Physically tired but spiritually uplifted, the Fatima pilgrims gathered for the closing Mass of their journey at Assumption Church in New Haven on Oct. 13 — fittingly, the 100th anniversary of the sixth and final apparition of our Blessed Mother in Fatima, Portugal.

They were the same individuals who set out five days prior from Immaculate Conception Church in Augusta, with a significant difference. Whereas they began the pilgrimage as strangers, they emerged as family.

"It's like you're disciples," said Don Brinker, a St. John the Baptist "Gildehaus" parishioner in nearby Villa Ridge. "You just bond together, with the same common goal — to get close to the Lord."

That mission was accomplished step-by-step, with achy muscles and blisters upon blisters, as the Fatima pilgrims covered 45 miles over four days, from Augusta to Starkenburg, about 40 miles along the Katy Trail, and another five to hike to the churches that served as stopping points along the journey. After Immaculate Conception, the pilgrims visited St. Vincent in Dutzow, St. Ignatius in Marthasville, St. Anthony's Shrine near Case and Our Lady of Sorrows in Starkenburg.

Then, in a nod to the Blessed Mother being assumed into heaven, the pilgrims got a lift to Assumption in New Haven, about a 30-minute drive east of Starkenburg.

The walking portion of the pilgrimage — Augusta to Starkenburg — might take an hour by car on Highway 94, but hiking the distance brought the group closer to each other and to God.

"It only started a few days ago, but we did so much between now and then," said Father Tim Foy, the parochial administrator at St. John the Baptist and pilgrimage organizer, after the final Mass.

A secularist in our go-go culture might say the pilgrims didn't do much of anything for the entire week; just hiking from point-to-point. Yet, in that simple act, they accomplished so much.

"It was beautiful," said pilgrim Gloria del Rosario, who offered the walk for the Apostolate of Spiritual Motherhood for the Sanctification of Priests in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Del Rosario and others took a week vacation to make the trip.

"There's no better way to spend it than with the Lord," del Rosario said.

Brandee Smoot definitely felt His presence.

"I came in looking for Christ, and I felt He was there all along seeking me out," she said.

The Real Presence was celebrated each day with a Mass. The group prayed countless Rosaries and sang hymns. Father Foy gave pilgrims spiritual guidance when asked and even "tried to teach us a little Polish," Brinker, the St. John the Baptist parishioner, said with a laugh.

A pilgrimage in Poland, 60 miles over six days from Kraków to the Shrine of Our Lady of Tuchów, inspired Father Foy to organize the Fatima Pilgrimage on the Katy Trail. With host families providing overnight accommodations, the pilgrims traveled light, carrying only what they needed in sustenance and clothing — jackets, rain gear, etc. — typical things with which a hiker would travel. Food was limited to protein bars, crackers and cans of tuna.

The weather cooperated — "incredibly providential," Father Foy said — with temperatures in the 60s, overcast skies and a few drops of rain, even though a forecast for one of the days called for four hours of thunderstorms in the area. "I think we got three drops," said Father Foy, who described the pilgrimage as "tremendous. I feel spiritually rejuvenated. ... It felt like a family vacation."

Father Foy offered prayer intentions for the late Father David Walter and the late Father Tim Bannes, his predecessor at Gildehaus. Pilgrim Marianne Hayden added prayer intentions she received over social media in response to short videos about the pilgrimage each day. One related to the wild fires in California.

She said, "We got ashes on our car; keep us in your prayers,'" said Hayden, adding that people submitting prayer intentions "knew their prayers are being prayed for, being heard from earth to heaven; they're not alone."