The Visor

Hoban and other Holy Cross schools plan Montreal pilgrimage

Last 5 stories in News

Issue 2 designed as savior for Senate Bill 5 victims - October 13, 2011
High cost of college leads to increase in financial aid - October 13, 2011
Annual canned food drive focuses on area homeless - April 6, 2011
Cannonization of Br. Andre witnessed by former Knight - April 5, 2011
Girls volleyball looking for a pay off in the playoffs - April 5, 2011

Other stories that might interest you...

May 12, 2010

Lindsay Huth

Five days. Eight Hoban students. Holy Cross schools from across the country. One community in faith.

From July 19-23, these components will merge in the annual Holy Cross Montreal pilgrimage open to incoming juniors and seniors.

“The best part is being able to spend time in the Oratory,” campus minister Jason Horinger said. “It’s such a large place with gardens, stations of the cross and Br. Andre’s tomb. It’s a very holy place and pilgrims come from around the world to see it.”

This excursion to St. Joseph’s Oratory, the largest church in Canada, which was founded by Blessed Brother Andre, is the focus of the trip.

“My favorite part last year was going off into the different parts of the Oratory and praying there,” sophomore Katie Caprez said. “We were given hours to wander around into different floors of the building.”

Over a hundred wooden steps lead from the street to the front of the church, and the students spend time with the other pilgrims kneeling and saying a prayer on each step.

Another powerful part of the experience in the past has been seeing the wall of crutches from people healed by the miraculous brother.

“Seeing the walls completely covered with crutches and being able to pray at Br. Andre’s tomb is very inspiring,” Horinger said. “It’s amazing to know that’s our Holy Cross roots.”

Three other Basilicas in Montreal will be visited on a walking tour as well: St. Patrick, Notre Dame de Montreal, and Mary, Queen of the World, which was modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The group will conduct a prayer service in each.

“Even though it made for an extremely long day to tour all three, it was very cool to see them all in succession, to compare the styles and ornamentation found in each one, and believe me, each one was extremely different,” admissions counselor Rob Eubank wrote on the blog he kept throughout the trip last year.

The trip serves to unite Holy Cross schools from across the country. Not all schools participating have been confirmed, but St. Edward’s and schools in New York and California will most likely accompany the Hoban students on the experience in the summer.

Tags: