HOMEPAGE for this issue: December 21, 2011 // Download PDF Version // Click to install/update Adobe Reader on your computer

Pilgrimage to Ireland to visit Eucharistic Congress, sacred sites

By Roxanne King

It promises to be the experience of a lifetime. A pilgrimage from Denver to Ireland next June led by Bishop James Conley to attend the 50th International Eucharistic Congress on the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.

Pilgrimage director Timothy Mullner of Faith Journeys tour company describes the double anniversary as “a rare moment.”

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he told faithful gathered at Mother of God Church in Denver Dec. 14 for an information meeting about the trip to the beautiful “Emerald Isle.”

Some two dozen people have already registered for the June 9-18 pilgrimage, which is sponsored by the Denver Catholic Register. Registrations are still being taken.

Msgr. Thomas Fryar, moderator of the curia and pastor of the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, will help Bishop Conley, apostolic administrator for the archdiocese, lead the 10-day journey.

The pilgrimage aims to renew one’s faith, deepen reverence for the Eucharist, and encourage and strengthen Christian community.

In store for pilgrims is five days of touring the “Land of Saints and Scholars.” Sacred sites to be visited include Knock Shrine, where 15 people witnessed an apparition of Mary in 1879; St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which sits adjacent to the well where the saint baptized converts; and the Cistercian abbey Mount Melleray.

Pilgrims will take in the verdant Irish landscape ranging from charming villages in County Wicklow along the Irish Sea to the spectacular Cliffs of Moher and the Burren region on the Atlantic coast, and the bogs, lakes and mountains of Connemara.

Historic sites pilgrims will visit or view include the medieval ruins of the oldest Christian settlement in Ireland, Ardmore, founded by St. Declan in the fifth century; Trinity College, which counts authors Jonathan Swift and Samuel Beckett among its former students and houses the Book of Kells; Dublin Castle and the homes of writers Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker.

Three days of the pilgrimage will be spent at the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin and will include the closing outdoor Mass at Croke Park, the statio orbis (“high point”), expected to draw 80,000 faithful.

Pope Benedict XVI has been invited to participate in the closing Mass but has not yet confirmed, Mullner said.

International Eucharistic Congresses happen once every four years. The 2012 event, themed “The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with One Another,” is expected to draw 25,000 attendees a day from five continents.

Held at the Royal Dublin Society, each day of the congress will include a dynamic Mass presided by a prelate, inspiring catechesis usually given by a bishop and compelling testimony by a layperson.

“The Eucharistic Congress will offer a complete menu of faith opportunities, including catechetical sessions, workshops, musical concerts and cultural events,” Mullner said. “Pilgrims can select the activities most interesting to them.
 “Throughout the pilgrimage,” he added, “we’ll have a chance to hear about those holy men and women who shaped the faith in Ireland.”

Pilgrims will also have a chance to enjoy the renowned lively spirit and welcoming hospitality of the Irish, Mullner said, noting that the tour will include a visit to an Irish pub for a “wee bit of fun.”

“Father Phil Meredith and I led a lot of different pilgrimage groups,” Msgr. Fryar told the Register, recalling his late friend. “We actually felt more relaxed coming back from Ireland than any other place because of the warm hospitality of the Irish.”

To be on pilgrimage, Mullner told meeting attendees, is to turn toward the Lord.

“If you are considering the pilgrimage,” he said, “take it as a sign that the Lord is tugging at you, is asking you to consider this trip. … A pilgrimage is an invitation from the Holy Spirit inviting us to go deeper, to respond to God’s invitation to encounter him.”

Parishioners of Holy Family Church in Denver John Michael McLinden, his wife Chere and mother-in-law Virginia Auge were among those who attended the meeting.

“I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland and since this is a pilgrimage of the Church to the Eucharistic Congress in Ireland it’s the perfect opportunity to go,” McLinden said. Sharing an Irish joke he added, “It’s the real ‘Holy Land,’ you know.”

Spouses Rudy and Edie Gutierrez of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Northglenn said they, too, were drawn by the appeal of the Eucharistic Congress taking place in the Emerald Isle.

“It’s a bucket list item for me,” Rudy Gutierrez said.

The grace-filled chance to both journey to sacred sites and attend a Eucharistic Congress marking milestone anniversaries, makes the pilgrimage unique, Msgr. Fryar said.

“Pilgrims will have a special memory to carry with them for the rest of their life,” he said.

The cost of the pilgrimage including airfare is $3,095 per person (land only price is $2,085). The tour includes three-star hotel accommodations (double occupancy) eight breakfasts and dinners, all scheduled sightseeing and entrance fees, motorcoach, car ferry across the River Shannon and Eucharistic Congress registration fee (including closing ceremony ticket).

Tour does not include private room, travel insurance and airport taxes/fuel surcharges. Full payment must be received by March 10. For more information, call Tess Stone at 303-715-3207 or email tess.stone@archden.org.