Year of Faith – Diocese of Cleveland Pilgrimage part 4

For The Year of Faith, the Diocese of Cleveland has organized a way for the faithful to make a Pilgrimage with all that that entails!


There are five churches that have been designated as pilgrimage sites (and one of them is my home church!).  You get a passport at your very first stop and then when you visit one of the pilgrim churches, you get a lovely golden stamp for your passport.  After visiting all four churches, you are supposed to go to the cathedral to get your final stamp.

This only goes until September 7.

See Part 1
Part 2 
Part 3

Last week we completed our pilgrimage journey by visiting the Cathedral of St. John in Cleveland, OH.

First of all, they had the coolest activity I thought – count how many angels are in the cathedral.

There was no right answer because no one really knows, but we counted way over 100 angels and whenever we thought we were done, someone found some more!  That was fun.

The bishop actually said the entire mass, and I can’t think of another time in my lifetime where I have attended a regular mass said by the bishop!  (confirmations don’t count!).  I paid attention to the part where he said, “Francis our pope.  Me, your unworthy servant…”     I thought that was pretty neat.

And of course you can’t beat the history and majesty of the cathedral!

I think the folks there are a suffering from a bit of pilgrim fatigue though – we couldn’t find anyone to help us until a kindly security guard had mercy on us and signed our certificates! Unlike the other pilgrim churches, the cathedral folks didn’t even welcome pilgrims, nor were the pilgrims mentioned at mass.  I thought the music was just okay too.  Not bad – but not what I expected at the cathedral at the end of the pilgrimage ya know.  Of course to be fair, it was Labor Day Weekend.  

But overall, I think this is an experience the kids will remember and they will always cherish their passports and certificates!