Knights of Columbus Insurance Join U.S. Military Archdiocese Sponsoring Spiritual Journey Over 500 active-duty and retired U.S. military people, injured veterans, spouses and even family members participated in the 55th International Military Pilgrimage to the Catholic shrine at Lourdes, France, May 24-26, 2013. Around a hundred and sixty people were an important part of a “Wounded in addition to Disabled Veteran Pilgrimage” program cosponsored with the Knights of Columbus Insurance along with the Archdiocese for Military Services.
The Memorial Day weekend with Knights of Columbus Carl Anderson, pilgrimage included people in military from thirty-five countries. The trip was an occasion for rest, prayer and healing around the miraculous waters of the Lourdes grotto. The shrine is site of a reported Feb. 11, 1858 apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a 14-year-old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous. Water from a spring at the apparition site has resulted in many documented yet inexplicable physical cures.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the U.S. Military Services (AMS) has been the key celebrant and homilist May 24 at the opening Mass for the American contingent in the Shrine’s Basilica of the Excellent Conception.
“Our pilgrimage these days is yet another time for all of us to heighten our belief,” he said. “We come to this wonderful Shrine with many intentions. For some it will be health of mind and body. For others it might be part of a vocation search. Still others ask the Virgin for blessings on their families. We come to this sacred place and pray for all of those deployed in harm’s way and we beg Our Mother to intercede with her Son so that the world might experience that peace that only He can bring.”
Pope John Paul II made the AMS as being an independent archdiocese in 1985 as the only Catholic legal system responsible for marketing and giving faculties for priests to serve as chaplains in the U.S. military services establishments. AMS-endorsed priests function as chaplains at more than 220 U.S. military installations in 29 nations, and 153 Veterans Administration medical centers throughout the United States. The AMS service population comes with American Catholic civilians doing work for the federal government in 134 nations. Around the world, around 1.8 million Catholics depend upon the AMS in order to satisfy their spiritual and sacramental needs.
Supreme Knights of Columbus Carl Anderson joined the pilgrims in France. The Knights of Columbus has collaborated with the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) regularly in support of such initiatives.
“The Knights of Columbus organized its first military pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1919,” Anderson stated, “and we had been honored to revisit this essential Marian shrine aiding this pilgrimage of faith by simply our active responsibility as well as retired troops who have given up so much for the nation. The great love these service men and women have for God as well as country sets a fantastic example for all of us who have taken advantage of their sacrifices in the defence of our independence.”
Numerous first members of the Knights of Columbus were being Civil War veterans, and the Knights have long been committed to encouraging people who serve our nation. In World War I, the K of C ran hospitality centers for U.S. troops throughout the United States and Europe under the banner “Everybody Welcome, Everything Free.” In World War II, the Knights of Columbus in Canada continued the army hut program, while in the United States, Supreme Knight Matthews served as a Catholic representative on the board of the United Service Organizations (more commonly known as the USO), through which the Knights continued to serve troops. Today, the Knights of Columbus Insurance works closely with the AMS in its continuing work for our troops and veterans with a variety of activities geared toward their spiritual and temporal needs.
Article Source http://www.kofc.org/un/en/news/releases/detail/lourdes06102013.html