The Pilgrims from Shamokin

Mother Cabrini Catholic Church in Shamokin, Pennsylvania (photo source: www.mothercabrini.net)

Shamokin, Pennsylvania is a small town of just over 8,000. It lies near the Anthracite Coal Region. Shamokin’s Catholic community has an excellent home in the Conventual Franciscan Mother Cabrini Church. Pastor Friar Dennis Grumsey provides leadership and guidance at Mother Cabrini, making sure that the spiritual needs of his parishioners are met.

Pastor Friar Dennis Grumsey (photo source: www.mothercabrini.net)

One aspect of spiritual life is the act of attending a pilgrimage. Keeping this in mind, Mother Cabrini Church recently sponsored a bus full of faithful Catholics who travelled on a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The pilgrimage was a diocesan event.

National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. (photo source: www.wikipedia.org)

Leaving Mother Cabrini at 5:45 in the morning when the sky still lacked the brightness of day, the bus full of pilgrims made the 190 mile journey to the nation’s capital. The day’s program was set to keep the group busy. Arriving in Washington later that morning, the pilgrims received the Sacrament of Penance and attended a prelude concert. They also participated in a Mass and had time for Eucharistic Adoration. By 4:30 in the afternoon, every pilgrim from Mother Cabrini had to be on the bus. It was time to head back to Shamokin. The pilgrimage had been a fast-moving day of spiritual excitement.