Activity Report 2010 - Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the United ...

Holy Land:
Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem,
Sea of Galilee, River Jordan
The most famous of all pilgrimages
is to the Holy Land. An international
pilgrimage of the Order in October 2007
saw a gathering of 1400 pilgrims,
members of the Order from around the
world, representing 20 countries.
The members of the Sovereign Council,
Cardinal Pio Laghi, Cardinal Patronus,
and the Prelate of the Order, Archbishop
Angelo Acerbi, led the international
congregation in prayer over the historic
five days, visiting all the Holy Places.
In his message to the pilgrims, Grand
Master Fra’ Andrew Bertie, said.
'Jerusalem, central to our Christian
faith, has also a special significance for
us here, where Blessed Gerard founded
our Order over 900 years ago. It is here
that the selfless example shown by him
and his community of religious, by their
work in the hospital of St. John of
Jerusalem, inspired our mission: tuitio
fidei, obsequium pauperum. And today,
again, we are proud to have a hospital in
this region, our Holy Family Hospital in
Bethlehem. Pilgrimages have always
been a focus of our Order, offering to all
who participate - the handicapped, the
pilgrims, the volunteers, the helpers - a
spiritual fulfilment like no other.'
Austria:
Mariazell
The Shrine of Our Lady of Mariazell,
Styria, is the most visited Marian shrine
in Central Europe and a pilgrimage site
for 850 years. Founded in 1157 by the
Benedictine monks of St. Lambrecht’s
Abbey, it houses the12th-century
limewood statue of the Virgin Mary in
the Gnaden Church (rebuilt 1644–83).
Pope Benedict XVI, who visited Mariazell
in 2007, told the pilgrims that the site
‘symbolises an openness which... transcends
physical and national frontiers.’
The Austrian Grand Priory makes its
pilgrimage there each September with
members, volunteers and malades,
never numbering less than 300.
Germany:
Altötting, Kevelaer, Telgte
Altötting: every July since 1970,
Malteser Hilfsdienst (MHD) has been
taking a pilgrimage drawn from all the
Bavarian dioceses to the Black Madonna
in the 13th century chapel in Altotting,
Germany’s most significant Marian
shrine, where in 1489 a small child,
believed drowned, was brought back to
life and where numerous miracles have
since been credited.
Kevelaer: for over 20 years, the German
Association has taken pilgrims from the
Cologne dioceses – members, volunteers
and the sick – to the shrine where,
in 1641, a simple man, Hendrick
Busmann, had heard a voice asking him
to build a chapel on this spot to Mary,
Comforter of the Afflicted (Consolatrix
afflictorum). This year, over 1,000
Malteser pilgrims made the journey,
to pray and to be comforted.
Telgte: a wooden statue of the mater
dolorosa, a ‘pietà’, dating from 1370,
is housed in the 17th century chapel of
St. Clemens which was built to shelter
it. Each year, the MHD provides first aid
for the pilgrims, who come from the
diocese of Münster, on the 45km walk
from Osnabrück to Telgte - a procession
first ordered by Bishop Galen in 1651
and an annual pilgrimage for the faithful
for over 400 years.
Great Britain:
Holywell, Walsingham
Holywell: St Winefride’s Well in Wales is
the oldest shrine in Britain in continuous
use and an official pilgrimage site
of the Order of Malta. The town of
Holywell takes its name from the
St Winefride's Well, a holy well
surrounded by a chapel and known
since at least the Roman period. It has
been pilgrimage site since about 660
when Saint Winefride was beheaded
there by Caradog who had attacked her.
This year¹s pilgrimage, run jointly by the
British Association and the Order of
Malta Volunteers, saw the English
pilgrims also joined by members from
the Irish Association.
Walsingham: in north Norfolk has been
a place of pilgrimage since medieval
times, when travel to Rome or
Compostela was virtually impossible.
The Knights of St. John have for
centuries managed the hostels en route.
According to tradition, in 1061 the Virgin
Mary appeared three times to the lady of
the manor. She felt as if she were transported
to the house in Nazareth, where
Mary was told that she was to have a
son. A wooden replica of the ‘Holy
House’ was built as a shrine to
Our Lady of Walsingham, and later
incorporated in the chapel of the
Augustinian priory. The Order of Malta’s
British Association has brought sick
pilgrims there every September for over
50 years. In 2009, 190 Order pilgrims -
members, the Order of Malta Volunteers
and the Companions of the Order with
60 malades - made the journey to the
shrine.
Ireland:
Knock, Croagh Patrick
Knock is Ireland's National Shrine to
Our Lady: in August 1879, Our Lady,
St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist
appeared at the south gable of Knock
Parish Church, with the apparition
witnessed by fifteen people, young and
old. From this miraculous apparition
Knock has grown to become an internationally
recognised Marian Shrine.
The Irish Association of the Order
organises an annual pilgrimage to
Knock on the last Sunday of August and
2009 saw some 1,000 pilgrims - 700
members of the Order’s Ambulance
Corps together with 250 elderly and
disabled guests. Pilgrims and personnel
travelled in hired coaches from each of
the nine regions of the Ambulance
Corps to make this a truly national
pilgrimage.
Croagh Patrick is a very special place of
pilgrimage in Ireland. It is renowned for
its Patrician Pilgrimage in honour of
Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint.
It was on the summit of the mountain
that Saint Patrick fasted for forty days in
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SOVEREIGN MILITARY HOSPITALLER ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM OF RHODES AND OF MALTA