Registration  is Open!

Dear Knights and Dames, Chaplains, Provisional Members, Auxiliary Members, Friends, and Families of the Western Association:

All three US Associations will sponsor the 11th Annual Pilgrimage to Champion, Wisconsin to the Shrine of Our Lady of Champion from August 8-10, 2024. The Shrine of Our Lady of Champion is the site of the only Marian apparition in the United States approved by the Catholic Church. This beautiful, peaceful, and holy place provides every pilgrim the opportunity for spiritual renewal and healing.  It is ideal for families and multi-generational groups and people unable to endure a more strenuous pilgrimage like Lourdes.  The travel is shorter, the transportation from place to place is by bus, and it is in the summer when many schools are not in session.

We invite everyone to join us this summer.

Grand Master Video Invitation to Our Lady of Champion

Tentative Schedule

Thursday, August 8: Registration; Padre Pio Relics; Pilgrimage Opening Mass at 5:00 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, dinner at the Hyatt, Night Prayer

Friday, August 9: National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion; Mass in the Apparition Chapel; Confessions; tours; lunch in the Mother of Mercy Hall; National Shrine of St. Joseph; Eucharistic Procession; Healing service;; dinner at the Hyatt, Night Prayer

Saturday, August 10: Shrine of Our Lady of Champion; Rosary Procession; Mass and Anointing of the Sick; lunch; Adoration; Reflection; Vigil Mass; closing dinner at the Hyatt; medal distribution

Registration

Registration is now open. The registration fee will be $500 per adult to cover the costs of lunch/dinner and bus transportation to the Shrine and back each day. There is a reduced registration fee of $200 for children under eighteen. Children under 2 are free.

Registration fee includes: lunch and dinner daily in the hotel and at the various sites, round-trip transportation from the hotel to Our Lady of Champion Pilgrimage Medals, ballcaps/visors, and other materials you will receive when you check in on site.

2024 Our Lady of Champion Pilgrimage Registration

Padre Pio Relics

Nicholas Salkowski, Director of Communications for the National Centre for Padre Pio, will present the Padre Pio relics.

  • First class relic: bandage
  • Second class relic: glove of Padre Pio
  • Second class relic: piece of blood stained bandage that covered the wound on Padre Pio’s side

Nicholas Pio Salkowski is the eldest grandchild of Vera and Harry Calandra, founders of the National Centre for Padre Pio, in Barto, Pennsylvania. As the nephew of Vera Marie Calandra, the child who received a miraculous grace through Padre Pio’s intercession, which led to the Centre’s founding, Nicholas can attest firsthand to the power of Padre Pio, and share the family’s unique and intertwined history with the “Saint of the New Millennium.”

National Center for Padre Pio Relic Tour Press Release

Accommodations

Hotel rates are $108 single/double occupancy plus tax or $133 triple occupancy plus tax. This includes a buffet breakfast per person, per day based on paid occupancy rate in guestroom. Parking is about $5 per day (50% off current rate). The Order of Malta special rate is available Tuesday, August 6 through Saturday, August 10, 2024. Please register EARLY to ensure availability of room preference. Double Queen Suites are the standard and room sharing is a viable option with adequate room for families. The rooms are quite large, with a sitting room, pull out sofa bed, wet bar, coffee bar, microwave, and mini- fridge.

Once registration is complete and payment is received, you will be sent the passkey to make online hotel reservations at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Green Bay.

Travel Arrangements

All pilgrims are responsible for making their own travel arrangements to and from Green Bay, Wisconsin and for making their own hotel reservations at the Hyatt Hotel on Main Street at 333 Main Street, Green Bay, at negotiated rates (including breakfast for up to two people and parking). All pilgrims should make hotel reservations as soon as possible after being notified of the acceptance of your registration.  Hotel space often fills up quickly.

All cancellations must be received in writing by July 1, 2024 to receive a refund of the registration fee. If you cancel your registration, you are responsible for canceling your own travel arrangements, including your hotel reservation and your transportation.

Visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, WI

At the conclusion of this year’s pilgrimage to Our Lady of Champion, there is a special opportunity to travel to La Crosse, WI to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Rector of the Shrine, Fr. Paul Check, along with Cardinal Raymond Burke, have invited members of the Order of Malta to join them on Sunday, August 11th, at 12 noon for a tour of this beautiful Shrine opened in 2008 and a luncheon reception with Cardinal Burke. The time at the Shrine will be about 2-3 hours.
The Shrine is a 3 ½ hour drive (200 miles) from Green Bay across the center of Wisconsin. The Shrine is also a 2 ½ hour drive to MSP airport. Also, La Crosse airport has American Airlines flight to Chicago.

For more information on this spiritual opportunity to extend your pilgrimage, please contact Joseph Sanders at 626-70504390, or jsanders@combinedcreek.com.

If you have never been to Lourdes, this is a unique opportunity to share in the experience of a Marian Shrine pilgrimage. If you have been to Lourdes, this Pilgrimage will provide you with a very different setting in which to encounter the Love of the Blessed Mother and her Son, Jesus.

Please pray for the success of this Pilgrimage. It is a most special way to experience the spirituality of our Order in the company of Members of all the USA Associations.

For more information, please visit:

Join us in beautiful Wisconsin for an opportunity to grow in faith and fellowship.

Our Lady of Champion, pray for us.

 

Robert Kilmartin, KM
US Associations Pilgrimage Director

Joseph Sanders, KM
Western Association Pilgrimage Director
208-972-1188

626-705-4390
bklmrtn@gmail.com

jsanders@combinedcreek.com