My Pilgrimage to Pittsburgh

When I travel I love to visit Catholic Churches and Shrines. I have been so blessed to encounter so many hidden jewels of the faith in places like Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. I attended the annual G. K. Chesterton conference that was held at Slippery Rock University, which is near Pittsburgh, PA. I decided to drive to the conference and make a pilgrimage out of the journey.

One of the promotional sources for the conference gave me a final destination for my pilgrimage beyond attending the conference. St. Anthony'sChapel in Pittsburgh, PA is the home to over 5, 000 relics. I had recently seen another collection of relics in St. Marys, KS and had told my guide there “This is a glimpse of what the communion of saints must look like.” The idea of encountering such a gathering of saints pulled at me and I decided to make St. Anthony of Padua the patron of my pilgrimage.

I actually did not know much about St. Anthony of Padua except that you could ask for him to intercede for you in regards to finding things. I picked up a little statue of St. Anthony and had my priest bless him and then we headed out on our journey east. “I wonder what you are going to help me find, St. Anthony.” I mused. I made up some rules for my pilgrimage.

1. If I stopped, I would have to look up a Catholic church and visit it.
2. At the Catholic church, I would place a rose at the statue of Mary
3. and I would pray a decade of the rosary in front of the statue.
4. I would take a picture of where I visited.

With these stipulations in mind, I headed off on my adventure.

My first stop was for a late lunch/early dinner in Effingham, IL. Effingham has a huge cross that can be seen from Highway 70. I did not visit the Cross at the Crossroads, but I did ask my GPS where the Catholic Churches were in Effingham, IL. Effingham is blessed with several Catholic Churches, but one caught my eye...St. Anthony's. “This is your trip too, St. Anthony, it only makes sense that my first stop is at your church.” I parked in the parking lot and walked up to the entrance door. Most Catholic churches in the middle of the day on Wednesday are locked, but this one was open.

A gentleman, who had been working somewhere else in the church walked in and caught

me walking around admiring the artwork and the architecture. I explained my pilgrimage and he said “You think this place is pretty you should go down this highway to St. Fransis of Assisi in Teaotopolis.” I thanked him and headed toward Teaotopolis, IL. I believe he was correct, but I will let you make that judgement call yourself.

I headed eastward and did not stop again until I was in Indiana. Indianapolis, IN has several Catholic Churches, but one caught my eye...St. Anthony of Padua. The sun was starting to set as I parked across the church and noticed that people were going into the church! What were the odds that the church would be open on a Wednesday evening? I walked into the church and saw that Confession was being made available at this time.

I made it to Columbus, OH without taking another stop. The next morning I had to head lickety split to Split Rock to meet up with my Chestertonian friends.

Sunday, I headed into Pittsburgh to visit my journey's point.

Pictures are not allowed in the chapel, since they use money from donations and the purchases of items bought at the gift shop to maintain the chapel. I respect that wish. The book I bought shows the relics in display. The almost life size and definitely life like Stations of the Cross (if you go take a look at Our Blessed Mother's face for you will see the tracks of her tears). The gorgeous stained glass, which features each of the apostles with the attribute of how they died. I have a book to remind me of these beautiful encounters, but there is one item that I wish that I could have taken just one picture or had it pictured in the book. Somewhere near a collection of relics from each of the saints in the Old Testament, there was a statue of the Blessed Mother. What brought tears to my eyes was the fact that she looked just like the statue that I had been searching for almost 5 years! (link) No crown on her head. She truly looked like the image from my dream. St. Anthony, what did you find for me? Then I looked down at the statue's feet at the base read “Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima”. I had found out her name!!! Her name was that of pilgrim. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I stepped out into the sunlight and just thanked God for all that I had seen, but He had more in store for me.

I had been encouraged by a tour guide of the Chapel to go to the Cathedral and pay a visit. It was breath taking!

I then turned west and headed home. I decided to try a church in Ohio, since I had missed visiting one on the way up. In London, OH I stopped and found St. Patrick's.

 

 The door was locked and that was a signal to me to head home.

St. Anthony of Padua, pray for us!!!