People who made New Year’s resolutions to travel more often can find multiple opportunities at parishes around the Province. Many ministries are organizing trips out of the country this year, whether it’s to Italy to explore the roots of HNP’s Franciscan tradition or to impoverished areas to volunteer their time and talent. Several are still welcoming participants, both parishioners and friends of Holy Name Province.
Missions
This President’s Day weekend, the St. Francis Builds ministry of St. Camillus Parish in Silver Spring, Md., will be constructing homes for Mexicans living along the U.S.-Mexico border. Volunteers will work primarily at a community center on the Mexican side that provides meals, after-school care and other community-building programs in a poor neighborhood. Information about the ministry can be found on the parish website.
Frank Critch, OFM, and 12 parishioners from St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Triangle, Va., will spend 10 days this July on a visit to St. Francis’s sister parishes in Lima, Peru. “This is a working visit to our sister parish ministries with a strong cultural, political, economic, and faith orientation to the realities of life for our brothers and sisters in Peru,” the Jan. 13 bulletin read.
Pilgrimages to Italy
For those looking to walk in the footsteps of Sts. Francis, Clare and Bonaventure, several ministries are offering trips to Italy.
Charles Miller, OFM, and participants from the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in New York City will venture to Italy on a pilgrimage from April 27 to May 8. The trip will include visits to Rome, Assisi, Florence, Venice, Fatima and Lisbon. More information is available by contacting the parish’s reception desk at 212-736-8500.
St. Bonaventure Parish in Allegany, N.Y., has organized an October pilgrimage to Italy. The trip includes tours of Perugia, Florence, Assisi, Bagnoregio, Orvieto and Rome. More information will be available after Feb. 3.
From Sept. 14 to 26, John McDowell, OFM, and members of St. Mary of the Angels Parish in Anderson, S.C., will travel through Italy and Switzerland. Stops will be made in Rome, Sorrento, Capri, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Tuscany, Florence, Venice, Lake Como and Milan. A flyer provides cost information.
Trips Around the World
A pilgrimage to the Holy Land is leaving from St. Anthony Shrine in Boston on May 7. Participants will travel to Galilee and Judea, visiting sites where Jesus ministered during a 10-day journey led by Gene Pistacchio, OFM,staff member Jackie Stewart, and Biblical scholar Anton Farah. The trip’s registration deadline is Feb. 1.
Vallis Musicae, a community chorus directed by St. Patrick-St. Anthony Parish’s music director Gabriel Lofvall, will be touring and singing around Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland July 9 to 17. Many singers from the Hartford, Conn., parish’s music ministry will also participate. “This is a wonderful opportunity to perform with a choir as you discover the warmth and beauty of that unique island,” reads the parish newsletter. Anyone interested in the trip should contact Lofvall at (860) 756-4034 ext. 164 or at glofvall@spsact.org for more information.
Registration has been extended for this summer’s journey through Ireland with students and faculty members from St. Bonaventure University in Allegany. The trip is being organized by the Fr. Mychal Judge Center, named after Mychal Judge, OFM, who was dedicated to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Larry Sorokes, director of the St. Bonaventure Office of Life-long Learning, will lead the program, which begins June 25. Full payment for the trip is due April 1.
Parishioners and friends from St. Mary’s Church in Pompton Lakes, N.J., are invited on a seven-night Alaska Hubbard Glacier Cruise from June 16 to 23. The parish is also offering a tour through the Rocky Mountains in October. Information about both trips can be found on the St. Mary’s website.
— Maria Hayes is communications coordinator for Holy Name Province.