A swarm of preschool and kindergarten students from Assumption School rode their bicycles around the Ansonia Armory parking lot. Parents quickly grabbed their phones to take photos and videos.
Then the happy crowd sent off Rev. James Sullivan on a 300-mile trek to raise money to renovate the school’s third floor.
“I got a pretty good night’s sleep, a decent breakfast, a lot of good people supporting me and my legs feel very refreshed,” Sullivan said Wednesday (June 1) morning before setting off.
Sullivan is riding his Cannondale bicycle from Assumption Church to Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, Canada — and before 1 p.m. Wednesday had already reached Lourdes Shrine in Litchfield, where he met five other people that will ride with him to the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
“I should be at the Shrine of Divine Mercy by 4:30,” he said. “I will be celebrating mass and preaching there tonight.”
Check out the map below to follow Sullivan’s progress live.
Updates will also be posted on ourfathersride.com and Facebook.
Kathleen Molner, the principal of Assumption School, said Sullivan’s journey is just his latest act in helping to breathe new life into the school.
“In these days and age many Catholic schools are closing — whether it be economic changes or demographic changes — but when Father Sullivan came here he brought with him a lot of hope for this school,” Molner said.
Teachers, firefighters, and policemen greeted Sullivan and wished him a safe trip. Mayor David Cassetti thanked Sullivan for his work around the community.
“He’s great for our community and that’s what we need, the togetherness in our community,” Cassetti said.
After Sullivan led a prayer to the dozens of people in attendance, he thanked everyone for their support — including his mother Phyllis, 84, who was on hand with a bicycle she rode from Connecticut to Montreal 68 years ago.
“She made the ride at 17 years old, before there was GPS,” he said.
Torin Bourke, the church’s Seminarian, will follow Sullivan in a car filled with water, Gatorade, tools and extra bicycle tires.
Sullivan will be carrying written prayers given to him by parishioners and students. He said he will be praying all throughout his bike ride with those prayers in mind. They will also be placed at the altar in every mass he celebrates throughout the trek.
“I have about 1,000 prayer intentions here,” he said. “While I’m riding the bike I love to pray. When I get to Montreal I will bury their prayers in St. Joseph’s Oratory where many miracles have happened.”