Entering the pathways that meander along the Stations of the Cross, a Rosary walk and shrines to various saints before culminating in the peaceful Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, pilgrims carried prayer intentions up “Mary’s Mountain” and found themselves transformed by the journey.
Transformation was the theme of the day as the 40th annual Pilgrimage for World Peace through Conversion brought dozens of faithful from the Diocese of Harrisburg for a day of prayer and reflection at the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Emmitsburg on August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
Five friends from St. Patrick Parish in Carlisle arrived early for the pilgrimage, receiving the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation before making their way up the pathway of the Stations of the Cross, stopping at the Grotto and returning with a sense of peace and refreshment despite the sultry weather.
“Seeing so many people going up and down the pathways in prayer, we know they have many different intentions they’re carrying with them. It’s beautiful to see because the Blessed Mother knows their hearts,” said Myong Lieto.
She prayed and walked with fellow parishioners Susan Berkley, Mary Goodwin, Mary Padgett and Kathy Siebert, who carpooled to the pilgrimage.
“We started the day by going to Confession, and that offered a very unique and amazing experience of doing the Stations of the Cross afterward and seeing Christ’s sacrifice for us,” said Berkley.
As the diocesan pilgrims were making their way up the mountain paths to the Grotto that replicates the shrine in France, another group was making their way down after an early-morning annual retreat.
Dressed in blue jerseys, the senior members of the Bishop McDevitt High School football team formed an impressive site as they walked quietly and reflectively along the pathway of the Stations of the Cross.
Teammates Jonas Walton, Ste’Vion Homberg and Stephen Petrou reflected on their morning at the overlook above the Seton Garden and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary below.
“We’ve been with each other for most of our lives. I think we’ve grown closer here as a team and as a family,” Holmberg said of the annual retreat, a tradition for senior members of the team led by Jeff Weachter.
“The Grotto is a beautiful place where we can find blessings before the season starts,” said Holmberg.
Petrou said the teammates placed their hand on the stone from the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in France – where the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858 – and took water from grotto mountain.
“Coming here is a great tradition at McDevitt that we do before the start of the season. It helps us grow in our faith and it’s something unique we can do as a Catholic high school team,” Walton said.
Moments of Transfiguration
The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord commemorates Jesus’ appearance to Peter, James and John on Mount Tabor as he reveals his divine glory as the Son of God.
In his homily during Mass celebrated in St. Mary’s Chapel, Bishop Senior said the feast invites us to reflect upon who Jesus truly is.
“The apostles are given this very privileged insight to understand who Jesus is and what God’s plan is…. But it’s not just for them. God still wants to reveal himself to us, to give us each a moment of transfiguration, where all of a sudden our faith begins to make sense, touches our hearts and gives us a glimpse of the kingdom,” the bishop said.
Bishop Senior again spoke of transfiguration and transformation in a spiritual talk later in the afternoon, telling pilgrims that we too are to be transformed into the likeness of Christ as his disciples.
“In the image of the likeness of Jesus, we are uniquely instruments of peace, and we pray today for peace,” he said.
“As Christians, the transfiguration of Christ is reflected in our willingness to put others first and to care for the most vulnerable in the world,” he said.
“So, brothers and sisters, the transfiguration moments are indeed to form us into the likeness of Christ. That finds its concrete expression in the Corporal Works of Mercy but also in how we live and how we reach out to others and are open to others,” he said.
The pilgrimage takes place every year on the first Thursday of August, and the Harrisburg Comitium of the Legion of Mary runs a charter bus for pilgrims. Watch your parish bulletin, The Catholic Witness and the diocesan website, www.hbgdiocese.org, next summer for information on the 2027 pilgrimage.
(Photo by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
