May Pilgrimage

VPCYG Pilgrimage from

Ave Maria Shrine to Monastery

May is the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  In order to honor the Blessed Virgin and Mother of God, the Ville Platte Catholic Youth Group will be making a pilgrimage from the Ave Maria Shrine in Prairie Ronde to the Benedictine Monastery near Plaisance.

Saturday morning (May 17) we will leave the Sacred Heart Church parking lot at 9 am.  We will begin the pilgrimage from the Shrine at 9:30 am.  The Monastery is about 5-and-a-half miles away; so, we should arrive at the Monastery at about 11 am.  One of the brothers (maybe Abbot James) will tell us about monastic life and religious vocations.  We’ll have lunch on the grounds.  We should be back in Ville Platte at about 12:30 pm.

Unfortunately, I can’t post a Google Map because WordPress likes to make things difficult.  Sorry.

Because May is the month of Mary, I thought I’d include a really inspiring video.  (I found this at Mark Shea’s blog, Catholic and Enjoying It! )

Also, Catholic Culture has a great article about Marian devotions during May.  Here are some highlights:

• “The pious practice of honoring Mary during the month of May has been especially recommended by the Popes. Pius XII made frequent reference to it and in his great Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy (Mediator Dei) characterized it as one of “other exercises of piety which although not strictly belonging to the Sacred Liturgy, are nevertheless of special import and dignity, and may be considered in a certain way to be an addition to the liturgical cult: they have been approved and praised over and over again by the Apostolic See and by the Bishops” (no. 182).”
• “The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church and therefore the example, as well as the guide and inspiration, of everyone who, in and through the Church, seeks to be the servant of God and man and the obedient agent of the promptings of the Holy Spirit.” – Cardinal John Wright
• THE ROSARY – “Also called the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Rosary is one of the most excellent prayers to the Mother of God. Thus, “the Roman Pontiffs have repeatedly exhorted the faithful to the frequent recitation of this biblically inspired prayer which is centered on contemplation of the salvific events of Christ’s life, and their close association with the Virgin Mother.”