The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-02-19
A FRANCISCAN PILGRIMAGE
Plans for the Coming Visit of Catholics
to the Scored Shripes of Palestine.
The Work Now Being Done BY Three Commits
saries of the Holy Land-The Cost of the
Pilgrimage and the Methods Of Travel.

Fifty-secoud street, three stout, jolly and be-
nevolent-ooking priests were busy wiring and
reading letters to-day. Strange as it may seem.
they were passenger agents. The many pict-
of saints. prominent among them being
that of St. Francis of Assist, and tho garb worn
by the men. denoted that the house was occu-
pied by members of one OF the orders of the
Roman Catholic Church. Their ways and man
nsrs differed, however. from those grown IA
miliar in Catholic priests, being more business
like and similar to the laity. II is now seven
years since the men described first settled down
in this residence and. until now, they have never
been heard of outside of the Catholic Church.
Yet their mission is one of Importance, calcu-
lated to arouse anew the zeal OF the faithful and
to have strong influence upon the future of
the church. They are members of the Fran
ciscan order, and the title of the home they
cupy is the Commissariat of the Holy Land For
the last seven centuries all the sacred tombs and
sanctuaries OF the Holy Land have beer ia the
keeping of members Of this order. and the pur-
pose has been to encourage those pigrimaees Of
the faithful from different parts of the world to
the Holy Land, which once threatened to drain
Europe of its inhabitants, and which have be-
come famous historical events. Once. and
sometimes twice. every year pilgrimage of
Catholics to the shrines and sanctuaries Of Pal
estine takes place from every Catholic country
in Europe. Men, women and even children 60
along In order to encourage these. and to pre-
vent the desire for visiting the places famous in
sacred history from dying out, the head of the
Franciscan order has appointed members to
take up their residence in different countries.
and to notify the members of tho church Of the
date of eacn pilgrimage. These priests bear the
title of comDissaries of the Holy Land. The
20, ,ha s,,N NAvv V<>rly ~ View Roxy
Charles A. Vissaai, is as Jolly good fellow in
appearance and actions as any secular passen-
ger boomer. He ia an Italian by birth, but he
speaks English very well. When your CORE
spondent called upon him he was very
willing to give Information, and interspersed
his talk with many anecdotes OF travel and
shrewd observations on human nature. I'VE
are preparing" he said, s'for great pilgrimage
of American Catholics in the spring OF 1889 to
the shrnes of Palestine and other holy sactu-
aries Our plans are nearly finished. and, al
though we have done little yet to spread the
knowledge of our purpose among Catholics. we
have already received application from Jealous
persons who are anxious to go. 1t will he the
first of the kind in this country. If it proves
successful. have every reason to believe it
will, we will continue them"
DO you propose to have them as frequently
as in Europe7" was asked.
mo" he replied. ''it would not do in this
country. 1t does not take so very long to ar
rive in Palestine from Europe as from here, and
the exposure 10 not great. This 10 very
long country, and some of the pilgrims will un-
doubtedy come from tho most remote parts of
it. For such pilgrims the expense will be heavy,
and it will take much longer time than it does
European pilgrims. l am at work now getting
our plans worked out in detail When they are
entirely completed l snail De ready to
publication It is difficult task to Hgu.e out
exactly the time for each stop. and the exact
expense, but when our plans are finished all
will be included. The expenses, Of course, will
depend. to a certain extent on the number who
go: The larger the party the more rebate we
will be able to obtain. Weare assisted in our cal
culations by the fact that the expenses after the
caravan arrives in the Holy Land has been
figured down with great closeness in previous
pilgrimages. The brothers OF the order have con-
tracts with the dragomans by which the latter
are bound not to charge mora than . certain
lrice for transporting each pilgrim"
How will the travelling be done in Palestne7"
From Jaffa to Jerusalem there are stages
but everywhere else the pilgrims will have to
ride horseback OF camelback. In the long
route the pills rims will have to take along all
ing tents bedding and all the cooking utensils.
We will have to camp out frequently. AT many
of the shrines and sanctuaries the brothers have
their residences, with ample acoomm ID tions
for the caravans that stop there At other
places. where only few of our order sta
toned. the accommodations are very limited,
and here the pilgrims will have to erect their
tents. The distance between the shrines is
sometimes too long to make in one day. and in
that event the party will nave to 60 into camp,
too"
''There will be considerable adventure con-
nected with the trip" I observed; ..rdine on
catnels and camping in deserts will be novel
experience for most Americans"
''Oh, yes" replied the jolly priest, rubbing his
hands in glee at the thought. Sit will be a won
derful experience"
"will the women aud children be able to
His face grew sad for . moment and he
paused TO reflect In moment his face
LIGHTED up again. inv. EESsryDody who goes
dergo whatever hardships We encounter. AS
far as am personally concerned should like it
much better il the caravan was composed of
men only. But such a rule cannot be estab-
lisned. / would rather guide 100 men than one
woman. Only few days ago gentleman
called here and said he would like 10 go. but
he wanted to take his wife along. said all
right and they will go together If had said
the wife cannot go l would have been called q
brute for separating them"
..Have you any idea of what the cost OF the
trip will be?"
81 thirk that the actual expense Of the short
trip after we leave New York will be between
five and six hundred dollars, and that it will
cupy about two months. AS soon all the APP
plications in the pilgrims will bs called here.
We will form into body, and elect president,
have charge OF the funds, and will pay the ex-
Denses We viii take frstclass cabin passage
10 France All the travelling by cars in Europe
will be in the second-c)ass, however. There 10
10 difference between the first and second class
or the trains. and the frst-class gsner-
lily empty, except when some American, ignor-
snt OF european customs, out deslrouS OF spend
ng money, travels in them. OF course.
ny estimate of the cost includes the actual
living and travelling expenses only. There
will undou ubtedly be temptations galore for the
expenditure of money outside of those channels.
N the Holy Land especially, she pilgrim will
De sorely tempted to buy some of the beautiful |
hngs that are for sale at the sauctuaries which |
will serve relics and mementoes of the jour |
,ey- The natives are very clever In making |
pictures out of naturs1 pressed flowers, and in |
arriving in mother-of-pearL I have some sam |
q he'll N Wy
ire positively marvellous. One is q single large |
piece of mother pearl, on the concave side of
which is clean-cut representation OF the Last |
Supper" The workm anship is excellent, and |
very part of each figure stands out |
with graceful aud accurate out
ines. The pilgrims will think of their |
beloved friends a. home when they these |
beautiful things and will want to purchase . |
.art-load for presents. If they have the funds. |
Ill right, but that is an item OF expense that |