The California-Our Lady of Bethlehem Pilgrimage is a three-day walk from Mission San Juan Bautista to Mission San Carlos Borromeo, approximately 45 miles. This is an organic grassroots pilgrimage organized by dedicated laity. Pilgrims and a designated Chaplain “walk” through the countryside of the Central Coast, and then into the city streets. It can be muddy and demanding, but the rewards of such a penitential exercise are eternal. Our Chaplain hears confession, leads the rosary, offers meditations, and gives spiritual direction to each pilgrim who avails himself of the priest’s presence. This pilgrimage originated in 2011, inspired by Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage.
Our Lady of Bethlehem pilgrims walk for Christendom, “that sunny side of a civilization where the Kingship of Christ spreads over the lives and works of men, over the families and over the nations, searching obstinately amidst the cultures and earthly battles, for an UNCOMPROMISING balance between nature and grace, wishing by HEROISM and holiness, to trace ALREADY on earth the avenues of the KINGDOM.”
