Diocesan pilgrimage offers grace-filled opportunity to worship

Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., invites all individuals and parish communities in the Diocese of Trenton to take a spiritual journey with him Sept. 13 to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Doylestown, Pa. Dubbed “The Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope,” the day-long event is designed to be an uplifting, informative and faith-filled experience at the holy site renowned as the home of the famous “Black Madonna” painting.

Bishop O’Connell said of the September event: “I am really looking forward to gathering with our people at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa during the diocesan pilgrimage for the Holy Year Jubilee of Hope. I hope that our parishioners throughout the Diocese – especially young people – will join me for the day. Let’s joyfully celebrate our Catholic faith together!”

Pilgrims may arrive at the site, via parish bus or personal transportation, in time for a Mass with Bishop O’Connell as principal celebrant at 10:30 a.m. At noon, pilgrims will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities promoting prayer, reflection and relaxation:

• The site’s 170 acres, located on Beacon Hill and overlooking Peace Valley, offer multiple walking paths which wind past a Rosary Garden, Stations of the Cross, the Ave Maria retreat center, a barn chapel and cemetery grounds.
• The shrine is home to many outdoor monuments and statues dedicated to Our Lady of the Unborn, the Mother of God of Czestochowa, St. Ann, St. Francis, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and others.
• Pilgrims will be offered the opportunity to worship during Eucharistic Adoration and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
• Diocesan speakers will present a message of hope to the pilgrims; slated to speak are Father Javier Diaz, pastor of Christ the King Parish, Long Branch, and member of the diocesan tribunal, and Father Zach Swantek, chaplain and director of the Aquinas Institute, the Catholic Campus Ministry at Princeton University.
• In the lower church, visitors will encounter a replica of the Our Lady of Czestochowa painting which resembles the original in Jasna Gora, Poland.
• A well-loved and informative program called the Pilgrim Passports invite faithful to visit each of the four side chapels – St. Paul the First Hermit, Our Lady of Nazareth, Divine Mercy, and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Guides from the Diocese will be present to educate the pilgrims as they gain a stamp in their personalized “passports.”
• The shrine offers daily Masses in both Polish and English, Confession, Novenas and many more spiritual exercises.

The pilgrimage will conclude with a multilingual recitation of the Rosary before the pilgrims embark on their journey home to the Diocese of Trenton.

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa is located at 654 Ferry Road, Doylestown, Pa. (about 25 miles from the Cathedral of our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in Trenton.) Pilgrims are encouraged to contact their parish to see if they are sponsoring a bus to the event; if not, they may travel on their own.

For more information on the pilgrimage, in English and Spanish, visit dioceseoftrenton.org/pilgrimage, or contact Carolyn Norbut, Pilgrimage Director, at [email protected] or 609.406.7446.