TRAVELS of 2013

The year 2013 had been blessed with so many bon voyages with Our Lady. We started our 75,000 mile journey of the year in January to visit the beautiful Napa Valley in Santa Rosa Diocese, all the way up to the border of Oregon in Cresecent City passing through the Avenue of the Giants. It was an astounding display of redwood trees in the entire 500 mile redwood belt on Highway 101. On top of that was the giant sacrifices of pilgrims willing to offer up anything Our Lady requests of them. February is a month of fervent prayer as we culminated at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacra- mento in conjunction with the Diocese’s effort in promoting the New Evangelization. March was for Miami, West Palm Beach and Venice Dioceses in sunny Florida before we headed up the mountains and ridges of Colorado for the Denver Archdiocese. Patterson, New Jer- sey spent the month of May offering flowers to Our Lady as we visit several parishes there before heading to the Midwest in the Archdio- ceses of Milwaukee and Chicago.

During the summer season, we took the IPVS statue “Down Under” in almost every major cities in Australia where we cov- ered about 30 thousand miles of combined air and land travel in Australian tour alone. Starting from the Chicago area, we flew in to Los Angeles, CA for a connecting flight to Melbourne, Victoria.The Archdiocese of Mel- bourne gave us an overwhelming welcome from the very first day at the airport until we drove off through the outback to the Diocese of Wagga Wagga, then to the Archdiocese of Sydney.

It was a pleasant ride and meeting those people on our journey and seeing some packs of kangaroos along the fields when we got lost more than once while looking for the main highways. From Sydney, we flew in to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption in the Archdiocese of Adelaide at the cathedral. Af- ter just 3 days, we headed to Western Aus- tralia to the Diocese of Bunbury, then in the Archdiocese of Perth officially ending on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. Thousands of people have responded to the requests of Our Blessed Mother. May God bless them and keep them close to the Heart of Our Dear Mother!
Also, we joined Pope Francis during the Marian Day in Rome last October in the Act of Entrustment to Our Lady of Fatima.

While in transit during this trip to Rome, I had the privilege of meeting with the generous and hospitable sisters of the Family of Mary in Amsterdam, Netherlands. I arrived there in the middle of the night but they provided transportation and accomodation. They gladly welcomed me into the chapel of Our Lady of All Nations, where they joined me in thanksgiving prayer.

It was also providential for me to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Fatima, Portugal after the Marian Day in Rome. It has now been 10 years since I first got involved with the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue. While we bring the statue to all places, with it comes the teaching aspect of preaching the gospel call to prayer, penance and conversion - the urgent message of hope and the peace plan from heaven by Our Lady of Fatima.

This pilgrimage is a humble gesture of thanksgiving for all the wonderful things God has done for us and for all the graces obtained through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. God has been very generous to me and to the Apostolate of spreading the devotion to the Blessed Mother. It was my prayer during the Year of Faith, a year with Mary, with Her faithful devotees - we may offer sacrifices in the true spirit of penance and Eucharistic reparation, for the sins of the world to end all wars and violence and so that it may hasten the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart. 

-patrick sabat