Year of Faith Pilgrimaging I

This next series of posts I am going to post simultaneously on both The Variant Purist and On Sooner Trails.  They apply to both blogs and besides On Sooner Trails needs some love.  It frustrates me that this will get OST all out of chronological order but there are worse things in life!

To pick up where I left off:  Last Sunday night (July 28^th) around 11:00p I accidentally discovered the Year of Faith Pilgrimages that the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City organized.  Immediately I sent Beek a message inquiring as to why on earth we were not doing that!  Then I read a little further and discovered the whole program ends on August 18^th!  Horror of horrors!  It started June 17^th!  All that time lost!  :-O

Well, then logic kicks in.  I am, after all, currently not working and therefore should have plenty of time to get these accomplished before the deadline, right?  By the time I posted the blog entry that night I had printed all the necessary information including the passports for all 4 pilgrimages and had made myself a ‘cheat sheet’ of places, addresses, times, etc.  I was ready to go.

But where was I going?  What, you may ask, is a Year of Faith Pilgrimage?  The Year of Faith I have talked about on The Variant Purist quite a bit and there are MANY online resources regarding it.  It runs from October 11, 2012 – November 24, 2013.  There are many layers of importance to it from strengthening the New Evangelization to rediscovering our own walk with God to commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and 20^th anniversary of the release of the Catechism of the Catholic Church…and much more. 

There are a multitude of devotions and prayers and events for the Year of Faith.  Some are universal, some more local.  Each diocese is celebrating the Year a bit differently.  Enter the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.  Technically I don’t know who came up with the pilgrimage idea or why (though I’m glad they did!) but the main goal seems to be to encourage people to learn more about the origins, resources and diversity that exists in the archdiocese.

There are 4 Year of Faith Pilgrimages to choose from.  You only need to complete one to receive the commemorative pin; but why would you do just one?  Do you only eat 25% of your Chick-fil-A nuggets?  When it comes to the good things in life you have to go 100%!!  J

Here are the specifics of each pilgrimage:

Cradle of Catholicism Pilgrimage

Sacred Heart Church – Konawa

Sacred Heart Abbey Mission Ruins – Konawa

Saint Gregory University & Abbey – Shawnee

Saint Wenceslaus Church – Prague

Seat of Catholicism Pilgrimage

Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help – OKC

Saint Francis of Assisi Church – OKC

Saint Joseph Old Cathedral – OKC

Multicultural Presence Pilgrimage

Corpus Christi Church – OKC

Sacred Heart Church – OKC

Saint Andrew Dung-Lac Church – OKC

Religious Sites of Interest Pilgrimage

Saint Joseph Church – Bison

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Duncan

Saint John Nepomuk Church – Yukon

Holy Trinity Church – Okarche

Saint Patrick Church – OKC

Each pilgrimage also has one more stop which is the final one where you turn your passport in.  It is the Catholic Pastoral Center – OKC.  I don’t include it in the lists since it is not so much the end of each pilgrimage as it is the end of your journey albeit one pilgrimage or, as in my case, all 4. 

All you have to do at each site is answer a question that is on the passport.  You are also encouraged to pray the Nicene Creed (the official Year of Faith prayer) at each site.  And that is it.  Pray, answer the question, and when the passport is filled out take it to the final stop and get your pin. 

So there I am on Sunday night frantic to figure out how to go about these pilgrimages before the window of opportunity closed.   You already know I finished them; I actually completed all 4 pilgrimages in 4 days.