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The first trip that I led was in October of 1993. It was a memorable pilgrimage that took 37 pilgrims to the Holy Land and to Rome. The pilgrims first visited and prayed in the land of Jesus and then journeyed to Rome where His representative, Pope John Paul II, lives today. It was a spiritually rich experience for the pilgrims to visit Bethlehem, Capharnaum (the town of Jesus), the Last Supper room, Nazareth and the Holy Sepulcher.
In May of 1995, a different group of pilgrims from St. Victor's and other parishes traveled to some of the well-known European Marian shrines. They bathed in the miraculous water at Lourdes and they joined the nightly procession in honor of Our Blessed Mother at Fatima.. The trip took the pilgrims to Lisbon, Santarem, Santiago de Compostela, Cobadonga, Santander, Zaragoza, Paris, Lisieux and other historical places in Europe. In October of 1995, a few parishioners from St. Victor's joined Fr.Pacwa's group to Jordan and the Holy Land. Fr. Mitchell Pacwa, S.J., a theology professor, conducts pilgrimages to the Holy Land regularly. In Jordan the pilgrims visited the famous ruins of the Jerash, the "Pompei of the east" and the ancient Nabatean city of Petra. In Israel they floated on the water of the Dead Sea and stood at the traditional site where Moses died before he could reach the promised Land. They also prayed in the chapel commemorating the Primacy of Peter by the lake of Galilee. One of the highlights of the visit to Israel was making the stations of the Cross in early morning when the local merchants were just beginning to open their shops. The fall of 1996 brought the pilgrims to Egypt and the Holy Land. It was chance to view in awe the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Centuries before the coming of Christ the Israelites were under the control of the Egyptian masters. It was Moses who led the people out of Egypt into the promised land. After Egypt the pilgrims motored through the arid desert to visit the sacred sites in Israel. The pilgrims visited well known chapels and basilicas such as the Ascension chapel, the Holy Sepulcher and the church of Dominus Flevit. It was at Dominus Flevit church, the site where Jesus wept as He saw Jerusalem, that the pilgrims had their picture taken for posterity.
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In
October of 1994 I conducted another pilgrimage for St. Victor's parishioners
and their friends to the land of Jesus. It was a prayerful trip that brought
pilgrims to the roots of their faith. We visited the Mount of Beatitudes and
the married couples among the pilgrims renewed their marriage vows in the
church at Cana where Jesus changed water into wine. In addition to the
regular sites, the pilgrims were able to visit the Jewish fortress of Masada.
