The spiritual leader of New Hampshire's Roman Catholics will lead a statewide pilgrimage to Berlin Thursday to celebrate a city, a saint and a culture of faith that produced at least a tenth of the active priests in the diocese.

At least 1,200 pilgrims will converge on St. Anne Church on the Feast of St. Anne, the storied church's namesake in what church officials call the first statewide pilgrimage in memory.

Manchester Bishop Peter A. Libasci will lead the faithful in a day-long celebration of prayer to increase the number of men entering the priesthood and to express gratitude for the hundreds of priests, brothers and nuns whom the city already sent out to serve the church through the generations.

“It kind of grew out of the bishop's desire to want to do a pilgrimage in honor of St. Anne, but also to recognize the city of Berlin itself and its contributions to the church and the Diocese of Manchester,” explained the Rev. Jason Y. Jalbert, himself a native son of the Berlin.

“Almost 10 percent of the active priests in the diocese right now are from Berlin and there are so many more who are retired,” Jalbert said. The Diocese of Manchester encompasses the entire state.

In addition, the North Country city of about 10,000 has produced countless ordained women and men who entered religious orders.

The Pilgrimage for Vocations also will include tours of the region's natural beauty and historic sites, a Mass at St. Anne Church, the Romanesque-style brick church that was dedicated in 1901 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The faithful will pray for St. Anne to intercede on their behalf not only to increase the number of people entering vocations — or people entering ordained religious life — but also for their own needs and the church.

“We're expecting miracles. So it's for people to bring their own needs to St. Anne,” Jalbert said of the popular saint venerated as the grandmother of Jesus and mother of Mary.

After an afternoon Mass, Libasci will lead the gathering on a procession displaying the Eucharist through the city.

James and Linda Poirier, both retired teachers from Derry, will be attending the pilgrimage with their three children and six grandchildren.

“We're pilgrims. We're going to my hometown,” James Poirier, 65, a native of Berlin, said in a recent telephone interview.

The journey holds a special significance for the Poiriers, not only because they are returning to the city they lived in shortly after they married 42 years ago, but their son, Stephen, was accepted into the seminary this month.

“You can't help but feel you are in God's country when you are there,” James Poirier said.

His wife, Linda, also 65, sees the pilgrimage as an opportunity to unite.

“Bishop Libasci is just so sensitive, aware and really, really in tune to looking at the huge picture of bringing in the flock and the faithful back to the church,” she said.

At least seven buses have been chartered to carry pilgrims to the event, which also will feature guided tours of the church, a barbecue lunch, an organ concert, and walking tours of the Northern Forest Heritage Park along the Androscoggin River.

“Most pilgrimages are to Lourdes or to Rome or Fatima. Not everyone can afford one of those pilgrimages,” Jalbert said. “This is something your average person can do and it's not going to cost a lot of money.”

The bishop invites anyone to join him on the pilgrimage. See www.catholicnh.org for more information.