WASHINGTON – Forty-two buses. More than 3,000 of New Jersey’s faithful. One marriage proposal.
That is what the day had in store for the biennial Diocese of Camden Marian Pilgrimage at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Nov. 7.
After hours of prayer, witness and camaraderie – and as the Diocese’s faithful, clergy, seminarians and religious filed out of the church to catch their rides home – Joseph Lamicella stood near the base of the sanctuary steps and asked his girlfriend of three years for her hand in marriage.
Uyen Vu said yes.
With tears in their eyes, the young adults from Most Precious Blood Parish in Collingswood kissed. Then their friends, standing nearby, went in for hugs, including fellow parishioner Will Tran, and Tina Tran from Allentown, Pa. Will and Tina got engaged a few months ago as well.
Lamicella converted to the Catholic faith last year, and Vu, a lifelong Catholic, has been a constant support, he explained, smiling.
The friends were among those of all ages who traveled to the nation’s capital to visit the basilica, which is one of the 10 largest churches in the world.
Hope in Our Lady
Bishop Joseph A. Williams, priests and seminarians greeted buses from South Jersey’s parishes as they began to arrive around 9 a.m. After posing for photos and catching up with friends, all went into the basilica for the day’s activities – which included opportunities for confession, a concert of sacred music, lunch and time to explore the church, the procession of parish banners, a multilingual rosary and Mass with Bishop Williams. More than 40 priests concelebrated.
In his homily, Bishop Williams spoke about hope. “Today we celebrate a Mass in honor of Our Lady of Divine Hope. Hope, how precious that is.”
Preaching on the day’s Gospel of John 19:25-27, the Bishop recounted how the Blessed Mother witnessed her son being crucified. “It is in this moment that we understand what it means to call for the Mother of Divine Hope.”
He explained that Mary, standing at the Cross, was surely thinking of the angel Gabriel’s earliest words to her: “You will be mother of the most high, and your son will be great. You will sit on the throne of His father Jacob, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
“That’s what Mary heard,” Bishop Williams said. “Now, she’s contemplating her son crucified, tortured and dying on a cross. That is the darkest of dark nights.”
“Hope long-awaited is nothing like hoping against hope, which Mary was doing on Calvary,” he continued, saying she must have been thinking something like, “‘I don’t know how, but I will see my son alive. I will be here standing in hope in this dark night.’
“Her hope was not disappointed. Regina Caeli,” Bishop Williams said, before connecting this witness to the strength of the survivors of clergy sexual abuse.
“My brothers and sisters, we gather as a Diocese in a rather historic moment in the life of our local Church,” he said. “Just over a month ago, we came to a resolution of our bankruptcy settlement, and the Diocese fully funded its portion of that settlement. For many people here, that was a long time coming. … I want to thank you for not losing hope during that time.
“A new day is dawning in the Diocese of Camden. But I need to say that your hope and my hope is nothing compared to the survivors of the Diocese of Camden. You want to talk about a dark night? The survivors have lived in one for many years. I remember speaking with one survivor who said, ‘When you experience trauma, normally the last thing you have is God. But when that trauma comes at the hands of the Church, even your faith is now gone, and the night is completely dark.’
“The amazing thing is that many of these survivors are still standing – and they are with Mary at the Cross of Christ,” he said. “We have these brothers and sisters … to show us the way of Mary, to be icons of truly divine hope for all of us.”
At this moment, he asked all of the priests and deacons to stand and sing the Marian antiphon “Regina Caeli” on “behalf of the survivors, on behalf on the Diocese of Camden, and on behalf of the new dawn that is dawning.”
Spiritual Fruits Abound
Those who took part in the spiritual trek said the experience brought them closer to God and each other.
Father James L. Bartoloma, director of the diocesan Marian Commission and pastor of Church of the Holy Family in Sewell, said there are always great spiritual fruits born out of the pilgrimage.
“There is a special atmosphere of unity,” he said, adding that he was grateful “that so many Catholics from the Diocese were able to honor the Blessed Mother throughout the day and ask her to pray to her son for us.”
“I was impressed with the devotion of all who came,” Father Bartoloma continued. “Those who had been on the pilgrimage or to the basilica before were thrilled to be back again, and those who came for the first time were quite moved by the beauty and holiness of the day.”
In addition to the musicians and choristers who shared their talents during the sacred music concert, he said it was a blessing to have the Diocese’s seminarians participate, too. “I appreciated hearing the seminarians share how they felt inspired and blessed to be on the pilgrimage.”
Speaking of blessings, Will Tran, who helped carry the Most Precious Blood Parish banner during the procession of banners, said it was powerful to see the pilgrims’ unity in diversity.
“Any chance that you get to be closer to God, especially with so many people of different cultural backgrounds, is a good thing,” said Tran, who came into the Catholic faith about six years ago. “Catholic means universal. So how can you say we are a Universal Church if we don’t go outside of our own Diocese and parish and meet other people? We are all sisters and brothers under the same banner.”
Mary and Henry Hartman traveled on one of the two buses from their parish, the Catholic Community of the Holy Spirit in Mullica Hill. Parents to two boys, ages 15 and 18, they said it was meaningful to go on pilgrimage as a church community.
“For our sons to be able to grow up in a parish that knows them, loves them and supports them, the encouragement of that is important so that they can stay in their faith for years to come,” Mary Hartman said.
Victoria Grayson, 7, was a walking example of faith in the family as she carried a little stuffed lamb and a tiny journal. Grayson and her mother, Stephanie, traveled to Washington on Nov. 5 with Saint Vincent de Paul Parish, Mays Landing. The parish decided to turn the one-day pilgrimage into three.
Accompanied by Father John March, pastor, and Father David J. Klein, in residence, the parishioners’ spiritual adventures included the Franciscan Monastery, Mass on The Catholic University of America campus and the Saint John Paul II National Shrine.
It was the Museum of the Bible, especially, that put a huge smile on Victoria’s face.
“That’s where I got my own pink and sparkly Bible,” she piped up, as her mother explained that it was her first “big girl Bible.” The journal, they said, was for Victoria to jot down all of her memories from the pilgrimage.
Reminiscing on the entire experience, Stephanie Grayson said, “The friendships that we made on pilgrimage are priceless. You just can’t do that when you are at home, running around, doing all your daily activities. This has been focused time together, praying and getting to know each other very well.”
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