‘Awe and Wonder’: Diocesan pilgrims visit Eucharistic sites in Italy
November 7, 2024 at 10:36 a.m.
Twenty-two pilgrims traveled to Italy earlier this fall as part of the Diocesan Eucharistic Miracle Pilgrimage, on which every stop included a Eucharistic emphasis or miracle.
Pilgrims on the 11-day trip to Italy Sept. 29-Oct. 9 pose for a group photo outside the Loreto Basilica. Photo courtesy of Journey of Faith Tours
During their 11 days abroad, Father Martin O’Reilly, who served as the trip’s spiritual director, and the pilgrims visited and prayed at the holy sites in Rome, Orvieto, Siena, Assisi, Loreto, Manoppello and Lanciano. Of those sites, pilgrims were able to see the Eucharistic Miracles present in Orvieto, Siena and Lanciano.
“To be honest, we had never done a pilgrimage before,” said Deacon John Senkewicz of St. Leo the Great Parish, Lincroft. He made the pilgrimage with wife, Deirdre. “The idea of learning more about our faith and experiencing and visiting sites that were significant to our faith was very intriguing.”
A visit to Assisi included stops at the basilicas of St. Francis, St. Mary of the Angels and St. Clare, and a visit to the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis. In Rome, pilgrims visited all four major basilicas, including St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
Upon viewing Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb in Assisi, Deirdre Senkewicz was awed. Although the future saint’s body was not free from decay upon exhumation, it was covered with a wax representation of how he looked in life.
“It is his body and his clothing; he’s wearing a tracksuit jacket and jeans,” she said. “He looked just like a typical teenager.”
Deacon Senkewicz said he and his wife were very impressed with the Holy House of Loreto, where tradition holds Mary was born and raised and where the Holy Family was thought to have lived when Jesus was a boy. The one-room Holy House, moved to its current location in the 13th century, also is held to be the place where Mary received the angel’s annunciation and conceived the Son of God through the Holy Spirit.
Father Martin O’Reilly, pastor of Mary, Mother of the Church Parish, Bordentown, and spiritual director for the pilgrimage, stands before the Eucharistic Miracle on display in Lanciano. Photo courtesy of Journey of Faith Tours
“We both stuck our fingers through the grate and touched the table,” said Deacon Senkewicz. “What a feeling of awe and wonder, to be able to touch a table that Mary and Jesus touched.”
Another site that affected them was the Eucharistic Miracle at Lanciano where, in the eighth century, the Communion host was changed into human flesh and the wine into human blood to convince a Basilian monk of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
“Not only to hear the story, but also to see the host and the blood … I remember thinking at the time, ‘How can you not believe in God and Jesus when these things exist?’” he said.
Journey of Faith Tours, founded by Carolyn Norbut, associate director for the Diocesan Office of Worship, was responsible for the group’s travel arrangements. Norbut traveled on the Sept. 29-Oct. 9 pilgrimage, and though she has been to Italy many times, the trip still left an indelible impression.
“One of the biggest takeaways for me [is that] the Eucharist is alive; Jesus is alive and fully present in the Eucharist,” she said. “Each experience was extremely humbling to be in the presence of.”
“I’ve always believed in the True Presence,” she continued, “but to see with my own eyes miracles from [so many] years ago, [it demonstrates how] Jesus is ever present to us … He makes himself available to us every day in the sacrifice of the Mass and in Eucharistic Adoration.”
“Better Together” hosts Jennifer Mauro and EmmaLee Italia visit with Father O’Reilly and Carolyn Norbut about their pilgrimage: Visit https://soundcloud.com/dcmcatholicradio or https://www.youtube.com/@DomesticChurchMedia/streams after Nov. 9.
Pilgrims touch the holy door of the papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls. Photo courtesy of Journey of Faith Tours
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Twenty-two pilgrims traveled to Italy earlier this fall as part of the Diocesan Eucharistic Miracle Pilgrimage, on which every stop included a Eucharistic emphasis or miracle.
Pilgrims on the 11-day trip to Italy Sept. 29-Oct. 9 pose for a group photo outside the Loreto Basilica. Photo courtesy of Journey of Faith Tours
During their 11 days abroad, Father Martin O’Reilly, who served as the trip’s spiritual director, and the pilgrims visited and prayed at the holy sites in Rome, Orvieto, Siena, Assisi, Loreto, Manoppello and Lanciano. Of those sites, pilgrims were able to see the Eucharistic Miracles present in Orvieto, Siena and Lanciano.
“To be honest, we had never done a pilgrimage before,” said Deacon John Senkewicz of St. Leo the Great Parish, Lincroft. He made the pilgrimage with wife, Deirdre. “The idea of learning more about our faith and experiencing and visiting sites that were significant to our faith was very intriguing.”
A visit to Assisi included stops at the basilicas of St. Francis, St. Mary of the Angels and St. Clare, and a visit to the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis. In Rome, pilgrims visited all four major basilicas, including St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
Upon viewing Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb in Assisi, Deirdre Senkewicz was awed. Although the future saint’s body was not free from decay upon exhumation, it was covered with a wax representation of how he looked in life.
“It is his body and his clothing; he’s wearing a tracksuit jacket and jeans,” she said. “He looked just like a typical teenager.”
Deacon Senkewicz said he and his wife were very impressed with the Holy House of Loreto, where tradition holds Mary was born and raised and where the Holy Family was thought to have lived when Jesus was a boy. The one-room Holy House, moved to its current location in the 13th century, also is held to be the place where Mary received the angel’s annunciation and conceived the Son of God through the Holy Spirit.
Father Martin O’Reilly, pastor of Mary, Mother of the Church Parish, Bordentown, and spiritual director for the pilgrimage, stands before the Eucharistic Miracle on display in Lanciano. Photo courtesy of Journey of Faith Tours
“We both stuck our fingers through the grate and touched the table,” said Deacon Senkewicz. “What a feeling of awe and wonder, to be able to touch a table that Mary and Jesus touched.”
Another site that affected them was the Eucharistic Miracle at Lanciano where, in the eighth century, the Communion host was changed into human flesh and the wine into human blood to convince a Basilian monk of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
“Not only to hear the story, but also to see the host and the blood … I remember thinking at the time, ‘How can you not believe in God and Jesus when these things exist?’” he said.
Journey of Faith Tours, founded by Carolyn Norbut, associate director for the Diocesan Office of Worship, was responsible for the group’s travel arrangements. Norbut traveled on the Sept. 29-Oct. 9 pilgrimage, and though she has been to Italy many times, the trip still left an indelible impression.
“One of the biggest takeaways for me [is that] the Eucharist is alive; Jesus is alive and fully present in the Eucharist,” she said. “Each experience was extremely humbling to be in the presence of.”
“I’ve always believed in the True Presence,” she continued, “but to see with my own eyes miracles from [so many] years ago, [it demonstrates how] Jesus is ever present to us … He makes himself available to us every day in the sacrifice of the Mass and in Eucharistic Adoration.”
“Better Together” hosts Jennifer Mauro and EmmaLee Italia visit with Father O’Reilly and Carolyn Norbut about their pilgrimage: Visit https://soundcloud.com/dcmcatholicradio or https://www.youtube.com/@DomesticChurchMedia/streams after Nov. 9.
Pilgrims touch the holy door of the papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls. Photo courtesy of Journey of Faith Tours
The Church needs quality Catholic journalism now more than ever. Please consider supporting this work by signing up for a SUBSCRIPTION (click HERE) or making a DONATION to The Monitor (click HERE). Thank you for your support.