Bri CampbellLast Updated: June 17th, 2022Holy Land, Italy, Medjugorje, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections
July 10, 2017, was my first day working at Tekton Ministries. Nearly 5 years later, I find myself recounting the memories of my top three pilgrimages. Perhaps you may find inspiration for your next pilgrimage… Italy I went to Italy with Tekton Ministries as I graduated college in 2017. Little did I know, I would … Read More
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: June 1st, 2022Camino de Santiago, Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories
I first learned about the Camino de Santiago my senior year of college and it was a dream of mine from that day on. I never knew how I could make it a reality, given the logistics of needing at least a month off work and the money to cover all the costs. So, the … Read More
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: May 11th, 2022Camino de Santiago, Marian Shrines of Europe, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections
Nine years ago, while I was in the Chapel of the Apparitions in Fatima, our priest shared a story about one of our fellow pilgrims. At seventeen, she was one of the younger ones in our group and was on this pilgrimage with her older siblings and parents. We had recently walked five days on … Read More
Bri CampbellLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Medjugorje, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections
This past Saturday, I returned to the U.S. from a week-long stay in Medjugorje – a small village nestled in the hills of Bosnia-Herzegovina, not far from the coast of the Adriatic Sea. When asked, most people cannot point to this place on a map. They’ve never heard of Bosnia-Herzegovina, let alone the pilgrimage site … Read More
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections
Every day in our morning prayers at the office, we invoke the intercession of Mary under the title Queen of Peace. This is especially fitting this week, as Pope Francis called for a day of prayer and fasting on Ash Wednesday for the situation in Ukraine. The title of Mary as Our Lady of Peace … Read More
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Featured Pilgrimages, Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories
Well, it finally happened. After almost exactly 2 years, which really felt like much longer, we had a pilgrimage group depart for the Holy Land. Though those of us here in the office would have preferred to have gone with them, we have been delighting in their pictures and stories they have shared with us … Read More
Bri CampbellLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Medjugorje, Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections, Upcoming Pilgrimages
It has been exactly 2 years, 9 months, and 4 days since my last pilgrimage. In May of 2019, I was blessed with the opportunity to visit the Holy Land with my home parish. Looking back, it was such an easy journey – without the burden of COVID restrictions and new policies, it seems unbelievable … Read More
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Pilgrims' Stories, Spiritual Reflections
The past two years have brought lots of ups and downs in the pilgrimage world. We had two groups travel in February of 2020 and then mere days before we were to send others, everything shut down. March groups were postponed to October, then to the following March, then again to the fall, and once … Read More
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: March 24th, 2022Camino de Santiago, Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories
Our first pilgrimage to the holy Land in nearly two years is departing in just over a week. They have received their pilgrim packets with their luggage tags and booklet. Their e-tickets are in their inboxes, and their final preparation meeting was earlier this week. We – and their group leaders – have done our … Read More
Merriam Webster defines a pilgrimage as “a journey of a pilgrim,” especially: “one (journey) to a shrine or a sacred place.” The first known use of the word ‘pilgrimage’ was in the 14th century, but the action of taking a pilgrimage had already existed for millennia at that point. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Abraham was … Read More
Krista BehringerLast Updated: April 1st, 2021Holy Land, Pilgrims' Stories
How many different occasions has someone shouted, “stay awake” or “don’t fall asleep?” If you find yourself blessed with the opportunity to spend the night inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and accidentally fall asleep, you may hear plenty of voices in several different languages ordering you to either sit up straight … Read More
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: February 8th, 2021Camino de Santiago, Pilgrims' Stories, Saints, Spiritual Reflections
In 2013, I took a pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Spain and to the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal, with a local church group of close to 50. We celebrated Mass together each day and were accompanied in our worship by one pilgrim who had brought along his guitar. A song … Read More
Andrea JoinesLast Updated: August 27th, 2021Camino de Santiago, Pilgrims' Stories, Saints
Throughout the first month of my Camino across northern Spain we had been blessed with the warmest and driest October in 200 years. The sun shone every day and the little rain we did have was warm and ended quickly, allowing us to dry out by the end of the walking day. The breezes were mostly warm and dry, especially once we turned … Read More
Take your rosary or prayer book for the long flight and as a prayer aid at the very special holy sites you will be visiting. As St. Padre Pio says, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” The best slogan for pilgrimage travel anywhere! Dress for sacred spaces. It’s important to remember that churches in Europe and … Read More
When you visit a locale with extraordinary significance in salvation history, it’s good to have Scripture close at hand. When my family visited Rome a few years ago, it was Scripture coupled with history that really hit home the richness and depth of our Faith. On our trip, one of the places we visited was … Read More
