Spiritual Pilgrimage to Fatima, Lourdes, Shrines of Paris, and Lisieux

SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGEMarian Shrines (October 31 - November 11, 2011)Learn more about the Minis t ry of Pi lgr imagespi lgr imcenterofhope.org | 1 .210.521.3377

Join us on a Spiritual Pilgrimage through prayer with Father Dennis Aréchiga, pastor of St. Matthew Catholic Church in San Antonio; Mary Jane Fox, Co-Director of the Pilgrim Center of Hope; Paul Vance, Co-Group Leader; along with fifty-five pilgrims from the San Antonio area, Austin, and Montana. The family and friends of all those traveling on this pilgrimage will be offered in prayer during daily Mass on this Journey with Mary. Please pray for the pilgrims, as well as your own intentions and those of the Church.

The Pilgrimage which started from Abraham and is extended throughout the centuries is a sign of a vaster and universal movement of humankind—the human person, a traveler thirsty for new horizons, hungry for justice and peace, searching for truth, longing for love, open to the absolute and the infinite. Pilgrimages also lead to the tent of meeting with the Church, “assembly of those who care called together by the Word of God to form the People of God.” –John Paul II (The Pilgrimage in the Great Jubilee)

Holy Mary, Mother of God. …Show us Jesus. Lead us to Him. Teach us to know and love Him, so that we too can become capable of true love and be fountains of living water in the midst of a thirsting world. –Pope Benedict XVI (Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est)

October 31 –November 1: Depart SaN aNtONiO tO LiSBON, pOrtugaL. Excitement, anticipation, joy and wonder accompany the pilgrims in their thoughts and conversation as they travel across the Atlantic Ocean on this wonderous journey with Mary, the Mother of God. Upon arrival in Lisbon Airport, we will take a private motor-coach to Fatima, an approximate one and a half hour drive. We will have our first Mass in the Basilica of Fatima where the tombs of the three seers of Our Lady’s apparition are located. They are Blessed Francisco, Blessed Jacinta and Sister Lucia.

prayer: Lord Jesus, you call us each by name. Thank you! We ask your blessing upon each pilgrim. May they have a safe journey and may their journey of faith bring them closer to your Sacred Heart and to encounter the maternal love of your Mother, Mary. Lord Jesus, hold us in your arms and protect us always. Glory be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and forever. Amen.


November 2 – FatiMaThe day will begin with prayer before meeting a local resident who will introduce us to the small town of Fatima. We will see the “Cova da Iria,” the site of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the three young children. The Sanctuary of Fatima is well prepared to receive pilgrims from various countries. They will provide a video presentation on the history and story of Fatima and the message of our Lady during her apparitions in Fatima. Fatima is a call from the Mother of God for a renewed fidelity to penance and prayer, which basically is the message of the Gospel. Too, it brings out the desire of Our Lord that His Mother be better known, loved and venerated through devotion to her Immaculate Heart.We will join the traditional evening Rosary Procession with the statue of the Virgin Mary. Fatima Church Officials have asked one of our pilgrims to lead the fourth decade of the Rosary, a great honor for our pilgrim group.

prayer: Mary, we acknowledge your message given in Fatima an urgent call to all your children to pray for the conversion of souls and for peace. Please pray that I/we may respond to your call to pray. Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Cova da Iria, Fatima, Portugal


November 3 – FatiMaThe day will be spent in Aljustrel, the parish area of Fatima where the three children lived. We will visit their homes, meet their relatives, and pray the Way of the Cross located in the country side. We will also visit the site along the Way of the Cross where the Angel of Peace appeared to the children in preparation for our Lady’s apparition. The Angel of Peace taught them to pray and adore Jesus in the Eucharist. Our evening will end with the Rosary Procession. The three children who saw our Lady and the Angel of Peace are:

LÚCIA DE JESUS The principal seer of the Apparitions, she was born on 22 March 1907, in Aljustrel, in the parish of Fatima. She died on 13 February 2005. On 17 June 1921, she entered the college of Vilar (Porto), directed by the religious of Saint Dorothy. Later she went to Tuy, where she received the Habit and the name Maria Lucia of Dolours. On 25 March 1948 she transferred to Coimbra, entering the Carmel of Saint Teresa, and taking name the of Sister Maria Lucia of the Immaculate Heart. Sister Lucia come to Fatima several times, on May 1946, 13 May 1967, in 1981 to direct a series of paintings of Our Lady of Fatima.

Aljustrel, Fatima, Portugal


FRANCISCO MARTOHe was born on 11 June 1908, in Aljustrel. He died a saintly death on 4 April 1919, in his parents’ house. Very sensitive and contemplative, he directed all his prayer and penance towards “consoling Our Lord.” His mortal remains were buried in the parish cemetery until 13 March 1952, on which date they were translated to the Basilica, on the eastern side.

JACINTA MARTO She was born in Aljustrel on 11 March 1910. Her holy death took place on 20 February 1920, in the Hospital of D. Estefania, in Lisbon after a long and painful illness, offering all her sufferings for the conversion of sinners, for peace in the world and for the Holy Father. On 12 September 1935 her body was solemnly translated from the family tomb of the Baron of Alvaiazere in Ourém, to the Fatima cemetery, and placed beside the mortal remains of her brother Francisco. On 1 May 1951, the translation of Jacinta´s mortal remains took place, with the greatest simplicity, to a new tomb prepared in the Basilica of Cova da Iria, on the western side.

On 15 February 1988, the final documentation, which led to the Holy Father proclaiming “blessed” the two little seers of Fatima, was given to the Holy Father, John Paul II, and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Meanwhile, they were declared “venerable” by a Decree of that Sacred Congregation on 13 May 1989. The last step will be, as we hope, their canonization, by which they will be declared “saints.”

To learn more about Fatima, go to their official website at: www.santuario-fatima.pt

prayer: (Taught by the Angel of Peace to the three children)I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you Lord. I pray for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you! Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta, pray for us and for our families.


November 4 – FatiMa to pariSToday, we will depart Fatima to Lisbon airport by bus and fly to Paris. In Paris, we will spend time at: the famous Notre Dame Cathedral, the most popular monument in Paris and in all of France, beating even the Eiffel Tower with 13 million visitors each year. Also the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the location of the apparition of Mary to St. Catherine of Laboure called Rue du Bac when she gave her to Miraculous Medal and a full day in Lisieux.

Upon arrival in Paris, we will have Mass in the Notre Dame Cathedral. Then, we will enjoy a private reception and first evening meal at a local famous restaurant, followed by a visit to the Eiffel Tower.

Prayer - Lord, thank you for the gift of Mother Church, the Roman Catholic Church. We pray for the pilgrims and all of us baptized in the Faith, that the Holy Spirit will stir within all of us a desire to learn more about the history and riches of Mother Church. We praise you Father in Heaven! Thank you Lord Jesus! Come Holy Spirit and ignite us with the fire of your love! Amen.

Notre Dame Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris)


November 5 – rue Du BaC & NOtre DaMe CatHeDraL in pariSWe will spend the morning at Rue du Bac, a street in central Paris where our Lady appeared to Saint Catherine Laboure of the Sisters of Charity in 1830. This is a description of Mary’s last apparition to Saint Catherine: As Catherine raised her eyes to the main altar, she saw her beautiful Lady standing on a large globe. The Virgin spoke, this time giving a direct order: “Have a medal struck as I have shown you. All who wear it will receive great graces.” The spread of a devotion to the medal urged by Saint Catherine was carried out so swiftly that it was miraculous itself. She died on December 31, 1876, and was canonized on July 27, 1947. Her feast day is November 25.

Ru du Bac chapel


When her body was exhumed in 1933 it was found as fresh as the day it was buried. Though she had lived seventy years and was in the grave for fifty-seven years, her eyes remained very blue and beautiful; and in death her arms and legs were as supple as if she were asleep. Her incorrupt body is encased in glass beneath the side altar at 140 Rue du Bac, Paris, beneath one of the spots where Our Lady appeared to her. We will end our visit here with Mass. To read more about Rue du Bac and the Miraculous Medal, visit www.amm.org The afternoon will be spent at the Notre Dame Cathedral. Notre Dame Cathedral (full name: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, “Our Lady of Paris”) is a beautiful cathedral. Begun in 1163 and mostly completed by 1250, Notre Dame is an important example of French Gothic architecture, sculpture and stained glass. This amous cathedral is an active Catholic church, a place of pilgrimage, and the focal point for Catholicism in France - religious events of national significance still take place here. Learn more about this famous Cathedral at www.notredamedeparis.fr/-english The day will end with an evening meal at a local restaurant.

prayer: These words were given by our Lady to St. Catherine – “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” Blessed Mother, thank you for the gift of the Miraculous Medal, thank you for your maternal love for us. Pray for the pilgrims to experience a deeper relationship with your Son Jesus. Pray for me. Amen.

Catherine’s incorrupt body


November 6 – SaCreD Heart BaSiLiCa in pariSToday is Sunday! We will join a local Mass in French at the Sacred Heart Basilica, in French. This is an act of solidarity with our Catholic brothers and sisters. Many saints have come to this hill (Saint Germain - Saint Clotilde - Saint Bernard - Saint Joan of Arc - Saint Vincent de Paul, and others) and, of course, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint François-Xavier who, with their companions, founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) here in 1534.A big benedictine Abbey occupied the whole hill until the French Revolution at which date the nuns were guillotined and the Abbey destroyed.

At its consecration, in 1919, the church was declared a basilica. It is not a parish church but an independent sanctuary, a place of pilgrimage where the Sacred Heart of Christ is venerated.

The term “ Heart of Christ” originates in the Bible itself, where the word Heart indicates the seat of the emotions, of thought and of the will. So the Heart connotes the whole person of Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man. To learn more, go to www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com

Sacred Heart Basilica (Basilique du Sacré-Cœur)


prayer: St Ignatius Loyola composed a hymn where the word “Heart” is replaced by the word “soul” and is invoked among the wounds: Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me; Blood of Christ, exhilarate me; water from the side of Christ, wash me; Passion of Christ, fortify me; oh good Jesus, hear my prayer; In your wounds, hide me; don’t allow me to be separate from you. From the enemy, defend me; At my death, summon me, make me come unto you, so that I may praise you with the Saints for ever and ever. Amen!

November 7 – pariS – LiSieuXThe entire day will be in Lisieux, about a two hour drive from Paris. We will venerate the remains of St. Thérèse in the Chapel of the Reliquary. Some of her remains have been inserted into the figure which represents her on her death bed. Almost all of the relics are enclosed in a casket underneath the reliquary. Above the reliquary is a statue of the Virgin Mary which is the same statue that cured Thérèse by ‘her beautiful smile’ on 13 May 1883 at her home in Les Buissonnets. We will also visit the Carmelite Convent where she lived as a nun, and her family’s home. St. Thérèse was born in 1873 and died in the Carmelite convent in 1897 of tuberculosis. She is patron saint of missionaries (along with St. Francis Xavier) because of her intense contemplative prayer for the salvation of souls. Read more about St. Thérèse at www.therese-de-lisieux.catholique.fr

prayer: Words of St. Thérèse in a letter to her sister Celine. “There is one ONLY THING to do here below: to love Jesus, to win souls for Him so that He may be loved. Let us seize with jealous care every last opportunity of self sacrifice. Let us refuse Him nothing - He wants our love!” Lord, I love you, give me the grace to love you with all my heart. Amen.

wax figure containing the relics of Thérèse


November 8 – pariS – LOurDeSToday, we will depart Paris and continue our pilgrimage to Lourdes. Lourdes in the 19th century was one of the main places in the district, with more than 4,000 inhabitants including nobles, notaries, advocates, doctors, officers, as well as manual workers, tradesmen, slate workers, small artisans such as millers. Upon arrival, we will hear the story of Mary’s apparition to a 14 year old girl named Bernadette in 1858. She was born in 1844 and died in 1879. This tiny village of Lourdes in the 1800s has now become one of the world’s famous pilgrim destinations honoring our Lady’s apparition and her message of prayer, repentance and healing. Today, we will pray at the site of the apparitions, a small grotto, and immerse in the spring water called “the Baths of Lourdes” as an act of faith and hope, praying for healing and for a closer relationship with Jesus and Mary. After dinner, we will pray the Rosary in procession with candles asking Our Lady’s intercession for our intentions and, of course, yours! The Message of Lourdes is the words and actions that were exchanged between the Virgin Mary and Bernadette at the Grotto of Massabielle during the 18 Apparitions from 11 February 1858 to 16 July 1858. To understand the events which took place and the “Message of Lourdes” it is necessary to know the context of the Apparitions that Bernadette experienced. You can read more about St. Bernadette and the apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes at: www.lourdes-france.com

the Grotto of Lourdes where Mary appeared


On 11 February 1858 Bernadette, her sister Toinette and a friend of theirs, Jeanne, went looking for wood on the meadows and led towards “the place where the canal rejoins the River Gave.” They were in front of the Grotto of Massabielle. Toinette and Jeanne crossed the icy water, crying out with the cold; Bernadette hesitated to do this because of her chronic asthma. She heard “a noise like a gust of wind,” but “none of the trees were moving. Raising her head, she saw, in a hollow of the rock a small young lady, who looked at her and who smiled at her.” This was the first Apparition of the Virgin Mary.

At the time of Bernadette, the Grotto was a dirty, hidden, damp and cold place. The Grotto was called the “pigs’ shelter” because that was where the pigs feeding in the area usually took shelter. It was there that the Virgin Mary, dressed in white, a sign of total purity, the sign of the Love of God, in other words, the sign of what God wishes to accomplish in each of us, deigned to appear.

At Lourdes, the fact that Mary had appeared in a dirty and obscure Grotto, in the place called Massabielle, the Old Rock, tells us that God comes to join us where we are, in the midst of our poverty and failures.

The Grotto is not only a place where something happened - it is also a place where God gives us a sign by revealing his heart and our heart. It is a place where God leaves us a message that is nothing other than that of the Gospel. God comes to tell us that he loves us. This is the heart of the Message of Lourdes, and he loves us as we are with all our successes but also with all our wounds, our weaknesses and our limitations.

The last apparition on March 25, 1858, Bernadette’s own words: “She went on smiling so I dared ask her once more. This time, however, she raised her eyes to Heaven, joined her hands about her breast and said to me: ‘I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.’ These were the last words she addressed to me. Her eyes were blue.”

prayer: The Immaculate Conception is, as the Church teaches, “Mary, conceived without sin, thanks to the merits of the Cross of Christ”. O, Mary conceived without sin, pray for us to remain faithful to God and the Church. Thank you for your apparition in Lourdes and for your message of hope through prayer, especially for those who do not know your Son, Jesus! O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us!


November 9 – LOurDeSWe have this morning free to pray with Mary at the Grotto, receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession), walk through the beautiful grounds, pray the Stations of the Cross, spend time in the large Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes. In the afternoon, we will have a walking tour in the footsteps of St. Bernadette. We will visit her birthplace (the Boly Mill), her home (the Cachot) and her parish church.

In the evening, we will participate in the Rosary Procession with lit candles, followed by an all night Prayer Vigil in a private chapel. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in the Monstrance, and we can spend this time with Jesus in His Eucharistic Presence from 10:30pm through 5:00am. This is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our pilgrimage thus far and spend time at the “feet of Jesus.”

prayer To Our Lady of Lourdes: O Holy Virgin, in the midst of your days of glory, do not forget the sorrows of this earth. Cast a merciful glance upon those who are suffering, struggling against difficulties, with their lips constantly pressed against life’s bitter cup.Have pity on our rebellious hearts.Have pity on our weak faith.Have pity on those we love.Have pity on those who weep, on those who pray, on those who fear. Grant hope and peace to all. Amen

Bernadette and her home


November 10 – LOurDeSWe leave Lourdes mid-day to a small town, Toulouse, where our last night will be spent in preparation for the return home. This pilgrimage does not end here; it continues through the graces, the experiences, the education received and the many prayers offered for members of the Church.

As Spiritual Pilgrims, may we remember our journey towards the House of our Heavenly Father. May the prayers of the Pilgrims help us be aware we are members of the body of Christ, may the prayers we offered through this Spiritual Pilgrimage remind us that Christ is ever present, beckoning us to embrace Him. May we turn to our Heavenly Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary who intercedes for us, her children.

prayer: Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil. Amen.

November 11 – return HomeOur pilgrimage continues! Thank you Lord for walking with us!

Our Lady of Hope, pray for us!Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!St. Joseph, pray for us!