They
took the high road — a pilgrimage from seminary to St. Rita
By Lou Baldwin
Special to the CS&T
PHILADELPHIA
— It was happy coincidence, if there is such a thing as mere coincidence.
The Gospel reading on Sunday, April 6, was the passage from Luke that
tells of two disciples of Jesus who met the Master during a seven and-a-half-mile
walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus but did not recognize the Risen Lord until
the breaking of the bread.
On the same Sunday, approximately 150 seminarians and faculty members
walked about the same distance from St. Charles Seminary in Wynnewood
to the Shrine of St. Rita in South Philadelphia. There, those spiritual
descendants of the first disciples knew full well they would meet the
Risen Lord through the breaking of the bread at holy Mass.
Their pilgrimage, similar to one made two years ago to the Shrine of St.
John Neumann in North Philadelphia, was in what one might call Irish weather
— a bit of soft rain at the beginning, generally chilly, perfect
for hiking.
“It was a great day. It started out raining, but that’s part
of it,” said Seminary rector Msgr. Joseph G. Prior. “A pilgrimage
is an analogy of life — there are rainy days, but the sun came out
too. It was a great way for the men to be together to do this pilgrimage
and everybody held together following the cross. I think it will be a
fruitful experience for them.”
The walk began at approximately 11:30 a.m. The pilgrims went down City
Avenue, entered Fairmount Park, wended through the park to Center City
and made a brief stop at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.
Then they continued down Broad Street to the Shrine and Church of St.
Rita, where Augustinian Father William Recchuti, the shrine’s director,
conducted a program on the life of St. Rita.
The seminarians’ visit was one of many pilgrimages the shrine will
host this year, according to Father Recchuti — although it is, perhaps,
the only one in which the pilgrims come on foot. There are also individual
devotees of St. Rita who visit the shrine, especially around her feast
day, the director said.
Seminarian Robert Boileau, fourth year college, is no stranger to the
shrine because he is from nearby St. Monica Parish. “It is a gorgeous
display of our faith and a reminder of what our faith is about”
he said. “We need to be witnesses — but we also can be strengthened
on our own spiritual journey by pilgrimages like this
For Richard Smith, a third year theology student out of St. John the Baptist
Parish, the pilgrimage was a reminder of why he is studying for the priesthood.
“If I don’t make the time to go on a retreat and spend time
with Christ and the saints, and look at their lives, then my diaconate
and priesthood will not be as fruitful as it can be,” Smith said.
“This is definitely an opportunity for me to strengthen that zeal.”
The pilgrimage ended with a Mass celebrated by Msgr. Prior and concelebrated
by Msgr. Daniel J. Sullivan, vicar for Philadelphia South, along with
priest-faculty of St. Charles.
To
subscribe now, click here.