A Pilgrimage to the Shrines
of Saint Joseph

The pilgrimage opens with Holy Mass at St. Joseph Parish in Malden, in the parish’s 125th year. The coach then departs for Lowell and the Shrine of St. Joseph the Worker, cared for by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and founded for the city’s French-Canadian mill workers. The group continues north through New Hampshire to Burlington, Vermont, for a visit to the Cathedral of St. Joseph before dinner. Estimated driving today: about 4 hours 15 minutes.

Morning Holy Mass at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, then the coach crosses into Canada at the Lacolle border station. A valid passport is required. In Montréal the afternoon begins at the Basilica of Notre-Dame in the old city, followed by the Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde, built as a smaller-scale copy of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Estimated driving today: about 2 hours, plus the border crossing.

A full morning at Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal, the largest church in Canada. The group celebrates Holy Mass at the Oratory, prays at the tomb of Saint André Bessette, and visits his original chapel. In the afternoon, a walk through Old Montréal leads to the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours and the shrine of Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys. Estimated driving today: about 30 minutes.

The coach follows the St. Lawrence River to Trois-Rivières and Notre-Dame-du-Cap, Canada’s national Marian shrine. The group attends Sunday Mass at the shrine and visits the Old Chapel of 1714, one of the oldest shrine chapels still standing in North America. The group then continues to Québec City for check-in and an evening walk along the Dufferin Terrace. Estimated driving today: about 3 hours 15 minutes.

A guided walk through Old Québec, the only walled city north of Mexico. Visits include Notre-Dame-des-Victoires on Place Royale, built in 1688, and the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec, with the tomb of Saint François de Laval, the first bishop of Québec. Holy Mass is celebrated at the Cathedral-Basilica. The afternoon is free in the Petit-Champlain quarter. No coach travel today.

A short drive to the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, a place of pilgrimage since the 1600s. The group celebrates Holy Mass at the shrine, with time for prayer and a guided visit of the basilica and its chapels. On the way back, the group stops at Montmorency Falls, taller than Niagara. The coach then returns to Montréal for the night. Estimated driving today: about 4 hours.

The morning is spent at the St. Francis Xavier Mission in Kahnawake, where Saint Kateri Tekakwitha lived her last years and where her remains are kept. Holy Mass is celebrated at the mission. The coach then crosses back into the United States and continues south to the Mohawk Valley of New York, the land where Kateri was born. Estimated driving today: about 4 hours, plus the border crossing.

Holy Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Auriesville, where Saint René Goupil, Saint Isaac Jogues and Saint John de Lalande were martyred. The group then makes a short visit to the National Kateri Shrine in Fonda. ProRome arranges both visits in advance, since the shrines open for their public season in early May. In the afternoon the coach drives on to Stockbridge. Estimated driving today: about 2 hours 30 minutes.

A day of prayer at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. The group celebrates Holy Mass at the shrine, with time for Confession and Eucharistic adoration, and prays the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at three o’clock. The afternoon is free in the town of Stockbridge, with its main street and the Norman Rockwell Museum. The group gathers this evening for a farewell dinner. Estimated driving today: about 15 minutes.

After breakfast the coach returns east across Massachusetts to Malden. The pilgrimage closes where it began, with Holy Mass at St. Joseph Parish on the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, in the parish’s 125th year. The arrival time is set to match the parish’s Mass schedule for the feast. Estimated driving today: about 2 hours 30 minutes.