Making the pilgrimage to adoration

A pilgrimage is a personal journey where the primary reason for making it is to ultimately feel closer to God (even if we don’t know it at the time).  There are many amazing pilgrimage sites in the United States and throughout the world.  Places where you can see relics, beautiful works of art, the incorrupt bodies of saints, the places of miracles and apparitions of the saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Places of immense beauty and wonder.  They are worth the trip and the journey can be immensely transformative.  There is a place where you can go to get the closest to God that most of us on earth will ever be and it is probably close to your home. It’s one of the places that God is waiting for us but we overlook – adoration.  Many parishes offer adoration at designated times during the week and there are some that offer adoration 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  You can find where adoration is available near you here.  The site lists over 7185 locations for adoration by state.

I know that many people struggle with how to fit adoration into their day, especially if the times and locations for adoration in your area are limited.  Keep this in mind, you don’t have to go for a full hour.  It’s best to go for an hour if you can, but if you can only go for 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes or even 5 minutes it’s worth it.  If you can only walk in and say ‘hi’ to God then do it.  I can only make it for 15 or 20 minutes at a church that’s near where I work, but I try to go every week.  I can’t tell you what a difference its made in my life.

Don’t overlook adoration.  It’s probably the single best pilgrimage you can make.

Celebrate Feast Day of Mother Elizabeth Seaton by visiting the Bascilica & Shrine dedicated to her

If you’re in the Emmitsburg, Maryland area today make a pilgrimage to the Basilica and National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in honor of her feast day.   Her relics are in entombed in a small copper basket in the Altar of Relics.  At the Basilica you can visit St. Joseph’s Cemetary, where Mother Seton was originally buried, the Stone House where she founded the Sisters of Charity, the “White House” which was the first Mother House of the Sisters of Charity, and the Stone Legacy Garden which has 5 reflection areas for each decade of the rosary and walkways with quotes of scriptures and saints for your prayerful stroll.

 

A Prayer in Thanksgiving

A Prayer in Thanksgiving

Thank You, O God, for hearing my prayers and granting my requests.  Thank You for all the kindness You have shown me.

Thank You, O Father, for Your great love in giving me my life, for Your great patience in perserving me dispite my sinfulness, for Your protection in the past and for the opportunity to serve and honor You in the future.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for keeping me numberless times from sin and deth, by the toils of Your life, the sufferings of Your Passion, and by Your victorious Resurrection.

Thank You, Holy Spirit of God, for bestowing so many graces upon my soul and for having so frequently renewed Your life within me.

May my life, from now on, be a sign of my gratefulness.  Amen.

A Little Chapel in Chicago

I was in Chicago this week and stumbled on a Catholic bookstore. It was cold & rainy there and I couldn’t get to one of the churches. I went in to the bookstore and while I was looking around I was surprised and delighted to find a little chapel nestled into a corner of the store. I peeked in and saw the tabernacle and a sanctuary lamp that was lit! I spent some much needed time there in prayer and left with my spirit revived. God is everywhere, nestled in corners that you don’t expect. Seek and ye shall find.

Sites to visit for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and the entire month of October is dedicated to her honor. Many shrines and holy sites have areas dedicated to the Rosary including Rosary ways, Rosary ponds, and Rosary courts.

Shrine of St. Therese, Juneau, AK – Rosary trail, and walking labyrinth similar to the one in Chartres, France

Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Chicago, IL – 200 acre outdoor shrine is the largest in the country including a rosary court

 

Marian Shrine (National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians), Westhaverstraw, NY – Outdoor rosary way includes 15 life sized marble statues

National Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, North Jackson, OH – Rosary stairs

Servants of Mary Center for Peace & Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Windsor, OH – 50 foot statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe overlooks a lake surrounded by a 15 decade illuminated rosary

House of Mary Shrine, Yankton, SD – Rosary pond and a Rosary way

Please comment below if you have any sites to share.

What is the Rosary?  The Rosary is the story of the New Testament.  Through the beads we follow the life of Mary and Jesus.  We follow Mary from the day the Archangel Gabriel came to ask her to become the Mother of Christ, to the day she was crowned Queen of Heaven.  We follow Jesus from the moment the Holy Spirit came down on Mary, through his childhood, his cruel death on the cross, the joy of Easter when he rose from the dead, to the day he ascended to heaven in glory. [From Crown of Thorns, England]

Resources for praying the Rosary:

• There are several Rosary apps available for both Android and iPhone, many of which are free.  There are even some geared towards children.
• Father Peyton’s Rosary Prayer Book is a helpful guide to meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.

Through the Holy Rosary:

• Sinners are forgiven
• Souls that thirst are refreshed
• Those who are fettered shall have their bonds broken
• Those who weep will find happiness
• Those who are tempted find peace
• The pooor find help
• The religious are reformed
• Those who are ignorant are instructed
• The living learn to overcome pride
• The dead (the Holy Souls) have their pain eased by suffrages

Our Lady said to Blessed Alan de la Rocha, “I want people to have a devotion to my Rosary to have my son’s grace and blessing during their lifetime and at their death, and after their death I want them to be freed from all slavery so that they will be like kings wearing crowns and with scepters in their hands and enjoying eternal glory”
[From The Secret of the Rosary by St Louis de Montfort]

Our Lady’s 15 promises for praying the Rosary:

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary
3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies
4. It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities; and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things.  Oh that souls would sanctify themselves by this means
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish
6. Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life
7. Whoever shall hae a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacrements of the Church
8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; as the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary
10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary
12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for their intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of their death
14. All that recite the rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ
15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination

 

Honor the Feast of St Francis of Assisi by visiting an outdoor shrine

Today is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi who is known, among many other things, for preaching to the birds and other animals.  A perfect way to honor St. Francis is to spend some time in prayer outdoors with the animals.  You can visit one of the many pilgrimage sites listed below that have outdoor grottos, stations of the cross, rosary ways or other outdoor places for prayer and meditation.  If you can’t make it to one of these, visit the outdoor areas of your local church or sit outside and spend some time in prayer.  Watch the squirrels playing, notice the butterflies and dragonflies and birds and remember the holiness of St. Francis.

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

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Ave Maria Grotto, Cullman AL – Outdoor grottos              

Shrine of St. Therese, Juneau, AK – Outdoor stations of the cross, rosary & grotto trail, walking labyrinth similar to the one in Chartres, France
 
Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, St. Augustine, FL – Outdoor stations of the cross

Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Chicago, IL – 200 acre outdoor shrine is the largest in the country. It has several gardens, an outdoor stations of the cross, and rosary court           

The Grotto of the Redemtion, West Bend IA  – Largest grotto in the world  

Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, Auriesville, NY – Outdoor way of the cross leads to the top of the hill where Father Jogues and Brother Groupil prayed during their captivity  

Marian Shrine (National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians), Westhaverstraw, NY – Outdoor rosary way includes 15 life sized marble statues   

Sorrowful Mother Shrine, Bellevue, OH -  Over 30 grottos   

Holy Cross Immaculata Church, Cincinnati, OH – “Pray the steps” – famous 96 steps that pilgrims pray as they ascend each step leading to the top of the hill   

National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, Euclid, OH – Oldest known replica of the grotto at Lourdes  

National Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, North Jackson, OH – Rosary stairs

Servants of Mary Center for Peace & Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Windsor, OH – 50 foot statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe overlooks a lake surrounded by a 15 decade illuminated rosary 

House of Mary Shrine, Yankton, SD – Outdoor stations of the cross winds up Calvary Hill, a Rosary Pond, and a Rosary Way   

Franciscan Monastery (Holy Land of the Americas), Washington, DC – Replicas of shrines and grottos of the Holy Land

The Movie “The Way” Brings Walking Pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago to the Big Screen

 

Emilio Estevez has written a produced a movie about a father whose son dies on the The Camino de Santiago de Compostela (The Way of St. James). The father, played by Martin Sheen (whose stage surname was taken in honor of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen) takes his sons ashes and completes the walking pilgrimage in his honor. It’s about his journey and those of the pilgrims he encounters.

The Way comes to theaters on October 7. Check the movie website for a theater near you.

 

 

The Way Movie Trailer

Pilgrims have been walking the Camino de Santiago for more than 1000 years. The Way of St James is a large network of ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe and ending at the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela in northwesternSpainat the tomb of St. James. The most popular route is the Camino Francés, nearly 500 miles long, from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port near Biarritz in Fance to Santiago in Spain and generally takes several weeks to complete. The terrain is not arduous and can be undertaken at most age levels.

For more information about the Camino de Santiago including pictures, maps, advice from those who have undertaken the pilgrimage and resources for planning your own, check out these websites.

Confraternity of St.James http://www.csj.org.uk/

Pilgrimage to Santiago http://www.caminodesantiago.me/

The Camino Frances http://www.caminosantiagocompostela.com/