Thank you and may God Bless You!

MARCH

MONTH of

THE St. JOSEPH

ARCHIVES

Pilgrimage Testimonies 1998

WEST COAST PILGRIMS VISIT NATIONAL SHRINES in EAST COAST

In preparation for the Millennium 2000, a pilgrimage of parishioners from Las Vegas, Nevada and California in September 1998 journeyed to the National Shrines in the US.    This was a unique, spiritual opportunity as this was the first time that we are aware that a pilgrimage in our own country has been done from the West Coast.   Our journey began in Washington, D.C...We visited the Franciscan Monastery where within the church grounds they had replicas of the Holy Land.  They also had replicas of the Church of the Sepulchre (including the marble slab where Jesus was dressed and anointed after the Crucifixion), the Garden of Gesthsemane, etc.   Next, we went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Roman Catholic Basilica in the United States and one of the largest in the world. We celebrated our Millennium Mass with Most Reverend Daniel Walsh, our Bishop of Las Vegas, Father Walter Rossi, Director of Pilgrimages for the Basilica and Monsignor "Father" Ben. While in Washington, DC,  we were able to see such historical sites as the Arlington Cemetery, Vietnam and Korean Memorials, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the White House, etc. We continued by motor coach to St. Elizabeth Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg, Maryland while also taking in the St. Joseph's Fire Academy (formerly a catholic boarding school for boys)   where emergency personnel from all over the world come for training for 2 - 3 weeks.  Then we left for the Philadelphia area where we toured the Shrines of St. John Neumann, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, St. Rita de Cascia and to the Blessed Katharine Drexel Shrine. We continued onto New Jersey, to the Blue Army Fatima Shrine;  in New York, we toured St. Francis Cabrini School & Shrine, the Church of Notre Dame, Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes  where there is a replica of Our Blessed Mother standing in the grotto at Lourdes. Before departing the following day, we attended Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. All in all, daily Mass at the various shrines coupled with sightseeing in New York and Washington contributed to a truly spiritual experience in this Millennium Pilgrimage.

GO! GO! GO! To FATIMA !

Our Lady calls us there - all of us, whether by actual physical presence or through prayer. Those of us who were so fortunate as to see the "Capelhina", the Basilica, and all the other remarkable places that she or her angelic representatives touched, left Fatima changed forever. Mary's graces opened our hearts, our minds, and enlightened our souls with some of the spiritual gifts she so lavishly bestows on all of us, daily! Go to Fatima, fellow Catholics, through the daily rosary, wearing of the scapular, and most of all through prayer and forgiveness of those who revile and persecute you. Let Our Lady help you to stand firm in your faith, to carry her banner on high. Pray to her to be outstanding examples of Christ's teaching, seeking perfection in all things every day.

Mary asks for sacrifices, by real deprivation or living every moment of every day as Christlike as possible. For most of us, ordinary behavior can be lifted to saintly status by dedicating our day to Mary, and living each second as a perpetual prayer in honor of Mary and her beloved Son, Jesus - all with a smile and complete trust in His Word. It is impossible to have visited Fatima with an open heart and not be cheerfully and trustingly affected by its many graces. Those graces continue in our daily lives, and will continue until we are called to our heavenly home - that's Mary's promise to those of us who heed her call! And guess who will be waiting for us at heaven's gate when we leave this earthly realm - for those of us who have had her virtues imprinted in our lives - Mary of the Imma- culate Heart, Mary of the Mystical Rose, Mary of Fatima -- that's Mary's promise, too!