Below are typical responses from our Pilgrims.
Dear Bob, Penny and Luz:
I wanted to write many times, but was not sure what to
say. Well, today is the perfect day to say thank you.
Thank you from the beginning to the end. Before we began
our Pilgrimage you were so kind and from a simple inquiry
you changed your itinerary to include a visit to St. Gemma
Galgani in Lucca. We will never forget you for this. And the
prayers we received from our family at Journeys of Faith®.
We thank you for every day of our Pilgrimage and all that
you taught us, the people who accompanied us, especially
Fr. Victor. Every day was a blessing, a gift from our God,
our Father in Heaven.
We thank you for all the places where we went, from Blessed
Anna Maris Taigi, who we thought of when our Pilgrimage
was in doubt. She reminded us that obedience to your state
in life comes first and for those two statues of St. Therese in
Rome, you did not know that she was the Patron of our family
for over 80 years and she helped my husband's father returnto the Church
right before his death last year. Thanks for Our Lady
of Good Counsel, Our Lady of Loreto, St. Padre Pio. All
the places were overwhelming. Until today my husband doesnot know how he
got through the readings in the Church in Lucca. He
was trembling so much that he asked St. Gemma for her
help and she did help him. He knelt in that Church and
repeated the words of St. Simeon,
“Master, you may now dismiss your servant in Peace.”
We have a journal of nearly 80
pages, and from many of those entries we relive so
many details which are too numerous to mention.
As we share our Pilgrimage now, be it with the seniors
group in our Church or the Knights of Columbus, know that
your are always in our prayers and we will never forget what
you did for us.
In the end we just want to say, May the blessings of the
Lord be upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord.
T. & A. D.S. St. James NY
Dear Bob, Penny, Luz, and Brother Joseph:
I pray all is well with all of you. My husband and I just returned from our
trip to Poland, Prague, and Lithuania. My husband’s heritage is Eastern Europe
and I very much wanted to visit Poland in memory of Pope John Paul II. He was
everywhere that I walked, especially Krakow. I’ve never experienced the
exceptional devotion that I experienced in Poland. It is so inspiring. The
people are so wonderful.
When we went to St. Faustina’s shrine in Krakow, I felt pure love. A lovely
older nun that I sat next to during Mass at the Basilica, pulled me toward her
and kissed me at the end of the Benediction. It was as if St. Faustina was
thanking me for coming to visit her. The tears flowed!
Thanks to you, to your ministry, to your wonderful pilgrimage, my heart is so
open to all of these opportunities. I am blessed.
God bless you always. I pray we see each other again. I love you!
R. K. New Fairfield, CT
Dear Bob, Penny, & Luz:
We want to express our gratitude to you for a wonderful and holy pilgrimage. It
was definitely a gift from Our Father that came to us through your faith, love,
knowledge, and gentleness. You took a group of strangers that came together in
Detroit and bound us together with your love that turned us into a close knit
family. We felt so much love for you and each one on this trip that we felt
sad, empty & lonely as we parted ways in Amsterdam. The Holy Spirit and Mary
were always with us.
Your knowledge of all the Saints & Shrines that we saw & experienced made each
one an exciting adventure yet a feeling of awe, as walking on Holy ground. I
have such a deep awareness & closeness to each saint now as I find a prayer or a
writing by them. Our favorite experience was going to Blanot, France.
Receiving Jesus in the Eucharist through all those beautiful & loving people, in
the scrumptious meal they served us, as well as the sweet cherry wine (they said
was a mistake). Later seeing with the eyes of our bodies & soul the Miracle of
the Blood of Christ, it took my breath away; I could not take my eyes off Him.
There were so many wonderful moments that you helped bring alive as well as all
the fun we had together as family - even the flood at Nimes.
May Our Lord continue to give you the health & strength to take more people on
these wonderful, spirit filled pilgrimages. If they only knew what waited for
them there would be a waiting list to go with you. We love you with the love of
Our Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. God Bless you all.
Dear Bob, Penny, Luz and Brother Joseph:
Thank you for the wonderful pilgrimage to Italy and France. It was beyond my
expectations, and perfect in every way, especially having you as guides with
your expertise and Father as our priest.
We could never have seen so many holy places and visited inside the monasteries
without you and your friends in every village and city.
I am planning to join you next year on your pilgrimage to northern Italy and
hope we will return to some of the same sites (maybe all of them!!) Thank you
for all your hard work for our souls. Love and God bless.!
T.A. Little Rock, AR
Dear Bob, Penny and Luz:
It was a great pleasure for me to accompany you on the Pilgrimage to the Shrines
of Quebec (Canada). What an enjoyable spiritual experience our neighbors to the
north have to share with us.
I grew up and lived half my life in North Dakota and didn’t know about the
beautiful Saints and Shrines of Quebec. Thank you for bringing me on an
extraordinary Spiritual adventure.
I am sending you a check for $100 for a brick to be placed at the Holy House in
my name.
God bless you in your wonderful holy work. Your sister in Christ
C.M. - Grover Beach, CA
Dear
Luz,
Before you leave for your next Pilgrimage, we wanted to thank you, Bob and Penny
for an awesome, spiritual Pilgrimage and Brother Joseph for his work on the
videos. The planning and work that goes into a trip of this magnitude must be
overwhelming at times but you certainly kept us all in the appropriate places.
The pilgrims were of all ages and yet, we all enjoyed being with the group as
everyone was so friendly. We were so happy that Father Bob could celebrate Mass
at the Shrines, he is truly a very holy man.
Our first Pilgrimage with you was in 2000, the Jubilee Year. We have attended
the September Conferences in Morrilton and now this Pilgrimage. We thank you
for strengthening our faith in the Church and bringing us closer to Jesus. When
we are with you, we feel so protected and now we are back in the materialistic
world. We pray that we can join you on future Pilgrimages. We viewed the
pictures last night and they brought back so many wonderful memories. May God
bless you in all of the work that you do and we will pray for you as you travel
to Rome for Mother Teresa’s beatification.
B. & O. M. B.
Sarasota, FL
Dear
Bob and Penny:
My son had an awesome time on your Pilgrimage and returned with memories that
will last a lifetime and profound experiences to ponder.
I believe that he, like everyone else, was chosen to go on this particular
spiritual journey. (In his case, I suspect the intervention of my favorite
Saint.) Young people who are exposed to so many false and ugly things need all
the contact with beauty and holiness we can give them, and I thank you for
making it available to my son through your wonderful ministry.
Thank you also for your personal Christian witness, for your love and kindness
to him. Extend our appreciation to Brother Joseph for his excellent work, to
Fr. Bob Brooks for being so generous, and Luz Elena for making the arrangements
and so patiently answering our questions.
God Bless you all. We love you.
L. S.
Helena, MT