Last leg of the Pilgrimage

The Lord desired that the last leg of our pilgrimage be a time to grow in holiness and patience. We had thought that our trip to Fatima, Portugal was going to be around a 4 hour bus trip, but instead it ended up being a 10 hour bus trip. This left little time for us actually at Fatima before we needed to head to Lisbon, Portugal for a short night stay in a hostel. Since we arrived so late, we only had 2 ½ hours in Fatima which was barely enough time to pray at the Marian apparition site, have Mass, and do some quick shopping. Many of us were actually running around the massive site trying to see a few things before we needed to be on the bus. Despite the stay being short in the small Portuguese town of Fatima, we all absolutely loved being there at this beautiful and peaceful place. One of the most popular and powerful experiences for the group while we were there was walking on our knees along a long path around the Marian apparition site.

Our trip to Lisbon after Fatima ended up taking more time than expected also, and since we needed to be at the airport early the next morning to head back home, it was decided that we would skip the hostel (after the bus got stuck trying to get to it down some narrow Portuguese streets) and just grab a late dinner and spend the night in the airport. Since we were already used to sleeping on a gym floor, sleeping on an airport floor didn’t really faze us and almost seemed normal. To add to the experience, a throat illness began spreading amongst the group causing many to break out in coughs and sore throats.

In the end, though, after 20+ hours and three flights (all delayed) we all made it back safely to the States (with only one baggage lost in travel). We are exhausted, but we all come back united more deeply as a family and with many experiences that we will all reflect on for the rest of our lives. It was a great privilege to spend this time together, especially us seminarians who are spread across various seminaries, and to spend it seeing the Universal Church in all her glory and beauty.

We will try to get some pictures posted by the end of the day, and be on the look out for a Leaven article sometime in the next few weeks with articles and pictures from our pilgrimage.

God bless all of you!