For the Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope, dioceses across the world have been charged with designating local pilgrimage sites for those who can’t get to Rome. Three local sites – all listed on the National Register of Historic Places – have been designated in the Diocese of Charlotte: St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville; Mary, Help of Christians Basilica at Belmont Abbey in Belmont; and St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. Before you venture out to one of them, how should you prepare for a pilgrimage? Will Peterson, founder and president of Modern Catholic Pilgrim, recently suggested several ways Catholics can deepen their local pilgrimage experience.
With three local sites – and more in neighboring dioceses - how do you determine where you want to go? Take the time to research – and pray over – potential sites and see where you feel called to go. Then, either individually or as a family, determine your intention for making the journey. That intention could be anything from praying for the universal Church or the diocese to a family need or one inspired by the life of the patron saint of the site. You also can ask family members and friends for their intentions, write them down and carry them with you to the site. Doing so is a wonderful way to teach children the importance of praying with and for others.