Hawaiians gear up for Rome for Blessed Marianne Cope’s canonization

More than 225 people from Hawaii are on the official Honolulu diocesan tour to see Blessed Marianne Cope become a saint Oct. 21 in St. Peter’s Square.

The group was advised to get their euros ready, buy a good pair of walking shoes and break them in, and pack cool weather clothes to layer.

Randy King, president of Seawind Tours and Travel, offered these tips Sept. 18 to the canonization pilgrims who gathered at St. Augustine Church in Waikiki.

The travelers, scheduled to arrive in Rome Oct. 16, will be given about a week of spiritual and cultural activities leading up to the canonization.

“It’s special — once in a lifetime,” said Jean Maria, a parishioner from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Ewa Beach, who will be traveling with her husband, Stan.

Seawind Tours and Travel, selected by Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva to coordinate the diocese’s official pilgrimages for Mother Marianne’s celebration. It is the same company that organized diocesan tours for the 2009 canonization of St. Damien de Veuster of Molokai and before that his beatification and that of Mother Marianne, in 2005.

Seawind has created four different tour packages for the event. Two of the packages include accommodations, transportation and activities primarily in Rome. The other two feature excursions to additional cities.

One tour group will be making a two-day stop in Syracuse, N.Y., before crossing the Atlantic. These pilgrims will visit the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, Blessed Marianne’s order. A shrine and museum of the life of the soon-to-be-saint are located at the motherhouse.

Another group will visit the Italian city of Florence — home of famous works of art and other historical sites — the day after the canonization.

All four tour groups will be in Rome together Oct. 16-21. [More]

SOURCE

CNS