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Young adults from around the Diocese of Scranton participate in a Rosary Hike at Lackawanna State Park on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2026. <\/p>\nYoung adults from around the Diocese of Scranton participate in a Rosary Hike at Lackawanna State Park on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2026. <\/p>\n
NORTH ABINGTON TWP\u2013 As the Catholic Church entered the \u2018Season of Creation\u2019 at the beginning of September, a group of young adults from across the Diocese of Scranton found a simple way to celebrate the beauty of God\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Sept. 4, 2026, the Diocesan Office for Parish Life hosted its second annual Young Adult Rosary Hike at Lackawanna State Park, bringing together seven dozen people from communities stretching from Conyngham and Drums to Meshoppen and Scranton.<\/p>\n
The group followed the Turkey Hill Trail and part of the Abington Trail on a 2.7-mile hike, pausing along the way to pray the Rosary.<\/p>\n
Bridget Maille, Program Coordinator for Family Life in the Diocesan Office for Parish Life, said combining prayer with the outdoors was intentional.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing that we work with young adults, we want them to start engaging their faith in the things that they do on a regular basis,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cA hike is a really good way to gather and come together in community, but also to unite what you love to do with your faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
After holding a similar Rosary Hike last year at Rickett\u2019s Glen State Park, organizers decided to switch up locations and had a whole new group of people sign up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe response has been very, very positive,\u201d Maille said. \u201cEverybody is meeting new people; they\u2019re smiling and having a good time. It is also a gorgeous day \u2013 praise God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Participants say the Rosary Hike was an enjoyable afternoon that brought them closer to God.<\/p>\n
Tristan Cole of Holy Name of Mary Parish in Montrose said being surrounded by nature helped him recognize God\u2019s presence in a tangible way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very good for us to see the gifts that He\u2019s given us firsthand,\u201d he said. \u201cSitting in prayer is very important, but getting out here in nature is very helpful. It definitely helps us connect with God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ava Rockey, a Misericordia University student from New Jersey, only started praying the Rosary last year and heard about the event through an email.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel so connected to God with nature,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s how I can feel that presence. It can be a quiet time of reflective prayer for me too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hike offered Rockey more than an opportunity to pray. She also made new friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was beautiful. I had some great conversations with some new people and I\u2019m really excited about those connections,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Matthias Mooris of Saint Michael Parish in Scranton also appreciated the opportunity to meet other young Catholics.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegardless of your age, you should be connecting to people with common values,\u201d Mooris said. \u201cNature, for me, has always been one of the best places to get your mind straight and get right with God. You\u2019re looking around and how could you not think about God, especially out here in these beautiful woods.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Young adults from around the Diocese of Scranton participate in a Rosary Hike at Lackawanna State Park on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-288539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}