www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Pilgrimages YOU have made

I regularly make pilgrimmages to a couple of lesser known sites right in my area. First, there's the miraculous Rosa Mystica statue that made front page news in Chicago in 1984. The statue is now in the Dominican Sisters Home at Rosary Hill at 9000 West 81st-St in Justice, a SW suburb of Chicago, and I also visit the grave of Mary Alice Quinn, who was investigated for Sainthood in the 1940's http://www.graveyards.com/IL/Cook/holysepulchre/quinn.html

I've been blessed to go to many shrines all over North America and in Europe and even to the Holy Land, but hearing about those that have a local monastery that they can visit as they will makes me wish I had one nearby as well.

God willing, I'll be visiting Our Lady of the Annunciation benedictine monastery in Oklahoma over the Summer. I've already visited their motherhouse in France, Fontgombault, so I feel a special connection to their foundation here in the US but have yet to visit them. I've also been to Christ in the Desert in New Mexico and to the Byzantine Catholic Holy Resurrection out in California and to St Andrew's also in California. I've been to others but these that I've mentioned have been the most memorable.

Because of my disability, my pilgrimages have been few and local:
Auriesville, NY Shrine of the Jesuit North American Martyrs
Belleville, IL Shrine of O.L of the Snows (I was baptized on that Feast Day, August 5th)
NY City Shrine of Saint Frances X. Cabrini
Philadelphia, PA Shrine of St. John Neumann, CSSR
St. Charles, MO Shrine of St. Philippine Duchesne
Emmitsburg, MD Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (on Nov. 1, 2001 I consecrated myself to St. Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer at his statue in the Basilica)
Philadelphia, PA Shrine of St. Katherine Drexel
Carthage, MO Shrine of Vietnamese Martyr-Saints
Albany, NY Basilica of O.L of Victory
Washington, DC Natl Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Dear Father Silouan,

Yes, I too have been to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. It is a magnificent edifice, absolutely magnificent! I also receive e-mail notices from them. I recommend that anyone visiting our nation's capital, try to find their way there--it is a bit out of the way, I will admit, but well worth the pilgrimage.

In Christ,
Alice

Indeed. I was still a United Methodist Pastor on those pilgrimages. We rarely referred to them as pilgrimages then but they were. I wept as several of the sites and made deeper commitments to Christ while at many. I suspect the pilgrimages were all part of my eventual conversion. Oh, how I hope to go again. I tried to set up a pilgrimage for this spring as a tour host but most who indicated an interest backed out for fear of the troubles there. Maybe we can do it again in 2008.

CDL

Humble request: If anyone plans on a visit to St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal this year, please private message me. Thank you!
Old monk Silouan

Father Bless!

I actually lived less than 5 minutes from "Our Lady of the Snows" in Belleville, IL. I believe living so close and having access to the Sacraments, priests, and the Gift Shop (no, really) brought about my metanoia (that and what I have already written.)

I've been to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis which has the most mosaics under one roof in the world:

http://www.cathedralstl.org/tourism/tour.html

The Shrine of St. Joseph in downtown St. Louis where the miracle that brought about the canonization of St. Peter Claver occurred:

http://www.shrineofstjoseph.org/

For our 1st Anniversary, my wife and I went to Ireland and eventually went to Knock, which was about 6 hours out of the way roundtrip. I also made a general confession there.

In 2000 I went to Rome for the Jubilee for doctors:

http://frblin.club.fr/fiamc/welcome.html

I spent a week and came close to not getting on the plane for the return trip. The highlight was seeing the relics at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in which the Title, some thorns, and one of the nails from the Crucifixion are kept, along with the crossbeam of St. Dismas. Another highlight was seeing the Holy Father, it was like Beatlemania! (Papalmania!!!)

Father Elias,

Synaxis Press has the Kiev Caves Paterikon on English:

http://www.new-ostrog.org/synaxis/

Dave

Glory to Jesus Christ!

As a young child I helped my dad and a lot of other people build and prepare the Shrine of Mariapoch in Burton Ohio. I still recall the first pilgrimage on the Feast of the Dormition. It was a wet weekend, and the grounds around the shrine where the faithful attended the liturgy was a sea of very deep mud. Still, the events of that weekend set the stage for many meaningful pilgrimages for years to come.

This year the Shrine celebrates the 52nd Anniversary of the opening. I pray that I will be able to again attend this year.

Deacon El

Under the heading of 'proper' pilgrimages, I can only list Kyiv and Lourdes, though I have visited a few small Orthodox monasteries as well.

Well, a year ago on Presidents' Day weekend my mother and I went to visit the National Shrine on my request, and after viewing the crypt, jumped in for the rest of the Holy Mass.

I've been to Rome three times, and on the first I got within 15 (literally!) feet or so of John Paul II on Good Friday 1999. I went again to the Vatican again in Spring of 2003, and again last May. Last May I attended the Sunday morning Angelus led by Benedict XVI.

Also, last May in Rome I made a special pilgrimage with my father to my patron saint's (St. Alexis the Man of God) church on top of the Aventine Hill. There I venerated him and beheld the steps of his parents' house under which he lived as a beggar for seventeen years! This ranks as my favorite of my rather limited pilgrimage experiences. But, hey, I'm only 20 and don't travel on my own dollar yet and so am beholden to my parents for most of my chances at pilgrimages.

I will, however, be living in Innsbruck, Austria for a little over a month this summer and so will plan to make some pilgrimages during that time for sure since I'll be in the center of Europe for a few weeks.

Logos - Alexis

Has anyone been to Litmanova, Slovakia? I recently read that they are trying to upgrade the facilities there.

I am hoping to go there this year while I'm in the area of Helcemanovce looking for relatives.

Fr Deacon Paul

I don't travel much, so I don't go to the exotic locations. However, a memorable pilgrimage was to the Virgin of the Poor Shrine near South Pittsburgh, TN. It is a replica of the shrine in Belgium. I do hope to visit the Mariapoch shrine in Ohio, perhaps during the summer.