Go Forth

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is not a holiday. It is a holy journey. You walk toward a sacred place, you pray, you offer the hardship.

A great book to prepare your heart for a pilgrimage is Fr. Clinton Sensat, By a Different Way. For a guided pilgrimage: 206 Tours with Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC.

Caminos

Pack a backpack. Grab your walking shoes. A pilgrim’s stick. Tie the traditional symbol of a shell to your backpack, and get walking. Carry little. Sleep in pilgrim lodging. Typically inexpensive. These roads are well marked and can be done without a tour.

• Camino de Santiago Spain · the Way of St. James to the tomb of the Apostle in Compostela. Start closer if you need to, and walk with a pilgrim credential.
• Via di Francesco The southern way, about two weeks on foot from Rome to the tomb of St. Francis in Assisi.
• Via Francigena The old road to the tomb of St. Peter. Canterbury to Rome on foot, through France, Switzerland, and Italy.
• Camino Ignaciano Spain · the walk St. Ignatius of Loyola made in 1522, from Loyola to Manresa.
• Paris to Chartres The Pentecost pilgrimage of Notre-Dame de Chrétienté. Three days on foot from Notre-Dame de Paris to Chartres Cathedral.
• Santuario de Chimayó New Mexico · often called the Lourdes of America. A walking pilgrimage in Holy Week, and a shrine year-round.
• Kumano Kodo, Japan Japan’s ancient pilgrimage paths, twinned with the Camino de Santiago. Walked as a camino, with modest lodging along the way.

Shrines

These are the great holy places. Most are reached by travel, not a long walk. Go as a pilgrim, not a tourist.

• Lourdes France · Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858. The grotto, the baths, and the sick.
• Sainte-Baume · St. Mary Magdalene France · the cave of St. Mary Magdalene in Provence. Tradition says she lived here in prayer. Relics nearby at Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume.
• Fátima Portugal · Our Lady of the Rosary, 1917. Pray the Rosary. Do penance.
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Mexico City · the tilma of St. Juan Diego. The most visited Marian shrine in the world.
• The Holy Land Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth. The Franciscan Custody keeps the holy places of Our Lord’s life.
• Einsiedeln Abbey Switzerland · Our Lady of Einsiedeln. Benedictine abbey and the bells on this app.
• Mariazell Austria · Magna Mater Austriae. The Marian shrine hiked during Franciscan’s Austria Summer Experience.

Retreats

Leave the home for a while to gather with others in community, to learn more and go deeper into the faith.

• Austria Summer Experience Franciscan University of Steubenville · Kartause Maria Thronus Iesu, Gaming, Austria. Three weeks of class, Mass, hikes, and community in a restored Carthusian monastery. Open to ages 16 and up. Highly recommended.
• Community of Jesus Crucified St. Martinville, Louisiana · Diocese of Lafayette. Retreats, spiritual formation, and adoration. Our Lady of Sorrows retreat center.
• Be Healed · Dr. Bob Schuchts John Paul II Healing Center, Tallahassee, Florida. Dr. Schuchts is a Catholic psychologist and the author of Be Healed.
• Enders Island St. Edmund’s Retreat, Mystic, Connecticut. A Catholic island for retreats, days of recollection, and sacred art.
• Sisters of Life New York area · Villa Maria Guadalupe Retreat Center, Stamford, Connecticut. Weekend retreats with the Sisters: Mass, adoration, confession, and silence.
• Your local parish Missions, days of reflection, and other gatherings. Ask the parish office.