When Tonya Bailey saw the Aug. 15 Catholic procession on Instagram staged by Unite Our Nation in Madison, Wisconsin, she was immediately touched and inspired to organize a similar event in Gainesville, Virginia.

“I wished I had been there,” Bailey told the American Catholic Tribune. “That was my first reaction. Then I wondered why can't we do that in Gainesville? I want to take it to the streets to just bless the whole city with Jesus' presence. Hopefully, people of all different backgrounds will join us because we should all be unified in prayer for peace. People shouldn’t be looking to violence for the answer.”

The Gainesville mother of nine contacted her parish priest and they began planning. As a result, a Eucharistic procession and benediction will take place at Holy Trinity Church on Sunday, Oct. 11.

“Just like the people in the world try to convince us that violence against a baby is the answer, they're trying to convince us that violence is the answer now and Jesus Christ never taught that,” Bailey said in an interview. “He said mercy and love are the answer.”

The Gainesville procession, which is set for 2 p.m. is among about 30 planned nationwide, including in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Oct. 4; Detroit on Oct. 31, Steubenville, Ohio, on Oct. 3; Little Rock on Oct. 17, and Atlanta on Nov. 7.

The procession will be open to the public but limited to the perimeter of Holy Trinity Church property at 8213 Linton Hall Road due to COVID-19, according to Bailey.

“There are a lot of restrictions now with COVID,” she said. "We don’t want to break the governor’s executive order of not having more than 250 people in one place.”

Although clergy will lead the procession, a patriotic rosary is also planned for all 50 states.

“The whole country needs to be praying more because we're in very difficult times,” Bailey said. “There's a lot of polarization in our country and several issues that are pertinent to us that are coming up with the election like the pro-life issue. We need to pray more about that. We need God's blessing on our country. We need to say this is wrong, people know that it's wrong and we're asking for mercy. In general, we just need more unity and peace.”

Unite Our Nation was formed to bring peace and prayer to local communities, and healing to the nation. For more details or to be involved as a participant, volunteer or organizer, visit Rosary Coast to Coast or Unite Our Nation.