Pilgrimages
One of the most dynamic—and ancient—means of prayer, renewal, and reflection is the pilgrimage. Pilgrimages can be local or far from home. Pope Benedict XVI summarized pilgrimages this way: “To go on pilgrimage is not simply to visit a place to admire its treasures of nature, art or history. To go on pilgrimage really means to step out of ourselves in order to encounter God where he has revealed himself, where his grace has shone with particular splendour and produced rich fruits of conversion and holiness among those who believe.” (Address at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, 6 November 2010)
Local/Regional Pilgrimages
- The Shrine of Saint Anthony
(https://shrineofstanthony.org/)
Ellicott City, MD - The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (The Baltimore Basilica)
(https://www.americasfirstcathedral.org/)
Baltimore, MD - The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
(https://www.nationalshrine.org/)
Washington, DC - The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa
(https://www.czestochowa.us/)
Doylestown, PA - The Saint John Paul II National Shrine
(https://www.jp2shrine.org/en/index.html)
Washington, DC - The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
(https://setonshrine.org/)
Emmitsburg, MD
National/International Pilgrimages
- The Camino de Santiago
(http://santiago-compostela.net/)
One of the most famous pilgrimages is the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James), a large network of ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe to end at the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. The most popular route is the nearly 500 mile “French Way” crossing the Pyrennes from France and proceeding across northern Spain. (A good movie to get acquainted is The Way with Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez.)
This website strives to be consistent with Catholic Church teaching in all its content. On this website you will find links to outside resources, including some from non-church organizations. These links do not constitute an endorsement by this website/its owners of all content on these sites and none should be inferred. This website is not responsible for the content of these outside organization’s websites.