Diocese of Madison seminarian Michael Hess is asking for prayers and support to take with him on a 30-day pilgrimage.
Hess, whose home parish is St. Cecilia in Wisconsin Dells, is traveling with 12 other first-year graduate seminarians from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Mich.
Together, they have begun a pilgrimage focused on deepening their seminary formation through experiencing the Faith’s richness.
Throughout the pilgrimage, Hess will update supporters with daily vlog posts.
New itinerary needed
Sacred Heart Major Seminary plans a yearly pilgrimage named the “Desert Formation Experience,” where first-year graduate seminarians like Hess visit the Holy Land.
However, given the region’s current conflicts, a new itinerary was needed for pilgrims this year.
Beginning on May 1, Hess and fellow seminarians traveled to Portugal.
Together with the Director of Graduate Seminarians Fr. Pieter VanRooyen and their spiritual director Fr. Joseph Kirkconnell, they will spend 30 days visiting some of the most impactful Catholic sites in Spain, France, and Italy.
As they travel, Hess has asked for the intentions of people of the Diocese of Madison and for financial support.
He said, “It’s important for us to take people’s prayer intentions. We want to pray with the intentions that parishioners wish — to bring them to the saints.”
As for financial contributions, the cost to travel the month-long pilgrimage for each seminarian is $10,000.
Because there are 15 pilgrims, 13 seminarians and two priests, the trip will cost $150,000, of which $125,000 has already been raised.
Hess made it clear that if individuals are not able to make a donation, they should still submit prayer intentions.
He elaborated, “We really do want this to be a prayerful journey and there’s no better way than to pray with the intentions that people have asked us to bring. It reminds us that we’re all a part of the communion of saints and we thrive when we pray for each other and not just ourselves.”
The journey
The pilgrims have begun their journey.
For the next 15 days, they will travel around the Iberian Peninsula.
Beginning in Portugal, they will first visit Fatima, where the Blessed Mother appeared to three children in 1917. From there they will journey to Spain.
Stops in Spain include: Santiago de Compostela, Alba de Tormes, Avila, Madrid, Zaragoza, Montserrat, and Barcelona.
Between cathedral tours, daily Mass, and quiet prayer, Hess said, “Along the way, [we will] learn about the saints and the different holy places,” and one city Hess is particularly looking forward to is Zaragoza, where he has visited before.
He said, “Zaragoza is where Our Lady bilocated to St. James while he was in Spain evangelizing and she encouraged him to continue on.”
Additionally, “Zaragoza was the location where, by God’s grace, I realized Jesus’ true presence in the Eucharist,” Hess continued.
Now in seminary formation, Hess is excited to revisit where the Lord gave him this consolation.
After Spain, the pilgrimage moves into France, and there, Hess will visit Lourdes, Ars, and Lyon.
Not to be overshadowed by Lourdes, Ars was where St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, lived and worked — a place Hess and his fellow seminarians look forward to visiting.
The remaining days of the pilgrimage are spent in Italy, most notably in Assisi and Rome.
Hess said that when he visits the great sites of the Church, he wants to bring prayer intentions to the saints that lived there.
Visiting St. Peter’s Basilica, Fatima, Zaragoza, Lourdes, Ars and the many other stops along the way will help “conform our lives more deeply to Christ through the intercession of the saints. Then, we will bring our experiences back to the people we minister to in the future,” said Hess.
With that vision, Hess encourages parishioners of the diocese to view donations as an “investment into the future of the Church”.
He said that donations are an “investment in these future priests, who will tremendously grow in their spirituality” on the month-long pilgrimage.
Keeping up with the trip
Beginning May 1, Hess will begin uploading daily vlog posts at shms.edu/dfe-vlog.
The first post, “Meet the Pilgrims,” has already been uploaded.
Hess explained that the vlog is to “give people who are supporting us, both prayerfully as well as financially, something to check in on, see where their prayers and funds are going, and inspire them to take a pilgrimage themselves or grow closer to a particular saint.”
The vlog posts are meant to be more than just a report of the itinerary.
Each vlog post will be around four minutes, featuring different seminarians and their experiences.
Hess also believes that the posts are a way to promote vocations, because the vlog will show the beauty, universality, and history of the Church.
Visit shms.edu/desert-formation-experience to financially support the seminarians, to submit prayer intentions, and to learn more about the annual pilgrimage.