PEACE ON EARTH

PEACE ON EARTH – Article One

Pilgrimages, Shrines and Pope Visits

Those of us who are drawn to special places, be they religious or wondrous, are actually called to go there.  My spiritual path has led me many places, and today’s article is about the religious spots I’ve been inspired to visit.

The first “call” was to Conyers, GA.  Blessed Mother Mary had been appearing there to a woman named Nancy Fowler.  People were traveling to “the farm” from all over; busloads even making the trek.  Rosary bead links were changeling color from silver to gold, people were leaving with sparkles on their faces and bodies, the sun was seen spinning, and photographs were filled with orbs.  My call was received when the book, Wake Up America: take my heart take my hand by Ann Marie Hancock manifested itself to me.  I had run into the local stationery store just as they opened, I needed paper for the newsletter.  I saw the book and decided to purchase it since it was the only copy there.  When I went to the register the clerk asked me where I found the book.  “In the back, on the middle bookshelf.  But it’s the only copy that was there,” I added, thinking she might want a copy for herself.

“You don’t understand,” she said.  “We did inventory this morning and I inventoried the books.  This book was not there.”

Ah, the angels are up to their usual and a strong message of taking pilgrimages was headed my way.  Somehow that book then led to Medjugorje, where the Blessed Mother had appeared to children in 1981.  (She still appears to them now, in 2015.)  Medjugorje is located in the Bosnia and Hertzegovenia area, close to Croatia.  Driving through the country you would see remnants of buildings without roofs, bombed or burned during the war that took place a good 10 years earlier.  The small village of Medjugorje (when I visited 15 years ago) was welcoming and peaceful.  The natives were kind and loving, and stopped whatever they were doing everyday at 6:25 to go outside and say a short prayer while Blessed Mother Mary appears to the visionaries.  It was quite interesting to see shopkeepers, restaurant workers, tour guides, etc. just stop and stand still, heads bowed for a few minutes.

Another “call” was to Mexico, where I was lucky enough to see the tilma of Juan Diego.  We traveled like royalty, and were treated well by all we encountered.  The many stories of miracles through the towns (and not small miracles, like someone was healed; but huge village/town changing miracles) were abundant, and the joy radiating from the faces of those in close proximity of the many miraculous areas was tangible.

As I write this, I think it is very synchronistic that our center is home to a print of Our Lady of Guadalupe that was blessed by Our Lady of Medjugoje.  That story is for another day.

The “call” to Italy was filled with shrine/church visits, Mass in unique places, lunch at the Vatican’s seminary and beautiful people all around.

Each of these pilgrimages was amazing in its own right.  There was an air of excitement and expectation around the pilgrims.  The grounds we visited all had a tangible energy.  You could feel it in the air:  peace and awe, excitement and anticipation, and of course, the tourist vibe was strong.  Once you go to Medjugorje, you won’t want to leave.  (One of my customers went a year or so after I did, came back, and planned to retire there, in the caves, helping the homeless.)  It’s simply an amazing soul-changing experience.  Guadalupe was also an unbelievable experience, watching the faithful crawl on their knees to the altar.  The sound of so many different languages, all with the same tone of excitement, to see the kindness many would share especially in large crowds is always heartwarming.

What I noticed about the visits to these far away places is that while each of them is known for something different, they all carry a certain vibration, maybe even an aura of the miraculous.  Whether you visit the village of Medjugorje or the Shrine of Czestachowa in Doylestown, the vibration is the same.  The people may be different, but the energy of the land is phenomenal.  This is true of whatever shrine you visit in whatever land.  Many miracles occur at Czestachowa in Doylestown and when I have a special request, that’s where I head.  St. Katharine Drexel’s Shrine in Philadelphia has you forgetting you are in the middle of a city as soon as you enter the grounds.  Saint Pio’s shrine in Barto carries a special peace.  But you can duck into a shrine in the middle of downtown somewhere (like St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC) and experience oneness.

Any trip to a far away holy place or a nearby shrine often is accompanied by excitement, expectation and awe.  The participants are so happy to be attending a special place, renowned for its miracle making energy.  None of my trips to Italy, Bosnia, Mexico or any of the shrines in the USA could compare to my pilgrimage to see the pope.

Much like that first pilgrimage, I was called.  But, believe me, I wasn’t listening.  I thought it would be an interesting trip, but I’ve been on mobbed religious expeditions and figured I would sit this one out.  I could watch on TV or online, have a better view, and be much more comfortable.  The angels obviously had a different plan and when I wouldn’t listen to them, friends, family and everyone I came in contact with seemed to have only one question for me.  “Are you going to see the pope?”

Between tickets being laid at my feet, my work for the weekend cancelled, the many people asking me, and being in Philly on Friday night anyway, I decided (you like that?  “I decided” like I had a choice) to go to see the pope.  Another reason I didn’t want to go was because I kept “seeing” a bomb.  Thank goodness that energy dissipated.

It was over a month ago, and it seriously took weeks for figure out the correct words to describe the energy of the pope’s visit.  Finally, I had it.  Reverence.  The people in Philly exuded a reverence I had never encountered before.  Not at the Vatican, not in Assisi, not in Medjugorje; but here in Philadelphia the energy was one of deep reverence.

Many people heard the call and just traveled to Philadelphia with no set plan, no hotel room, no idea if they would even be able to get into the city.  I am still amazed that people from Canada decided to drive to the Warminster train station to go in to see the pope.  An entire family from Alabama did the same.  And there were thousands of other similar stories.  Busloads came from Michigan, and even as far as California.  They all descended upon Philadelphia, and they all carried vibrations of reverence, humility, honor and deeply privileged to be there.   The vibration was holier than all of my pilgrimages with the cardinal, the parish, and Medjugorje all together.  It wasn’t the fanatical event the media worked hard to portray, it was people being kind to each other, almost childlike in silence, hands clasped and eyes wide, ready to see what’s not been seen before.  We were so very blessed to have this man come to bless our country, to walk upon the streets of our capital and two biggest cities.  The pilgrims in Philly understood that we were a part of history beyond what eye could see, ear could hear and heart could feel.  Any of us in that vibration carried it home with us to all those we are in contact with:  the folks from California took it with them, the family from Alabama carried it home.  The peeps from Canada went back and shared it there – and so on.

If you want a little bit of peace, if you want to experience the vibration of the miraculous, if you just want to sit still and be ONE with all of creation – take a short drive to your local holy shrine.  Sit and Be.  Allow the healing energies to permeate your being.  You don’t need to subscribe to the shrine’s religious mode of thought – energy has no religion.  Just go, sit and Be.  Then watch your life change....

Next Article in this series – Vortexes and Wonders