Youth Pilgrimage at St. Clement's Island in Southern Maryland on Sept. 24, 2022. She was inspired to coordinate the event after attending a youth conference in 2019. Huseman served as the media liaison for the event. (CS photo/Javier Diaz)

 Millie Huseman, a local historian who served as the media liaison for The Journey pilgrimage, said she knows nearly everyone in the area either because she grew up there and later raised her daughter there, or because she’s related to them. Her 10th great grandfather, Thomas Gerard, helped to finance the expedition of the Ark and Dove ships to St. Clement’s Island. Her ninth great grandfather, Dr. Thomas Gerard, owned St. Clement’s Island and was the first lord of Saint Clement’s Manor. The state of Maryland owns the island now.

For 22 years, Huseman was a pilgrimage and tour coordinator for historic St. Clement’s Island and the Mother of Light Shrine that she and her husband built at Coltons Point. She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, so they donated the shrine to the Archdiocese of Washington and it was moved to “Mary’s Garden” at Immaculate Conception Church in Mechanicsville, Maryland.

Now, she is almost four years clear from cancer and she serves as a chaplain with the Seventh District Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary and is a lifelong parishioner of Holy Angels Church  in Avenue.

“We pray for religious vocations and assist and pray for priests. Seeing those students today gives me hope that there will be many religious vocations, and the Catholic faith will continue to flourish as it has since the arrival of Father Andrew White, S.J.  and the colonists in 1634 on historic St. Clement’s Island,” Huseman said.

Huseman said it was important for her to see priests and women and men religious participating in the pilgrimage.

“The thing that was so beautiful to me was when I saw the sisters there, and the priests, and the seminarians, because I have said to [Friess] before, and I’ve said to other people, we have to keep them visually in front of us, so that they are role models, they need role models, the students,” Huseman said. 

Sisters from the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará religious community join local youth at the outdoor, midday Mass celebrated by Washington Cardinal on St. Clement's Island on Sept. 24 as part of “The Journey” youth pilgrimage. (CS photo/Javier Diaz)

As the tide turned low and the sun began to come down, the event ended with a concert by Joe Melendrez and his DJ Staël Dantes back on the mainland near the museum. 

Melendrez is a singer and rapper from Los Angeles who flew in to perform and MC for the pilgrimage. He is a Catholic performer who claims his mission is to make the faith “real and relatable.”

“A pilgrimage of faith is one thing, but to come out and to journey out here and learn about the roots of the faith on the ground we’re standing on is something very special,” Melendrez said. 

He was invited to perform by Friess, who met him at the Youth Ministers Conference in 2019.

“God has a calling for each and every one of us, and it’s in moments like this that we can encounter Christ, but also learn what assignments and missions God has for us as followers of Christ, and so my goal, I always say, (is) let’s set God up for the alley-oop so we can slam dunk it,” Melendrez said. 

This was Melendrez’s first time attending a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Gregory.

“You can catch God vibes from people real quick, and I knew from his first words this is going to be a special man, and his homily on the Virgin Mary was beautiful, relatable,” Melendrez said.

Cardinal Gregory blesses the congregation during Mass on Sept. 24, 2022 on St. Clement’s Island in Southern Maryland for “The Journey” pilgrimage for Catholic youth. In the photo below, a youth prays during the Mass. (CS photos/Javier Diaz)

Melendrez attends St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Los Angeles, along with his wife and two children. 

“I rap about Jesus, I’ve been doing music from my new album ‘Praiseship,’ which is a combination of ‘praise’ and ‘worship’ but it’s to invite people to praise in new ways,” Melendrez said. 

His first album, “Rosary Rap,” came out in 2008 while he was volunteering with retreats and youth groups.   

“My youth minister invited me to teach the kids how to pray the rosary, she’s like, ‘Why don’t you do like a rosary rap?’ and I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ So I was just open to it, and I started writing this rosary rap, and I taught the kids how to pray the rosary to a rhythm,” Melendrez said. 

When Melendrez was still a teenager, the same youth minister urged him to create a complete album after the composition of the rosary track. When he was 22 years old, the album was officially released.

His “God swagg apparel” includes, but is not limited to, a plethora of shirts, sweatshirts, and caps with crosses and words like “Blessed” and “Come Holy Spirit,” as well as an image of Jesus with the question “Who’s Your Daddy?” beneath it. His company’s slogan is “rep (represent) what you believe.”

“It’s my goal to make faith a lifestyle, from the music you listen to, to the clothes you wear, to how you act, and how you share Christ, so clothes is just one small component that can add to the lifestyle,” Melendrez said.

“That ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ shirt, I saw someone wearing that at Coachella, you know? It’s something you can wear out on a daily basis,” Melendrez said. “My biggest thing is, it starts a conversation, and any opportunity to start a conversation about Jesus is a great opportunity.”

Afterward in an email,  Theresa Friess, the event’s coordinator, noted that many people worked behind the scenes, some meeting regularly for three years, to plan the gathering. She said supporting groups and individuals included the Roots Youth group families, local parish priests and political leaders, the Department of Natural Resources, the St. Clement’s Museum, the St. Clement’s Hundred group that promotes knowledge of the area’s history, the Seventh District Optimist Club, the Knights of Columbus, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department, Maryland State Police, the Seventh District Fire Department, the Seventh District Rescue Squad, and the event’s sponsors.

“Without them, this event would not have been possible,” Friess said. “I am truly grateful to God for placing these people on this particular path to journey with me to offer such an extraordinary opportunity making it possible for our youth to encounter Christ in a special way.”

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