Days before the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption, hundreds walked from St. Adalbert Church in Philadelphia to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, joining more than 3,000 fellow pilgrims from New Jersey.

(Related: Read our full coverage of the pilgrimage, including an interview with Marian scholar Father Marek Chmielewski, and watch a video of the pilgrims as they journeyed to the shrine.)

Now in its 18th year, the three-day trek is a beloved, prayerful tradition that organizers are hoping to expand in the coming decades.

(All photos by Gina Christian and Sarah Webb.)