Acroterion / Wikimedia Commons
CV NEWS FEED // More than 300 active-duty and retired seafarers and their families attended a pilgrimage on October 6 to the Maryland-based Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who is the patroness of the Sea Services.
A committee of retired Naval and Marine Corps and the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS) co-sponsored the Pilgrimage for the Sea Services, according to an emailed press release from AMS.
The Shrine’s Executive Director Rob Judge said in the press release that the annual pilgrimage began shortly after Pope Paul VI canonized St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1975. Judge explained that the pilgrimage’s intention “is to come together and pray for the men and women who are serving on active duty in the sea services.”
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Arlington’s Bishop Emeritus Paul S. Loverde celebrated Mass for the pilgrims. Four active-duty chaplains concelebrated with him, and a seminarian and Navy chaplain candidate served as deacon.
The Presentation of the Colors and the singing of the National Anthem took place at the opening of the Mass. Several Catholic midshipmen in the US Naval Academy led the music for the Mass.
Bishop Loverde spoke during the homily about having childlike trust in God, which he described as “neither sentimental nor superficial.”
“You know whenever I see a parent holding a child in their arms, or holding their little one’s hand as they walk, I can’t help but think of that childlike trust,” the Bishop said, according to the press release. “I also think that’s how God holds us, the very same way.”
After noting what childlike trust is not, Bishop Loverde explained that “[i]t is real trust. Real confidence. It is solid, and demands surrender.”
He also encouraged the pilgrims to emulate St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s trust in God as they strive “to be faithful in loving God, who so loves us, and in loving those who God has given us and entrusted to us, to form, to befriend, to work with, to help.”
According to the press release, after the homily, the Bishop also blessed medals bearing an image of St. Elizabeth on one side and an anchor on the other. The medals are free to the public and can be requested here.
After the Mass, the Sisters and the Daughters of Charity hosted a banquet for the pilgrims.
The large shrine is located in the small town of Emmitsburg, Maryland, close to the border of Pennsylvania. As visitors drive up to the Shrine’s parking lot, they can see in the distance a steep green mountain, the trek of which St. Elizabeth herself once frequented with her religious community for Sunday Mass and to teach students.
According to the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, which is on the mountainside, St. Elizabeth and those in the order she founded, the Sisters of Charity, resided in a cabin on the mountainside for six weeks in 1809 while waiting for their residency in Emmitsburg to be finished.
St. Elizabeth is buried at the Shrine. The campus has a cemetery, museum, historic houses, and the Daughters of Charity residences, among other features.
