Our Mother, the Pilgrim...

Mary's life was a perpetual pilgrimage -not only symbolically through the wilderness of this world to Home in Heaven, but in the other literal sense as she followed her Son as He traveled about preaching the Kingdom of Heaven.

Tomorrow I leave again, following their footsteps.

Three years ago I posted the following quotes from a book called 'Strannik,' -'The Pilgrim'. It was written by a holy Russian-Canadian woman about the spirituality of being a perpetual pilgrim in life. Since I am asked over and over again to try to clearly define my life in human ways of thinking -I thought these insights from Catherine Doherty would better answer others' questions than anything I would write on my own.

I continue to ask for your prayers -and as always -you know that I pray continually for all of you as well.

“Out of some depth unknown to them (pilgrims) hear a voice. They may not see Him who called, but they know. They know who it is who called and they cannot resist. They have to arrive. They have to go out of big cities, out of beautiful surroundings, out of rich houses with soft and downy couches, away from wine, song… they had to go. They had to go and nothing could hold them back…Those pilgrims have a strange way of listening… Half the time they don’t know where they are going, and many in the beginning don’t even know why. But this persistent strange voice, that was no voice at all, spoke distinctly, though it wasn’t audible.”

“A pilgrim goes to preach the gospel with his life –person to person –to anyone at any time. There is no rush. There is no rush at all...It is a strange pilgrimage. It is utterly unhurried. It is a pilgrimage whose only goal is the heart of God… It seems, therefore, that the pilgrimage of such people is formless. It is formless! Now he is here, helping somebody build a house. Then when the house is built he moves on, walks long stretches, until God places before him another (work). And the pilgrim stops again. And again he performs that which is of need to someone else. Maybe it will take him weeks. Maybe he appears to settle there wherever it is, but he never settles. He is always on the march. His particular task finished, he moves again. There is no settling down for such a pilgrim. Sometimes it may take him years to do what God asks of him…but his heart is always waiting for the next call..."

“The pilgrim has a heart that must encompass the whole world.”