Year of Faith Pilgrimage to the
          Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul

On Sunday, April 28, forty seven hopeful pilgrims set out together from Saint Agnes Parish on a Year of Faith Pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.  We were of all ages, from the very young to octagenerians, some speaking Spanish, some English.
Our first stop along the way was the Philadelphia Museum of Art Pearlman Center to view an exceptional exhibit of sacred art from Spain and Portugal.  The paintings, sculptures and sacred artifacts, which focused mainly on the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Michael the Archangel, reflected the deep faith of their makers and were imbued with the Mystery and Beauty of God.
With minds and hearts nourished by the wonder and beauty of the exhibit we stopped at a nice restaurant near the cathedral for a late lunch.  We pilgrims, in sharing the journey together, had already become joyful friends discovering previously unknown connections among us!
Quietly we walked the remaining blocks of our journey toward the Mother Church of the Archdiocese contemplating the beautiful and mysterious images that we had seen of la Virgin de Guadalupe, our patroness, and San Miguel, our ever vigilant protector.
The Sacred Space and architecture of our Cathedral is breath taking and for some of our number it was their first visit!  As we knelt in prayer before Mass we thanked God for the gift of Faith remembering Father Al and our priests and the people of Saint Agnes with gratitude.
Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Charles Chaput with Father Cossavella as a concelebrant.  The young cantor’s voice filled the sacred space with exceptional beauty.  Our Archbishop educated us with clarity and tenderness through his homily about our vocation to love one another with the same self sacrificing love with which Christ has loved us.
Our Year of Faith Pilgrimage proved to be for each of us a time of great grace and mercy, deepening our awareness of all that is sacred.