The Final Day in Portugal: Pope Benedict XVI

Plenty of great photos and videos over at Caput Mundi The above video and photo are from Carlos' blog. Mahalo Carlos!

Also be sure to click here to read Terry's post on the pilgrimage to Fatima.

Our Day Trip/Pilgrimage to NYC

Trinity Church
This is Trinity Church which dates back to before the American Revolutionary War. Alexander Hamilton, first treasurer of the United States and founder of Paterson, New Jersey is interred at that church. As you know, he lost his life in the duel with Aaron Burr.

Our Lady of Victories Catholic Church

This is the beautiful church where Father Vincent Capodanno, the Grunt Padre worshipped when he was a young man working in NYC.

Mass is celebrated six times a day and Confession is heard twice a day.

Interesting side note. One of my brothers in law works in the City. It is his custom to attend noon Mass when he can. One day he saw Dion DiMucci of Dion and the Belmonts fame. He approached Dion and asked him "Are you Dion?" Dion responded in a tough guy stance "Yeah" (as if in yeah, what of it ;-) My brother in law replied "Well I saw you on Life on the Rock". That, according to my brother in law, made Dion smile.




Old St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church

Old St. Peter's Church is the oldest parish in the City of New York. It dates back to the late 1700's. When we visited, there was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Daily Mass is celebrated many times during the day and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered twice a day, five times a week. The feel of this Church does indeed take you back in time. It is very old and beautifully kept.



Ground Zero

These are photos taken of Ground Zero. We could not really see much because of construction. With all the hustle and bustle of the big city, it was hard to feel the solemnness that must have been felt after the attack on the World Trade Center, yet we did pay our respects and prayed for all those who lost their lives when the terrorists attacked.



The Cross at Ground Zero

The now famous steel cross found at Ground Zero after that fateful day of September 11th. It is temporarily located on the side of Old St. Peter's Church, the oldest parish in New York City.

Salesian Marian Shrine

My sisters and I went on another pilgrimage yesterday on the Feast of the Ascension. We went to a Marian Shrine and Don Bosco Retreat Center in Stony Point, New York, in beautiful Rockland County. The Shrine is approximately 30 miles from the George Washington Bridge.

We arrived close to noon and many people were filing into the Chapel for Mass. Since we had already been to Mass we used that time to walk around the grounds.

We saw the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes first and then the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.

A little further down the road we came to Becchi House. Becchi House is the replica of the house where St. Don John Bosco was born and grew up. We also climbed the steps into the hayloft. We were able to see the replicas of little "Johnny" Bosco bedroom and also of his parents.

We then continue on our little walk until one my sisters indicated that we would be seeing something incredible. All of a sudden we came about a gigantic statue of Our Lady of the Rosary.

It was high noon at that time so there was virtually no shade. We wanted to pray the Rosary near this particular statue. Wouldn't you know it, our dear lady provided us with a little area of shade and we comfortably prayed the Luminous Mysteries with our Lady of the Rosary towering over us.

It was around 1pm so we backtracked in order to find a map of the shrine's grounds. Mass had just ended. We asked a gentlemen about Confession. He mentioned Confession was before Mass. Not to be one to give up so easily, one of my sisters suggested going to the front of the the Chapel. Well, there was a priest who still had his vestments on. We introduced ourselves to Fr. "Bill". He welcomed us so very warmly and told us a little about the shrine. He was also more than happy to hear our confessions.

Later on, we went on to find the book shop. I thought it was going to be a little one with just a few items. We were in for a very pleasant surprise. Their book and gift shop was lovely and large. It contained many items such as cards, holy cards, statues, t-shirts, books, Mystic Monk coffee and many other sacred items. We spend quite a while there.

Everyone was very friendly and we enjoyed our day immensely.

Of course, we also had to thank our Lady for making sure we had lovely weather. The sky was clear blue and the day was comfortably warm.

The only downside was that our mother came down with a cold.

Magnificat - Pilgrimage of Hope

The folks who bring us the beautiful Magnificat Magazine are sponsoring a Pilgrimage of Hope on October 11th in Boston.

The following is an invitation from the pilgrimage director:

Dear Friends,

Pope John Paul II referred to the Christian life as "a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father" that "takes place in the heart of each person, extends to the believing community and then reaches to the whole of humanity." Magnificat has become a beloved companion to you on this journey.

The Pilgrimage of Hope offers you a privileged opportunity to gather with other pilgrims from around the world, and to experience together the prayer, the beauty, and the peace that is Magnificat.
Fr. Daniel P. Barron, O.M.V.

Immaculee to Lead Pilgrimage to Marian Sites

Mahalo to AJ who left the following comment on this blog entry:

this is great! I just found out when searching for information about the movie that Immaculee is taking people on a pilgrimage. take a look: International Peace Leader and Rwandan Genocide Survivor to Lead Historic Pilgrimage

Immaculée Ilibagiza, Rwandan Genocide survivor, recipient of Mahatma Ghandi International Award for Reconciliation and Peace 2007, and author of the New York Times bestseller Left to Tell, will lead a Catholic Pilgrimage for her first visit to the celebrated Marian Apparition sites from October 28th through November 5th. Immaculée will personally lead the nine-day mission to the Grotto of Lourdes, the Little Chapel of Apparitions, and the Cathedrals in Fatima, Burgos and Santiago de Compostela.

Our Holy Father in Assisi

Thanks to Fr. Daren my mom and I are glued to the EWTN for coverage of our Holy Father's trip to visit the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi.

This saint is very dear to our family. Our family's parish church had the Franciscan Friars, the Capuchin OFM CAPs there for many years. We became good friends with almost all of them and even attended a few ordinations.

Thanks again Fr. Daren!