Monitor Mag JUNE 2024 Travel & Pilgrimages: Web Extra

With summer vacations upon us, The Monitor takes a look at the Catholic sites available for exploration – from shrines across the United States to pilgrimages abroad where saints once walked – in this special TRAVEL section. Watch The Monitor Magazine for travel features in upcoming issues!

A ‘Capitol’ pilgrimage: Catholic sites in our nation’s capital

BY DANA VILLAMAGNA  OSV News

While thousands of American families travel to the nation’s capital each year to tour historic and contemporary sites of government, Catholic families can also find many places in Washington that showcase our faith’s history and that highlight the many contributions great Catholics have made to America.

Start your visit at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in northeast Washington (3900 Harewood Road N.E.; jp2shrine.org). Opened in 2011 in the former home of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, the shrine was established by the Knights of Columbus to continue the pope’s mission and legacy. Pilgrims can learn about the life of St. John Paul II, from his upbringing in Poland to his 26-year papacy. The shrine offers opportunities for prayer and liturgy, as well as viewing art, cultural events and religious celebrations. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the Shrine a national shrine in 2014.

After visiting the center, walk a short distance past enchanting Marian gardens to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immac-

ulate Conception (400 Michigan Ave. NE; nationalshrine. com). The size and beauty of the 77,500-square-foot basilica, one of the largest in the world, is breathtaking. Chapels in the basilica represent various cultures throughout the Catholic world. Construction began in the early 1900s and is still in progress. The basilica is located next to The Catholic University of America, a pontifical university in the United States and the only Catholic college founded by U.S. bishops.

Attending Mass in the District of Columbia can be a new cultural experience unto itself. Modern-day Washington boasts a thriving Catholic community. On any given Sunday, one can see the melting pot of America reflected in our very own faith community, with Mass spoken in 22 different languages. Visit the diocesan website, adw.org, to find a parish to visit.

Here are a few additional sites you may want to visit on your family’s next great American vacation:

THE FRANCISCAN MONASTERY: Walk through Roman-replica catacombs and Franciscan gardens. 1400 Quincy St. NE; myfranciscan.org

Spring flowers bloom outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. OSV News photo/Bob Roller Continued

JUMP HEAD

CHAPLAIN’S HILL AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY: Pay respects to 83 Catholic chaplains from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War at the Catholic Chaplain’s Monument, dedicated in 1989. Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia; arlingtoncemetery.mil.

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Explore the nation’s first Catholic Uni-

versity, founded by Jesuits in 1789. Stroll through the charming Georgetown campus and adjacent neighborhood, where many diplomats and politicos live. 37th and O Streets NW.; georgetown.edu

ST. MATTHEW’S CATHE -

DRAL: Read the inscription carved into the floor at the site where President John F. Kennedy’s casket was placed during his funeral, held in the Cathedral Nov. 25, 1963. The Cathedral, with magnificent mosaics on the walls and Italian design throughout, is on the National Register of Historic Places. 1725 Rhode Island

A Catholic presence in the U.S. Capitol

Each year, an estimated 3 million to 5 million people who visit the U.S. Capitol can see great Catholics such as St. Damien of Molokai and Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, represented in the National Statuary Hall Collection.

Ave. NW; stmatthewscathedral.org

ST. PATRICK’S CATHOLIC CHURCH: Attend Mass at the oldest Catholic Church in the capital, founded in 1794 to minister to the needs of the stonemasons building the White House and the U.S. Capitol. 619 10th St. NW; stpatrickdc.org

ST. AUGUSTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH: Visit the church known as the Mother Church of African-Americans, founded by freed slaves in 1865. 15th and V Streets NW.

The collection, coordinated by the office of the Architect of the Capitol, is located throughout the capitol building. Each state chooses subjects, commissions and pays for two statues to give to the collection, which represents notable Americans from all walks of life, from great statesmen such as George Washington to memorable entertainers like Will Rogers. The collection contains 99 statues of great Americans. (Virginia has a vacancy after removing a statue of Robert E. Lee in 2020.)

A number of states have chosen Catholic missionaries, educators and social activists to represent them in the collection. Some of the most notable are listed below:

Arizona’s Father Eusebio Kino is honored with a statue in the collection for his work with the Pima Indians, and for establishing many missions and rancheras in the West. Father Kino, born in Italy, joined the Jesuits in 1665 and died in 1711.

California’s St. Junipero Serra was a Franciscan Spanish missionary to the new world. He founded many missions, including San

Diego, San Antonio, San Francisco and San Luis Obispo.

St. Damien of Molokai’s statue in the capitol is a modern representation depicting him with the marks of leprosy, which took his life in 1889 after his many years on the Hawaiian island of Molokai serving the lepers sent to live there in exile.

Charles Carroll of Carrollton is honored by Maryland as a political activist in the colonies. As a Catholic, Carroll was initially barred from entering politics, practicing law or voting. He later signed the Declaration of Independence. He died in 1832, the last surviving signer of that document.

Washington state honors Mother Joseph, Canadian-born Esther Pariseau, who in 1856 led missionaries to the Pacific Northwest to build schools, hospitals and orphanages. The American Institute of Architects declared her the First Architect of the Pacific Northwest. Wisconsin chose Father Jacques Marquette to represent it in the collection. Father Marquette was a Jesuit missionary and an explorer of the Mississippi River. The largest Catholic university in Wisconsin is named after Father Marquette.

For more information about the National Statuary Hall Collection and about the sculptors who created the statues, visit the office of the Architect of the Capitol’s website at visit aoc.gov.

The chapel beside the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington. OSV News photo/Tyler Orsburn

A statue of St. John Paul II stands outside St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington. OSV News photo/Bob Roller

Tour company goes to where Christ, saints walked

BY MARY STADNYK  Associate Editor

Carolyn Norbut wanted to combine her love of travel and her desire to share her Catholic faith; the result was a new business venture, Journey of Faith Tours.

But what sets Journey of Faith Tours apart is that the pilgrimages focus on journeying in the footsteps of the saints, “seeing and experiencing the places they called home,” Norbut said.

“We read about the places where the saints have lived and walked, but then to have an opportunity to travel to and see these places in person is really something very awesome,” she said. She added she hopes to take people who love to travel and introduce them “to the holy men and women of God who have gone before us” as well as help pilgrims “strengthen their relationship with God.”

While she is well known in the Diocese as the associate director of the Office of Worship and as diocesan coordinator of pilgrimages, Norbut also had freelanced for several travel companies and learned how to organize overseas trips for larger groups of people. She bases some of her knowledge on her own travel experiences, including four World Youth Day celebrations: Denver in 1993; Italy in 2000, her first international trip; Toronto in 2002 and Cologne in 2005.

In 2021, when she realized that a significant number of

travel companies had folded because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she took a leap of faith and started her own travel company.

In the past three years, Norbut has organized pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Poland, Italy, France, Spain and Ireland. Some of the pilgrimages have been parish-based, meaning the majority of pilgrims are from one parish and the priest from that parish serves as the chaplain; she also has organized trips for deacons of the Diocese and diocesan staff. Earlier this year, she organized a pilgrimage to Italy for Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and priests of the Diocese.

She said that by the end of 2025, she expects to complete 16 more pilgrimages, the majority of which will be to Rome as part the Jubilee Year declared by Pope Francis that has as its theme, “Pilgrims of Hope.”.

“Everybody wants to go to Rome,” she said, then put in a plug for the 11-day diocesan Eucharistic Miracle Pilgrimage to Rome with Father Martin O’Reilly, diocesan co-coordinator of the Eucharistic Revival and pastor of Mary, Mother of the Church Parish, Bordentown, this coming October.

Norbut said the most rewarding part of her work is watching the faces of pilgrims when they realize they are actually standing in places they had only read about.

“The Scriptures come to life for them,” she said. “They are actually experiencing what they have read about.”

To learn more about Journey of Faith Tours, visit journeyoffaithtours.com.

Carolyn Norbut, left, is shown standing at the top of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican with Grace Magee, executive assistant in the Office of the Bishop, and Father Patrick McPartland, pastor of St. Catharine Parish, Holmdel, during the pilgrimage for priests she organized in January.

Carolyn Norbut is shown during a pilgrimage to Bethlehem in the Holy Land where she prays at the place of Jesus’ Birth in the Church of the Nativity.

Carolyn Norbut stands by one of the many tour buses with her company’s logo. Courtesy photos

Honor thy Mother: Six

U.S. shrines dedicated to the Virgin Mary

BY ROBERT FASTIGGI  OSV News

To make a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine is a beautiful way to celebrate one’s Catholic faith. Unfortunately, not all people have the time or money to make a pilgrimage to one of the great Marian shrines of the world such as Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, Our Lady of Lourdes in France or Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. There are, however, numerous Marian shrines of special importance spread throughout the United States. Here are six shrines worth considering.

1. OUR LADY OF PROMPT SUCCOR, NEW ORLEANS

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor is located on the campus of the Ursuline Academy of New Orleans. Although the present shrine was consecrated in 1928, its origin goes back to a promise made in 1810.

The Ursuline Sisters first came to Louisiana in 1727, and they established Ursuline Academy to educate children of European, colonists and the local Creole people whether slave or free. In 1803, Louisiana was purchased by the United States, and President Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to the Ursuline Sisters assuring them that they could retain their property.

The superior, Mother St. Andre Madier, wrote to her cousin, Mother St. Michel Gensoul, in France, asking her to come to New Orleans to help the community. Mother St. Michel was told that only the pope could give this authorization. Pope Pius VII, however, was being held captive by Napoleon during this time, and it was uncertain whether he could be reached to give permission. Mother St. Michel prayed before a statue of Our Lady asking that her request might

Volunteers cover the newly consecrated altar at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion’s Apparition Chapel with a new altar cloth in Champion, Wis., March 2, 2024. OSV News photo/Sam Lucero

be received by the pope. If her request was granted, she promised to honor the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

She sent a letter to Pius VII from Montpellier March 19, 1809. On April 28, a letter from a cardinal authorized by the pope granted permission to go to Louisiana. Mother St. Michel had a statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor carved and blessed. The statue, along with Mother St. Michel, arrived in Louisiana in 1810.

Today, the statue is in the beautiful National Votive Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

2. THE BASILICA OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA, LEWISTON, NEW YORK

In the area around Buffalo, New York, there are two Marian shrines of special importance. Mention should first be made of Our Lady of Victory National Shrine and Basilica in Lackawanna. This is a magnificent European-style basilica that owes its existence to the dedication of Father Nelson Baker (1842–1936) who was granted the title venerable by Benedict XVI in 2011. Completed in 1926 and raised to the status of a basilica that same year, this beautiful Baroque revival church has an interior filled with paintings, mosaics and marble work.

Some 26 miles away is the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Lewiston, just north of Niagara Falls. The shrine is located on 16 acres of former farmland donated by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Ciurczak in 1954, and it is served by priests of the Clerics Regular of St. Paul – the Barnabites.

The church was begun in 1961 and dedicated in 1965. In 1975, Blessed Paul VI elevated the church to the status of basilica. The dome of the basilica is 100 feet in diameter and 55 feet high. At the top of the dome, there is a statue of Our Lady of Fatima that is 13 feet high and weighs 10 tons. The main altar in the basilica is made of Italian Carrara marble. In front of the basilica is a giant rosary of 59 lights and a rosary pool shaped

like a heart in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

3. THE GROTTO/THE NATIONAL SANCTUARY OF OUR SORROWFUL MOTHER, PORTLAND, OREGON

This shrine came about because of a prayer and a promise made by a young boy from Kitchener, Ontario, in the late 19th century. Ambrose Mayer knew his mother was close to death after giving birth to his younger sister. He prayed fervently for his mother’s life in the nearby parish Church, and he promised that he would do something great for the church if his mother and sister survived. His prayers were heard. Both his mother and sister survived, and he never forgot his promise.

Ambrose later joined the Servite religious order, which is dedicated to the Sorrows of Mary. He eventually was sent to Portland, Oregon, where he became the first Servite pastor in that city. In 1923, Father Mayer found some property for sale on a rugged hilltop location. Work began on the sanctuary in 1923. A cave was carved out of the side of a basalt cliff over 100 feet high. This became the famous grotto of the sanctuary, with a stone altar and a replica of Michelangelo’s Pietà eventually added. The first Mass and dedication of the Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother took place May 29, 1924, with 3,000 people present along with Archbishop Alexander Christie. A larger church – the Chapel of Mary, Mother of the Human Race – was built on the grounds and dedicated in 1955. In 1983, the shrine was recognized as a National Sanctuary, and millions of people since have visited this beautiful hilltop shrine, which also has outdoor stations of the Sorrows of Mary.

4. NATIONAL SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF LA LECHE, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

The oldest Catholic settlement in what today is the United States is in St. Augustine, Florida, which was founded in 1565. St. Augustine is also the location of the Shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Leche y Buen Parto (“Our Lady of the

Milk and Happy Delivery”), which is the first shrine to Our Lady in the United States. It was initially built by the Spanish around 1620, and it is located on the grounds of the Nombre de Dios (Name of God) Mission in St. Augustine.

The original chapel of 1620 was probably made of wood and destroyed by fire or hurricane. There is archaeological evidence of a shrine made of coquina stone and oyster shell foundations from around 1678. From the late 17th century until the late 19th century, several other shrines have been built, destroyed, and then reconstructed. The present chapel dates from 1915, and it can fit about 30 people at a time. It contains a reconstruction of the original statue of Our Lady of La Leche, which shows the Blessed Mother breastfeeding Baby Jesus.

Devotion to Our Lady of La Leche was very strong when the Spanish settled in Florida. Many women seeking to conceive pray and light candles in the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in Florida.

5. THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF CHAMPION, CHAMPION, WISCONSIN

Wisconsin is a state blessed with some outstanding Marian shrines. In Madison, there is the Shrine of the Schoenstatt Movement, dedicated in 1953 to Mary as Mother Thrice Admirable. There are also three Marian shrines designated by the bishops of Wisconsin as places of pilgrimage to obtain the plenary indulgence for the Year of Mercy. These are: the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians at Holy Hill; the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse; and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, formerly dedicated as the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help.

Our Lady of Champion is of special importance because it is the only Marian shrine in the United States located on the site of an approved apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The apparitions began on Oct. 9, 1859 – a year after the apparitions at Lourdes – and the

MARY SHRINES

recipient was Adele Brise (1831–1896), a young Belgian woman who had emigrated to Wisconsin in 1855. The Blessed Mother was seen by Adele several times before she revealed who she was and what she wanted. She identified herself as “the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners.” She asked Adele to go to Confession and offer her holy Communion for the conversion of sinners. She also asked Adele to teach the children “what they should know for their salvation.”

Adele obeyed this request of the Blessed Mother. At first, she began teaching the children by herself, but she eventually founded a third order community called the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi (also known as the Sisters of Good Health). A shrine was built to honor Our Lady called the Shrine of Good Help because of Adele’s devotion to Notre Dame de Bon Secours from her native Belgium.

In 2010, Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin, declared that the apparitions and locutions given to Adele Brise in 1859 are worthy of belief as supernatural by the Christian faithful.

6. BASILICA OF OUR LADY OF SAN JUAN DEL VALLE NATIONAL SHRINE, SAN JUAN, TEXAS

The origins of this shrine basilica go back to the town of San Juan de Los Lagos near Guadalajara in the Mexican State of Jalisco. In this town a mission church was built with a small image of the Immaculate Conception inside. In 1623, a traveling family of acrobats visited San Juan to give a performance. The youngest daughter of the family lost her balance, fell and died. An Indian woman who helped care for the local church placed the image of the Immaculate Virgin over the child’s body. The child miraculously returned to life. Soon, devotion to the Virgin of San Juan spread throughout Jalisco as well as other parts of what is today Mexico and

the United States.

In 1949, Father José Maria Azpiazu, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, was the pastor of the parish of St. John the Baptist in San Juan, Texas, which is located near McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. Father Azpiazu received permission from his bishop to have a reproduction made of the Marian statue venerated in San Juan de Los Angeles in Mexico.

Devotion to the shrine and the statue grew steadily. On Oct. 23, 1970, however, a tragedy occurred. A special Mass was being offered with 50 priests concelebrating. A small plane crashed into the roof of the shrine and burst into flames.

Construction of a new shrine began in 1976, and it was dedicated April 19, 1980. Our Lady of San Juan del Valle was recognized as a national shrine by the U.S. bishops in 1988 and elevated to the status of a minor basilica by Pope St. John Paul II in 1999.

Robert Fastiggi is a professor of theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.

TRAVEL

With everything from practical travel tips to Catholic worship spaces and historic spiritual sites not to miss. Both locally and abroad, The Monitor’s Travel features will guide those planning a pilgrimage or wanting to add that faith-based element to their trips.