The completion of a holy pilgrimage is perhaps one of the highest forms of worship in our Catholic Faith.  To visit the Holy Land, to journey to Rome, to traverse the Camino de Santiago in Spain, or to descend into the Grotto at Lourdes can serve as the pinnacle of one’s lifelong religious experience.

As importantly, through the completion of a pilgrimage, we are better able to pass on God’s Word to others.  As we describe our experience, we bear witness to the Greatness of God and the ways we have experienced God’s Greatness it in our own life.

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A pilgrimage is much more than a religious or study tour.  According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “a pilgrimage should be carried out as a genuinely religious experience in the spirit of prayer, with reverent openness to the workings of the spirit, and the possibility of conversion of life.”

Unfortunately, most of us will never have either the means or the time to complete one of these holy pilgrimages to far-off lands.  “My Parish Pilgrimage” will enable you to undertake a local pilgrimage right here at St Mary of the Lake.  Through activities of Worship, Service, Prayer, and Learning, you will complete your local pilgrimage and reap many of the same spiritual benefits as if you travelled afar.

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In order to complete you parish pilgrimage, you will complete one or more activities in each of the areas of Worship, Service, Prayer, and Learning.  You will undertake your pilgrimage either alone, with a friend or loved one, or in a small group. 

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You can memorialize your pilgrimage in a variety of ways – through an electronic or written journal or album, through posts on Facebook or Twitter, or other means.  You are urged to take pictures of your activities and post them.  As you complete your pilgrimage, you will write short reflections on how your activities brought you closer to God.

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