Sacred Heart pilgrims complete 3-day, 133-mile walk to three parishes

To say that four faithful men worked hard to gain plenary indulgences during the waning days of the Jubilee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus would be an understatement.

These four men, supported by their families and others, covered 133 miles in three days while walking in shifts to visit three of the four churches in the diocese designated by Bishop Earl Fernandes for plenary indulgences.

Starting Thursday morning, June 12, after daily Mass at Cardington Sacred Hearts Church, the men, accompanied for stretches by some of the children in their large families, walked along backroads and highways throughout the day and overnight to reach Coshocton Sacred Heart Church early Friday morning for Mass. They continued on to Columbus Sacred Heart Church after receiving a blessing from Sacred Heart pastor Father Tom Gardner, reaching their final destination several hours before the 4 p.m. Vigil Mass on Saturday, June 14.

Along the way, these hearty pilgrims stopped to pray, rest and refuel at Mount Vernon St.  Vincent de Paul Church and Newark St. Francis de Sales Church, where they spent time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at both parishes and considered that time a special grace.

One member of the group made a brief visit to Newark Blessed Sacrament Church, and the men spent Friday night resting and praying at Granville St. Edward the Confessor Church before embarking on the final leg of their journey to Columbus.  

Visitors to diocesan churches named for the Sacred Heart of Jesus were able to gain a plenary indulgence during the Jubilee Year, which started Dec. 27, 2023 and ended June 27, 2025, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, by praying for the pope’s intentions, reciting the Litany of the Sacred Heart, going to confession and receiving the Eucharist within a reasonable time of the visit. A plenary indulgence removes all temporal punishment related to sin for the person fulfilling those conditions. 

The Jubilee in the worldwide Catholic Church spanned three years celebrating the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in France in 1673, 1674 and 1675. During those three years, Jesus requested the nine First Fridays devotion to make reparation to His Eucharistic Heart.

The four men making the diocesan Sacred Heart pilgrimage are members of the Crucifers, a lay organization they formed for Catholic men and boys intended to challenge each other to grow in faith and to provide opportunities for fathers to encourage their sons to live a holy life.

Kurtis Kiesel, 45, a father of 10 whose family attends Cardington Sacred Hearts Church and Columbus St. Leo the Great Oratory, described the intent of the walking pilgrimage as twofold.   

“Obviously, the primary reason is to gain the indulgences that our bishop has granted us,” he said before the start of the three-day marathon. “We’re taking advantage of this opening of the treasury of grace by the Church to be able to release souls from Purgatory.”

The second virtue associated with the pilgrimage, he explained, was prowess or strength. 

“This was sort of like a challenge,” Kiesel said. “We could drive to Sacred Heart in Coshocton from here (Cardington Sacred Hearts) if we wanted to, but walking is a lot more virtuous. So we offer those penances up for other people in the diocese who’ve given us some prayer requests.”

Kiesel and companions – Chad Hamberg, 46, a member of St. Leo Oratory and the father of seven; Patrick Foley, 31, who attends Columbus Holy Family Church and is the father of seven; and Jason Yoakam, 34, a member of Old St. Mary’s Church in Cincinnati – came up with the pilgrimage idea about a year ago.

When the day finally arrived to turn the pilgrimage into a reality, they received a blessing after Mass before setting out on foot along Route 42 from Father Ed Shikina, pastor at Cardington Sacred Hearts and Marion St. Mary churches.

The group members knew before the start of the walk that they would encounter some difficulties.   

“You know, obviously, that this is something that’s going to hurt,” Kiesel said. “Maybe we’ll be saying this is kind of crazy. By the time we get to St. Edward on Friday night, we’ll probably be like, ‘What were we thinking?’

“But it’s a chance for us to not necessarily prove our strength but to do something that’s manly and difficult, and also it’ll help promote the Sacred Heart ministry at the same time.”

It goes without saying that the walkers were more than pleased to reach the end of the line on Saturday afternoon at Columbus Sacred Heart Church, where the tired but resilient men talked and rested before the beginning of the Vigil Mass.

“We want to get our indulgence for the day,” Kiesel said while waiting for a wedding that was taking place in the church to end.

Reflecting on the arduous trip, the men talked about blisters, cramping, soreness and the challenges presented to them.

One of the men shared that, not even 20 miles into the pilgrimage on Thursday, he was already tired, likely because of the heat and humidity.

One hilly stretch was expected to be a particular challenge, but walkers were able to get through what they expected to be an eight-hour leg of the trip in three to four hours.

Walking through the night didn’t bother them. In fact, they welcomed the cooler temperatures. On Thursday evening, the walkers ran out of water but survived due to the cooler conditions. 

The pilgrims used lights at night not only to see where they were going but to be seen on the roads. 

Passing through miles of farmland, the walkers carried flags representing the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They found it surprising that Amish horses would go to the other side of the road because the animals were afraid of the flags.

On Friday, the pilgrims arrived at Coshocton Sacred Heart at 4:45 a.m., when Kiesel stretched out a sleeping bag outside the church and waited for the others to arrive before the 9 a.m. Friday Mass.

The longest stretch that any of the walkers finished before being relieved was 19 miles. Some of the beautiful moments that stood out to them in addition to adoration and prayer were watching the sunrise, hearing the chirping and deer rustling, witnessing the countryside and enjoying the serenity.

Walking in mostly rural settings, there weren’t many opportunities to evangelize. But passers-by did honk or show approval with thumbs-up gestures. Only one driver, they said, felt compelled to angrily honk at them. 

“But it’s always great when someone asks you, ‘Can I get a prayer request?’ Kiesel said.

And pray they did. Each of them prayed multiple rosaries (up to 25) for special intentions. 

They prayed not only for their families and personal intentions but for specific requests that came into the group’s website.

And they prayed for the dead at eight to 10 cemeteries along the route.

“That was powerful,” Kiesel said.

The four finishers said immediately after the walk that it was too early to think about making future pilgrimages. 

“I think to some degree it gives you time to reflect,” Kiesel said. “It gives you time to really pray and, when you get there (to each destination) it seems like there’s a special connection.”

There’s also the penitential act that comes from exerting the body to go beyond what’s comfortable.

“It’s really hard to be attached to venial sin when you’re trying to walk all day,” Kiesel said.

In addition to the indulgences the men sought to receive, they hope the graces from their pilgrimage will bear good fruit in their souls.

“We’ll be able to see the face of God in our problems,” Kiesel said. “That’s a great blessing to have. And it’ll be a more unified and a stronger relationship with our Lord.

“I don’t speak for everybody, but I think your devotion to the Sacred Heart probably will be increased a little bit too and we’ll think about it more often with First Fridays and First Saturday. 

“I think that it’ll probably allow them to reflect a little bit more on their own relationship with God. And it’ll be like, ‘Well, if they do that, I can certainly go to church a little more frequently. I could put in a little more effort.”

As Hamberg considered the pain he was feeling from blisters, his wife reminded him that “Jesus was basically filleted and scourged.”

“Pat and I were talking when I was feeling the sharpness from blisters, but when you think about Jesus being scourged, it was almost like the pain went away,” Hamberg said. “I laughed a little bit and said, ‘This is really good.’ It’s a small sacrifice to pay for the graces you receive.”