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Join us on Pilgrimage Monday to Thursday, June 12-15, 2023 with Fr. James Conlon, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church, Ann Arbor to explore the Life; Labors of Bishop Baraga in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Monday, June 12, 2023 at 7:15am: Our bus departs from the front of the rectory (located behind the church on the hill). We will arrive back home on Thursday, June 15, 2023 around 10:30pmRead More
We’ll explore an wide expanse of the Upper Peninsula and follow the Life and Labor of the Venerable Bishop Baraga. Irenaeus Frederic Baraga (June 29, 1797 – January 19, 1868), who traveled these same hundred of miles paddling by canoe in summer and walking in snowshoes through harsh winters to minister to the Ojibway (Chippewa Nation). He was influential in protecting the native people from re-location and developed a dictionary, grammar books, and composed many hymns in the native language of the Ojibway. We’ll have Mass daily with times of spiritual retreat and refreshment led by our pastor, Fr. James Conlon.
Tentative Schedule:
Mon, June 12
We leave at 7:15am by charter bus from St. Francis and head to Charlevoix (lunch is provided) where we will catch the ferry to Beaver Island. We’ll visit Holy Cross Catholic Church, founded in 1832 by Bishop Baraga as a mission to the native people. We’ll have Mass and tour. Dinner is on your own at one of the many restaurants of Beaver Island. We’ll settle in at our hotel for the night on the Island. Beaver Island is also known as America’s Emerald Isle, as by the late 19th century, many of the services were in Gaelic due to the many Irish Catholic Immigrants who settled on the Island.
Tues, June 13
We’ll catch the ferry back to Charlevoix, have Mass at another of Bishop Baraga’s missions in Petoskey, and continue our travels across the Bridge and on to Munising, where we’ll have some renowned UP pasties, and head to pictured rocks. We’re looking to arrange for the cruise by boat to see the rocks (TBD), but if the boat is not available, we’ll walk the trail to the overlooks and enjoy the rocks that inspired the “The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Afterwards, we’ll travel the 45 mins to Marquette and arrive to our hotel.
Wed, June 14
Today, we travel to L’Anse for the Shrine of Bishop Baraga, then on to Holy Name of Jesus-St. Kateri Tekakwitha, another Baraga Mission at Assinins, (catch some lunch) visit Canyon Falls (if time allows), then on to Eagle Harbor and the oldest Catholic Church in the UP, built under the direction of Bishop Baraga. We’ll have Mass, and then catch dinner back in Houghton with a stop at St. Ignatius Loyola Church (if time allows), again founded by our intrepid missionary. Then back to Marquette to our hotel for the night.
Thursday, June 15
Mass and tour today at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Marquette, where Bishop Baraga lies buried and a visit to the Museum, formerly Bishop Baraga House. Here, the good Bishop spent his final days.
We then begin our travels back home, with a stop in Manistique to visit the Indian Lake Mission and the Kitch-iti-Kipi , a clear Michigan spring, which means “mirror of heaven.” Then we travel home stopping for dinner and arriving back at about 10:30pm
Our price: $1250/person or $2100/couple (sharing a room). The price includes private charter bus transportation, lodging, 5 lunch or dinner meals (3 are on your own, breakfast is included in the hotel or on your own), and all entrance fees, church stipends and bus gratuities. Call for family rates or for payment in installments.