At the dedication of a shrine to honor Blessed Stanley Rother, the first martyr from the U.S. recognized by the Catholic Church, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City said Father Rother was an ordinary man with deep faith, who charted a path anybody can follow.
In response to a desire from the Brooklyn and Queens faithful for more collaboration between diocesan deaneries and parishes, the diocese will launch a 40-day Lenten-season pilgrimage “where people can visit different parishes, experience the beauty of the church, the beauty of the community that’s there.”
Half of the Chapels of Light at Our Lady of Lourdes shrine were destroyed by a fire over the night of July 10–11. The fire was quickly brought under control, according to media reports.
After 10 years of systematic work, the Old City of Jerusalem is more accessible to the disabled and the elderly.
Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, custos of the Holy Land, asked Catholics around the world to make a virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land and make a real donation to support the church in the region.
Many Catholics dream of attending a religious pilgrimage because it is a way to be closer to God and experience a deeper spiritual meaning of their faith.
An international virtual pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Lourdes, France, will “affirm the power of prayer” against COVID-19, said the shrine’s vice rector. “Lourdes is all about spiritual and physical healing, and we’ve received 15,000 prayer petitions daily throughout the lockdown from around the world – for people about to die or fearing infection,” said Father Xavier d’Arodes de Peyriague, vice rector and head of international pastoral ministry.
Msgr. Perfecto Vazquez reflects on leading 48 Brooklyn and Queens residents on a pilgrimage to the shrines at Fatima, Portugal; Lourdes, France and Santiago de Compostela, Spain, over the summer.
This summer, I made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal along with eight of my brother seminarians and one priest faculty member from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie. We spent nine days – or just about 130 miles – on El Camino in Spain, walking the traditional Camino Frances route from Ponferrada to Santiago de Compostela.
What is a pilgrimage? Is there any benefit from going to one? What does one get out of it?
