How to be a pilgrim

The Paulist father was welcoming all 250-plus pilgrims to a special Mass concelebrated by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of the Albany Diocese and eight other priests on the pilgrimage.

First, however, he used his experience researching the "spirituality of pilgrimage" to explain just what the aims of a pilgrimage should be.

Goal of going

"Maybe there's someone in your family you're fighting with all the time -- taking that relationship and seeking healing, that's a good goal of a pilgrimage," he continued.

Then he offered another idea: "Maybe you should be the focus of your pilgrimage; maybe you need some patience, some inner strength."

Above all, said Father Robichaud, the group needed to remember that "this is a pilgrimage for you. You are far away from home; enjoy it! This is a good week for you to focus on being a pilgrim."

Time for prayer

Father Robichaud noted wryly that "love is patient" is his favorite Scripture passage for pilgrims because the unexpected often happens during a pilgrimage.

"On pilgrimages, there's a lot of, `Hurry up and wait,'" he said as an example. "You get to the lobby [of a hotel] and someone's missing; you're waiting in line for the bathroom. There are going to be all sorts of those times this week. My suggestion is: Use them for prayer!"

Identification

He joked: "I'll bet there is somebody here who is driving you crazy. There are going to be moments this week when you are going to lose your focus. But if you have something that identifies you as a pilgrim, you can grab it. You can stroke it. You can recite, `Love is patient.' You can remember your goal, why you're here."

In addition to a spiritual item, Father Robichaud noted that the group might want to create a "pilgrim bag," containing a prayer book and a journal.

"When you go places and have a moment of connecting with the holy, write it down," he urged. "When you go to bed at night, end your day in prayer."

Ironically, the priest cautioned that Rome pilgrims carrying bags are a target for pickpockets, which one pilgrim found out when she left her purse in a pew while she went to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. She came back to find the purse missing.

Questions

The priest added that pilgrims should read over their journals on the plane ride home, and reflect on their experiences.

"If you do these things, your life will be changed," he said.

Indulgences

"These are good goals for you as pilgrims," he stated.

To get the indulgence, the priest said, pilgrims must receive the Sacrament of Penance, celebrate the Eucharist, pass through a Holy Door and say prayers, and do an act of charity.

Father Robichaud received an appreciative laugh from the group when he described an ideal act of charity as "making out a check to the Church of Santa Susanna."

Through the door

Pilgrims crossing through a holy door should take a moment to pray on its threshold, he said: "Put your hand on the lintel and say a prayer."

That practice is easiest in St. John Lateran, which gets the fewest visitors, the priest advised. At St. Peter's Basilica, pilgrims are hurried through the door too quickly to pause in prayer.

Still, he urged pilgrims to make an effort to receive the Jubilee indulgence. "It's a wonderful thing," he stated.

Turning spiritual

"We should've had this the first day!" exclaimed Mercy Aziz of St. Madeleine Sophie parish in Guilderland.

She told The Evangelist that the only thing she missed on the trip so far was "enough time to pray. This is my second pilgrimage in a month; I've always wanted to come to Rome."

Her last pilgrimage was a Marian Helpers-sponsored trip to Oberammergau, Germany, with just 36 people, where she saw Jubilee Year churches and the famous Passion play. However, Ms. Aziz boasted that she also traveled to Spain, Lourdes and Fatima last year. But she called her Germany and Italy trips "special, being the Jubilee year."

World travel

"This part of the trip is putting the whole thing together," Mr. Diacetis said of the history of Christianity. "I would recommend going to Jerusalem and then here."

He noted that the basilica of St. Mary Major impressed him because it contained two boards that are alleged to be from the manger of Christ -- something he'd already heard about in Israel. "What I heard over there, now it was true!" he said. "We're really blessed to be able to do these two trips in a row."

"It was very moving," Mrs. Diacetis agreed.

Exciting time

Brother Matthews converted from the Anglican faith but said that learning about the traditions of Catholicism is "just marvelous for people like myself."

He particularly enjoyed hearing the story of St. Susanna, who refused the advances of two Romans and was martyred.

"You have much more spiritual ground," the brother said about Roman Catholics. "We can go back 2,000 years and find that spiritual connection to Christ."

He said he was looking forward to a side trip during the pilgrimage: "It's going to be so exciting to go to Assisi!"

Liturgy

The group sang "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name" with gusto, and Father Robichaud offered a homily that included more advice for pilgrims.

"When you are frustrated this week, when you are hurt and angry and upset, that may be the moment when God is trying to speak to you," he remarked. "The Gospel today [the parable of the man who tried to store up riches, only to learn that he would soon die and they would go to waste] is about a man who was so distracted, he didn't notice when God was trying to speak to him."

He assured the group that with attention to their goals, "You may never take another pilgrimage, but you will understand for the rest of your life what being a pilgrim means."

During the petitions, Bishop Hubbard asked the pilgrims to pray for Sister Maria Cokely, their fellow pilgrim who had fallen and broken her leg the day before.

Memories of Rome

The first breaking news, said the Bishop, was when the bishop of Buffalo died unexpectedly. Cardinal Spellman of New York City offered the funeral Mass at St. Susanna's, and since Bishop Hubbard was his college's master of ceremonies, he assisted.

The journalists all placed microphones near the Cardinal to catch his homily, but the Cardinal mistook the mikes for the church's public address system -- and after the Mass, he berated Bishop Hubbard for not having the microphones ready earlier.

"And I had no control over it!" the Bishop remembered with a laugh. Then he added the final irony: One of the Jubilee pilgrims, Theresa Smith, had just introduced herself to Bishop Hubbard -- and explained that she was a niece of the Buffalo bishop.

"What a small world it is," Bishop Hubbard said as the pilgrims chuckled.

(11-02-00) [[In-content Ad]]