Day one. After a beautiful pilgrims blessing and send off from the parishioners and Father Rick at St Peter in Slinger, we gathered with a few other pilgrims at Our Lady of Good Help for 11 am Mass to begin our pilgrimage. We enjoyed lunch at the Schoolhouse Cafe and toured the grounds before being blessed by Father James and beginning the first leg of the pilgrimage.
Our walk began in bright sunshine with a strong headwind -25 mph. After fighting the wind for about 90 minutes, the skies turned dark and we were “baptized” with a thunderstorm and driving rain, good thing we all had rain gear, still we got soaked. We sought shelter in a nearby dairy barn to wait out the storm. Father Kurz met us there to pray with us and encourage us on our journey. When the rains let up, we continued our journey, being dried out by the strong winds as we walked. We enjoyed bright sun and wind the rest of the day.
Father Kurz met us as we approached our stop for the night – St Thomas Religious Ed.Center in Polland; 13 miles today.
Father Kurz treated us to a hearty supper at Whipps, we enjoyed a warm shower, prayed with the Totus Tuus camp and settled in for some much needed rest. Our feet are a little sore, but our spirits are high.
~Eileen Belongea
Pray with Mary, Walk with Jesus.