For millennia, Christians have visited and venerated holy
places that brought them closer to the lives of Jesus, Mary
and the saints.
“Pilgrimages, a sign of the condition of the disciples of
Christ in this world, have always held an important place in
the life of Christians,” said St. John Paul II.
Every two years, the Arlington Diocese invites parishioners
to make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. This year, the
pilgrimage took place Oct. 3, sandwiched between a nor’easter
and Hurricane Joaquin.
The storms may have kept some pilgrims home, but those who
braved the weather found a holy and transformative
experience.
Corinne Monogue, director of the diocesan Office of
Multicultural Affairs, estimated that between 1,700 and 2,000
people attended the pilgrimage.
The theme of this year’s pilgrimage was “Oh Mary, Keep our
Family in Love.” Family was at the center of all prayers and
meditations.
The day began with eucharistic adoration and benediction.
Father James Searby, parochial vicar of St. Charles Borromeo
Church in Arlington, gave the meditation.
Emphasizing the themes of love and family, Father Searby
asked the pilgrims to remember how it was when they fell in
love for the first time. He said the feeling was one of
adventure.
“The deepest longing is that we want to be loved,” he said.
Father Searby said that when we were children, there was
always one house that the other children gravitated to.
“You were one of the family there,” he said.
He said that family gives us hope, even when things appear
hopeless, but, “that nothing is hopeless is the message of
Christianity.”
The recitation of the rosary followed the meditation. A
different diocesan family led the congregation in each of the
five joyful mysteries.
The fourth joyful mystery, the Presentation in the Temple,
was led by the Gyamfi family, parishioners of Queen of
Apostles Church in Alexandria.
Albert Gyamfi said that the bad weather had no affect on the
family’s decision to go on the pilgrimage.
“We wanted to come to the house of God,” he said.
The Gonzalez family recited the second joyful mystery, the
Visitation.
“It was an honor for me to pray the rosary,” said Stephanie
Gonzalez.
There were Unbound Ministry prayer groups that met in chapels
in the Upper Church as others received the sacrament of
reconciliation in the Crypt Church.
In the Upper Church chapels, families gathered in prayer
circles or held hands in forgiving ceremonies.
The day concluded with Mass, concelebrated by Arlington
Bishop Paul S. Loverde and the priests of the diocese.
In his homily, the bishop welcomed the pilgrims to Mary’s
house.
He said the family is the living symbol of God’s plan, adding
that God dreams, and the family is that dream.
“The family is being attacked in many ways,” said Bishop
Loverde. “The very nature of marriage is being altered and
redefined.”
Families are not perfect, said the bishop, and there are
challenges, but God’s direction and plan for families has not
changed.
The key ingredient for the family is love, he said. “Jesus
gave His life for us out of love.”
To strengthen the family, the bishop asked that everyone pray
the rosary, receive the sacraments and go to Mass.
The diocese is like a family, said the bishop. Every day we
need to pray to keep God’s dream alive.
“The family that prays together, stays together,” he said.
It was the first diocesan pilgrimage for Emilio and Marlene
DiCola, parishioners of St. Raymond of Peñafort Church
in Springfield.
“We’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” said Emilio. “I
thought it was something that would bring me closer to God.”
Paul Marsala, a parishioner of Holy Trinity Church in
Gainesville, said his family made the pilgrimage for the love
of Mary.
“We’ve come to honor her,” he said.
