Enjoy this virtual pilgrimage video of Mallorca, the birthplace of Padre Junipero Serra while meditating on the following couplet written by St. Francis of Assisi.

Praised be you, my Lord, for those
who forgive out of love for you;
who bear trials and sickness;
happy are they if they endure in peace:
by you, Most High, they will be crowned.

—Couplet from Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis of Assisi, as found in The Song of the Dawn by Eloi Leclerc

Francis reminded us of God’s presence in all of creation, and called our attention to our Brothers, the animals. He became aware of the interdependent nature of creation when he offered a sermon to the birds, as recounted in The Little Flowers of St. Francis.

A few weeks ago, Tracy spent the morning at a local park, capturing the sights and sounds. We are pleased to share the results here.

Sit back and take a short virtual pilgrimage, perhaps keeping in mind the following words recounting what happened after Francis’s sermon to the birds:

Like the cross which St. Francis traced in the air,
the birds went off
singing to the four corners of the world.
Their flight pattern told the world that
St. Francis’ preaching
signaled a renewed preaching of the cross
throughout the world:
He and the friars would preach everywhere,
like the birds who owned nothing in the world,
but trusted themselves to God’s providence.

—Excerpted from The Little Flowers of St. Francis: a paraphrase by Donald Demaray

In addition, on our website, we will offer “virtual pilgrimages,” journeys through images that transport a site visitor to the sacred destinations of Assisi, Majorca, and the Missions of the New World. Virtual pilgrimages will be designed to provide the site visitor with a much-needed respite from everyday trials so that the journey may be re engaged with the calm heart that prepares one to resolve conflict and seek reconciliation with one's enemies. These virtual pilgrimages can be found under Sacred Places.

“Francis’ laws indicate the brothers were on a pilgrimage that would end only in heaven; that every resting place was temporary and must be dwelt in as such. This meant, of course, that they could exercise no ownership of any place in which they found themselves. They also had to renounce exercise of control of their environment and learn to live in peace with those who give them hospitality; and with those with whom they traveled, charged with great gratitude for all the signs along the way that help reveal the nature of that homeland which must be hospitality, care, a place of rest, fullness of life, the end of a journey.”

Thus, as we undertake a pilgrimage to a sacred place, such as Assisi, we are acting out, dramatizing, our journey to the final sacred destination. In taking to the road, we discard the illusion that the “comfort zone” we have built—home and friends and community—is permanent. On pilgrimage we gain perspectives and realize our assembled “comfort zone” is transitory, only a temporary stop on our journey.

When we take to the road with like-minded companions, sojourning in a strange land, a land where citizens speak another language and where we are beholden to their hospitality and good will, we mimic life’s journey where we face the challenge of living in peace with others as we engage in the mutual task of finding our way to our final destination, our permanent home.

In journeying to sacred places, such as Assisi, we imitate our journey to our peaceful heavenly destination. In visiting Assisi or other similar places, we seek a place where spiritual works have opened a portal that can bring us closer to our destination, if only in glimpses. In a pilgrimage we seek to let our participation in a physical journey summon signs and awareness of our grander spiritual journey. In a pilgrimage, we leave home in order to find our true home. The journey forces us to release clinging and attachment to that which we have substituted, often unconsciously, for our heavenly home. We come again to recognize that which is transient and that which is permanent. Our journey to sacred sites, rich with a past, draws us more fully into our present—placing our spiritual feet, once again, firmly on the path of the homeward journey in which we are engaged.