More than 400 people filled their hearts and souls, the pews of two churches, a prayer box of intentions, and the sidewalks of Lancaster Avenue and the Radnor Trail along the Main Line on Sept. 25 – all to further the cause for sainthood of Augustinian priest whose life’s journey touched countless residents of the Philadelphia region.
The fourth Father Bill Atkinson Pilgrimage, organized by the service corps that bears his name, included dozens of adults with disabilities who shared a spectacular ability for faith, love, energy and passion for Father Bill.
A 1963 graduate of Msgr. Bonner High School, Father Bill Atkinson became a quadriplegic after a tobogganing accident in 1965. Despite his injury, he went on to become the first quadriplegic Catholic priest and taught at his alma mater for 30 years before his death in 2006. His legacy continues to inspire prayers for his intercession from Heaven.
“I was in a coma after my motorcycle accident for a month,” said Cole Keith, a member of the Father Bill Atkinson Service Corps.
“My mom would pray to Father Bill every day, and he made a miracle keeping me alive when I was in a coma.”
Lily Walker, who is battling brain cancer, prayed at Father Bill’s crypt before the opening prayer service at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, the starting point of the pilgrimage.
“This pilgrimage is very important to me, and I’m glad to see so many prayerful people join together in faith and hope,” said a tearful Walker. Members of the service corps inspire her, “and working with them provides me with joy and gratitude,” she said.
Walker offers a prayer through Father Bill every day at 11:15 a.m.
“His enormous amount of patience and obedience to God’s will is something I am trying to mirror in my journey through cancer,” Walker said. “I have shared my devotion to Father Bill through schools and churches in the hope of their prayers to heal me from this nasty brain tumor. I know in my heart that I will be kept safe due to prayer and faith.”
That faith was expressed deeply in poignant requests from across the United States for miracles of divine healing, all placed inside a prayer box blessed by Augustinian Father Rob Hagan, the prior provincial of his order’s Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, before the four-mile walk began.
A tricycle-riding member of the service corps led the pilgrimage and carried the prayer box alongside pilgrims ranging from Malvern Preparatory School students to other Augustinians.
They carried signs, downed water, chanted “Pray for us!,” high-fived at trail checkpoints, and honored a man whose inspiration was remembered on the trail and far away.
“The one thing that he taught me from all my years as his student at Bonner and his brother Augustinian was the attitude of gratitude. He said thank you for everything that people did for him and with him,” said Augustinian Father Joseph Farrell, the Drexel Hill native who lifted the pilgrimage up from Vatican City where he is now the prior general, or leader, of the Augustinian order worldwide.
“It’s a lesson that I try to continue with my life now, being grateful for when people are there helping me.”
Even those who never met Father Bill felt moved by his story and the poem, “The Strength of Others.”
“We heard his story. It’s enough to bring us here,” said Laura Clark, who walked with her husband Ken and pushed their two young children in strollers on the journey.
“A lot of adversity through his life, but he just really never stopped believing,” Ken Clark said. “(He) kept the faith.”
“I love being a part of the Father Bill Atkinson Service Corps, and Father Bill is at the heart of our group,” said Molly Dagit, one of the pilgrims proudly clad in red T-shirts along the course.
“I really liked what Father Rob said at the service today, about how Father Bill was knocked down, but he kept getting back up again. All of us have obstacles in life. Some of them are big. Some of them are small. And we have to get through them. With the faith that we have in God and with the help from Father Bill, we have the strength to be able to get through life’s obstacles.”
Exhaustion and sweat-filled shirts were the main obstacles people endured when arriving at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Wayne at the end of the trail. A full church gathered for pizza and prayers of thanksgiving for storms that held off, a pilgrimage well done, and petitions for a friend whose cause of sainthood continues to grow.
“God, we gather together for one purpose,” said Augustinian Father Bill Gabriel.
“Through the intercession of Servant of God Father Bill Atkinson, O.S.A., grant that we may love what You command, and long for what You promise. Fix our hearts on the place where true joy is found: You.”
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