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CHICAGO — The seldom seen Eastern Catholic treasures of Rome will be the focus of Horizons’ May 13-22 pilgrimage in celebration of the Eparchy of Parma’s 50th anniversary.
Pilgrims will join Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, Horizons editor Laura Ieraci, and chaplain Father Andrew Summerson, all of whom studied in Rome for several years.
Pilgrims will walk in the footsteps of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, who, after their evangelical mission in establishing the Ruthenian Church, came to Rome. St. Cyril died in Rome and pilgrims will venerate his relics at the Basilica of San Clemente. Sts. Cyril and Methodius celebrated Divine Liturgy at the Basilica of St. Mary Major nearby, and pilgrims will do the same, as well as venerate the original icon of the Mother of God, Salus Populi Romani, which tradition says was painted by St. Luke, patron saint of iconographers.
Pilgrims will visit the Pontifical Oriental Institute, a Jesuit-run Vatican university, which specializes in researching and offering formation in Eastern liturgy, tradition, history and spirituality.
Pilgrims will also celebrate Divine Liturgy at San Antonio Abate, the church of the Pontifical Russian College, where Blessed Theodore Romzha was a student and was ordained a priest. It was here that Metropolitan Judson Procyk celebrated the last panachida before Blessed Theodore’s beatification by John Paul II.
Pilgrims will pray before the original miraculous icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help at St. Alphonsus Liguori church, and give thanks for the icon that occasioned the longest-running Eastern Catholic pilgrimage in the United States in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
They will also enjoy the traces of Eastern influence in art and architecture in other historic churches, such as the Basilica of Saint Praxades and Santa Maria in Trastevere, and pray with the oldest Greek Catholic community in Rome at Santa Maria in Cosmedin, which houses relics of the real St. Valentine.
Traveling outside of Rome, pilgrims will visit the 1,000-year-old Greek Catholic monastery of Grottaferrata. This little known national treasure boasts a strong history of Eastern Catholic presence outside of Rome, rich in history, culture and spirituality. These monks were largely responsible for printing the Greek and Slavonic liturgical texts used by the Byzantine Ruthenian Church in the 20th century.
This tailor-made pilgrimage includes all of these Eastern Catholic highlights, along with the major sites a pilgrim would expect, including St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and participation at the General Audience with the pope.
For registration or information: www.parma.org/romepilgrimage or call (216) 470-3287.
Caption: Pope John Paul II prays at the tomb of St. Cyril, buried in the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome. Pilgrims on Horizons’ May 13-22 pilgrimage will also pray at St. Cyril’s tomb. (Photo: www.basilicasanclemente.com)
As published in Horizons, Feb. 10, 2019.
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