Pilgrimages impact Christians by giving them an opportunity to deepen and strengthen their connection to God. Whether journeying to a shrine or a holy site, pilgrimages offer a time dedicated to spiritual renewal and growth through prayer, reflection, and devotion. An individual or group can make a pilgrimage focused on Jesus, the Blessed Mother, a saint, or some combination of these.
Various sites of religious importance, such as the Holy Land in Jerusalem or the shrines of saints and martyrs, serve as sacred reminders of the sacrifices and teachings of Jesus Christ. They provide a physical connection to the history and heritage of the Christian faith. The chance to walk in the footsteps of those who have come before them by visiting places mentioned in the Bible allows people to personally experience the history and significance of their faith, giving them a deeper understanding of the teachings of Christ.
Pilgrimages surrounding the Blessed Mother, a Marian devotion, expand on a significant aspect of our Christian faith by deepening our connection with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, and seeking her intercession in prayers.
A third-party travel company generally organizes larger pilgrimages. However, Salvatorians such as Fr. Reed Mungovan, Fr. Tom Tureman, and Fr. Pat Nelson have led and participated in various pilgrimages with their parishioners and others who were interested in deepening and living out their faith in God in concrete ways.
Fr. Reed, the pastor at Mother of Good Counsel in Milwaukee, WI, serves as a spiritual director on these pilgrimages. He recently traveled to Mexico City to see and experience Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is a Marian-based pilgrimage. “Pilgrimages are important because they allow the believer to go beyond himself and get to know God in new ways and places,” he said. “I see my role as helping the pilgrim to be open to what God wants to teach them. My hope for myself and others on any pilgrimage is that God’s presence in the place we visit would draw us closer to Him.” One of the most profound pilgrimage experiences Fr. Reed shared was his concelebration of Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had over 1,000 people in attendance! He hopes to make a pilgrimage to Rome in the fall of 2025 to mark the beginning of the Church’s Jubilee Year.
Fr. Tom, the pastor at Most Holy Trinity in Tucson, AZ, has led and participated in pilgrimages to the Shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico City, the Holy Land, and Rome, to name a few. “Guadalupe was magnificently meaningful; the Holy Land helped to make real so much of what we read about our Lord, despite witnessing the painful realities of Israel today, and with Rome, we worked to take in the traditional spots while also creating a Salvatorian experience by visiting our international headquarters and helping people get to know our founder, Blessed Francis Jordan, on a more personal level,” he shared. “Ultimately, the value of any pilgrimage is that it offers us a retreat into the roots of our faith and spirituality, while providing an understanding within the context of history.”
In 2023, Fr. Pat, pastor at St. Margaret Mary in Milwaukee, WI, led his parishioners to Our Lady of Champion Shrine in Champion, WI, the site of Marian Apparitions that occurred in 1859. In 2016, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the grounds as a National shrine. “Each year, we make a pilgrimage to a holy site where we can experience firsthand the history, talk about our experience, and celebrate Mass at the sacred location,” said Fr. Pat. “We are currently getting details on touring holy sites in Milwaukee for later this year.”
There is definitely a Salvatorian connection between pilgrimages and the charisms that lead us. “Our Founder, Blessed Francis Jordan, and Co-Foundress, Blessed Mary of the Apostles, wanted all people to know Jesus,” said Fr. Reed. “When we go on a pilgrimage, our main aim is to know Jesus more deeply and then to share with others what we have learned and experienced.
