The Chartres Pilgrimage

If ever there was a pilgrimage that I (and my husband) would like to go on, it would be the Pilgrimage of Tradition to Chartres, France. This is a 3-day, 70-mile walking pilgrimage across France, on which this year there will be 15,000 pilgrims from all over the world, 70 of whom are Americans. They begin at Notre Dame in Paris and walk the 70 miles to the great Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres.

According to The Remnant: "This Pilgrimage dates back to the middle ages. It has been made by kings (such as King Louis XIV), Queens (such as Mary Queen of Scots), and Saints (such as Joan of Arc). The famous, the lowly, the noble and the commoner" have made the difficult walk. The website goes on to detail how the annual pilgrimage was eventually discontinued, but how that in the 1980s "several tradition-minded French Catholic laymen began again to organize the Pilgrimage. The Pilgrimage was held in honor of Mary, the Mother of God, for the purpose of the restoration of the traditional Mass and Sacraments of the Catholic Church."

In 1990, under the organization of several columnists from The Remnant, Americans began participating in the pilgrimage, and have every year since.

As much as my husband and I would like to go, it would be impossible for us considering the strenuous nature of this pilgrimage. So, what's the next best thing? Send our prayer requests with a pilgrim! One dear young lady from St. Francis deSales Oratory is taking with her on her flight to France this afternoon, the prayer requests of many of the moms from our homeschool co-op! And so I ask you, dear readers, to pray especially for this young lady, her companions, and all of the 15,000 pilgrims as they are on the road to Chartres on this Pentecost weekend. For surely they all have our best in mind and heart:

(From The Remnant): "We will also do our best to represent all Catholic Americans on the road to Chartres. America is in such desperate straights, as we all know; so we will remember our country in a special way this year, asking God to save America and give His children the grace to survive whatever persecution of all things Christian may be on the horizon."

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Empress of the Americas, pray for us!
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!