Wonderful Days...

These days are filled with joyous ordinations and First Masses!  

Last weekend Father Chris Micale was ordained a Priest for the Diocese of Burlington.  This was taken after his First Mass in Woodstock, Vermont. 

On the same day, Stephen Lundrigan was ordained a Deacon in Saint Paul's Cathedral in Worcester.  Stephen and the other deacon candidates are prostrate before the Altar as we sing the Litany of the Saints.

Arriving in Santiago...

After a little over 300 kilometers of walking we arrived to Santiago. And we were privileged to have a stellar closure to our pilgrimage as Fr. Manuele, the chaplain of our group, offered Mass at the altar attached to the back part of the tomb of Holy Apostle Saint James. Being in such proximity to a holy place like the tomb of one of Our Lord's apostles, who not only witnessed to Christ's Transfiguration and agony in Gethsemane but who also witnessed to the truth of the Gospel by his missionary zeal and martyrdom, inspires in us the desire to be faithful disciples of Christ in the 21st century. 

Throughout the journey the Good Lord and Our Blessed Mother did not leave us alone and unaided, all our needs were taken care of. Jesus had sent his disciples ahead to find a place to celebrate the Passover, but in our case what we experienced is that it was Jesus and Mary who were always ahead of us preparing the hearts of the people we were going to meet, who would only later be able to act on Christian charity and provide food and shelter for us - the little ones. 

Thank you for all your prayers; through prayer we continue to remain united,

Bernardo and the Clowns of God

Saint James: pray for us!

Almighty ever-living God, who consecrated the first fruits of your Apostles by the blood of Saint James, grant, we pray, that your Church may be strengthened by his confession of faith and constantly sustained by his protection.

Camino IV

Dear Msgr. Moroney,

These last couple of days we've been getting to our albergues (shelters) quite late in the night....sorry I haven't had the chance to send out an update until now. It's unbelievable how quickly time has passed here, we will be arriving God willing tomorrow in Santiago. We have come across some incredibly generous people along the Camino who have treated us to meals, provided shelter for us, and have enjoyed the singing and juggling! Without a doubt Our Blessed Mother has been protecting us 

Tomorrow we will have a 37 kilometer walk, which will make for a long day; however, we are excited to finally reach Santiago. In preparation for this long day we had a nice pasta and pork meal...so we should be all set for the walk.

I send along some more pictures...please continue to pray for us and especially tomorrow for good weather (since its expected to rain). We continue to keep you in our prayers,

Bernardo and the Clowns of God

Dinner after a 40 km day!
(With some Canadian friends and pilgrims)

Steve Poirier and Matthew Schultz on the Camino

Enjoying the walk
right before a rapid descent from the mountain O Cebreiro

Camino Pilgrims III

We are about to leave for Ascension Thursday Mass, yesterday was without doubt the toughest day, we walked close to 40 kilometers across some mountains to arrive at a small town Acebo late at night. Here we met a French man who was generous to pay for us to stay in an albergue-shelter. The previous night we spent in Astorga at their seminary, which is actually no longer in use. 

On the Camino they have come to know us as the juggling priests...even though those who are in cassocks are not the most important part of the show...haha

Thank you for all your prayers; we continue to remain united through prayer.

Camino Pilgrims II

From the Road to Campostela:

We are now waking up in Villar de Mazarife, located about 20 km from Leon, and will soon head out and we expect to walk close to 30 km today. 

We stayed our first night at a Benedictine Monastery in Leon, where we were given shelter for free. And it was close by to the beautiful gothic Cathedral, where Don Eduardo, the rector of the Cathedral and former seminary rector, was extremely friendly in receiving our group even to the extent of buying tapas and 'café con leche' for us and giving us a small tour. 

We had great success with the juggling thus far, it has been fun putting forth these shows! We had three shows the first day (Sunday) and one before we left on Monday and one when we arrived in Villar de Mazarife. 

I hope to write to you again soon, know we are well and already on the Camino on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James. We keep all of you in our prayers, please continue to pray for us!

On the Way to Astorga

A Prayer for our Pilgrims

Several of our seminarians have embarked with a group on the Camino, a pilgrimage on foot of over a week to Santiago di Compostela in Galicia, Spain.  They are juggling and singing for their supper along the way.  Stay tuned to this blog for posts from along the pilgrim path in the days to come.

In the meantime, here's an ancient prayer of the Camino pilgrim which I ask that we pray for them over the next week...

O God, who brought your servant Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans, protecting him in his wanderings, who guided the Hebrew people across the desert, we ask that you watch over us,
your servants, as we walk in the love of your name to Santiago de Compostela.

Be for us our companion on the walk,
Our guide at the crossroads,
Our breath in our weariness,
Our protection in danger,
Our albergue on the Camino,
Our shade in the heat,
Our light in the darkness,
Our consolation in our discouragements,
And our strength in our intentions.

So that with your guidance we may arrive safe and sound at the end of the Road and enriched with grace and virtue we return safely to our homes filled with joy.  In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

O, Holy Apostle Santiago, pray for us.

Santa Maria, pray for us.

Saint John, pray for us.

Saints Peters and Paul, pray for us.

Juggling pins and backpacks awaited the pilgrims

departure this morning at SJS.

"Peace is not something which can be bought or sold"

"Peace is not something which can be bought or sold; peace is a gift to be sought patiently and to be "crafted" through the actions, great and small, of our everyday lives. The way of peace is strengthened if we realize that we are all of the same stock and members of the one human family; if we never forget that we have the same Father in heaven and that we are all his children, made in his image and likeness."

                            - Homily during Mass at the Amman International Stadium (24 May 2014)