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The Feast of St. James the Apostle fell on Sunday this year, so the Church declared a Holy Year for just the great cathedral dedicated to him at Santiago de Compostella in Spain. The Church has been doing this for a long time. Entering the cathedral during a Holy Year could gain a pilgrim a special indulgence for the remission of all temporal punishment due to his sins.
So 50 pilgrims made the journey to Spain and other sacred places this past August to help save their souls. It was a pilgrimage and not a tour. We got up at 5am and did not get to bed before 10pm, but nobody complained, because you could see the graces flowing. God was with us.
We visited St. James de Compostella in Spain and walked through the Holy Doors in order to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence. Fr. Peter Katzaroff said Mass in the Cathedral.
We continued to Fatima to visit the sites of the Apparition of Our Lady, and in the evening joined the nightly Rosary Procession.
We visited Lisbon in Portugal, the birthplace of St. Anthony of Padua; yes, St Anthony of Padua was born in Lisbon, but he died in Padua.
On the way back we stopped to venerate the Eucharistic Miracle in Santarem also in Portugal. One of the couples on the pilgrimage were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and so Father blessed them in front of the Eucharistic Miracle. Truly a wonderful memory for them, as her husband had just became a Catholic a few months prior. What a gift for both of them!
We visited in Spain, Avila, the birthplace of St. Teresa, Segovia, where we had Holy Mass in front of the relics of St. John of the Cross, La Valle of Los Caidos and the Escorial outside Madrid, and then continued on to Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza where Father was able to said Mass.
We ended our beautiful pilgrimage with Our Lady at Lourdes in France before returning to the States.
Bishop Fellay has just announced a pilgrimage of reparation to Our Lady of Fatima for next August 2005 and so we will be going. Hope that you can join us! |
