Pilgrimage to saint's town
Events
St Joseph’s Church in Penola was the destination for 100 pilgrims who joined Archbishop Patrick O’Regan for the second pilgrimage Mass for the Year of the Jubilee on Saturday August 23.
The pilgrims came from as far as Clare, Kapunda and Port Victoria on the Yorke Peninsula and Craigburn Farm and Pooraka in the city.
Lauren Bierer from the Adelaide Archdiocese’s Community Life and Worship Office said a Jubilee pilgrimage created a special opportunity to “encounter God’s mercy, grow in faith and experience spiritual renewal”.
Diocesan musicians assisted the Penola parish choir to lead the music, concluding the Mass with the Jubilee theme song, Pilgrims of Hope.
Sr Loreto O’Connor rsj, along with other Penola parishioners, provided a soup supper in the Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre following Mass. Pilgrims were invited to enjoy the museum displays which highlight Mary MacKillop’s life, focusing on the Penola years, and also the century-long process that culminated in her canonisation.
“Penola is a special place where Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods co-founded the uniquely Australian Sisters of Saint Joseph in 1866, and it is considered the birthplace of Catholic education in SA,” Lauren said.
Following the success of pilgrimages to Sevenhill (in June) and Penola last month, Lauren urged the faithful to consider a pilgrimage to one of the State’s three Jubilee sites, the third being St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Adelaide where Archbishop O’Regan will celebrate Mass for the holy year on Saturday October 11 at 11.30am.
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