#6: October 11

This pilgrimage will be about a 6 mile round trip starting and ending at the College Park Metro station. We will first walk southeast to Riverdale to visit St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Then we will walk west to the University of Maryland Catholic Student Center.

Please meet at 10 AM at the east exit of the College Park Metro station.  We should arrive at St. Bernard by about 11 if you prefer to start there.

The Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally. May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven.

May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.

Amen

Listen to the official Jubilee hymn “Pilgrims of Hope” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uXO8lUcEZI

“Now the time has come for a new Jubilee, when once more the Holy Door will be flung open to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ.” – Pope Francis

St. Bernard of Clairvaux to the University of Maryland Catholic Student Center

‘Man of the century! Woman of the century! You see such terms applied to so many today—“golfer of the century,” “composer of the century,” “right tackle of the century”—that the line no longer has any punch. But Western Europe’s “man of the twelfth century,” without doubt or controversy, had to be Bernard of Clairvaux. Adviser of popes, preacher of the Second Crusade, defender of the faith, healer of a schism, reformer of a monastic Order, Scripture scholar, theologian, and eloquent preacher: any one of these titles would distinguish an ordinary man. Yet Bernard was all of these—and he still retained a burning desire to return to the hidden monastic life of his younger days.’ Franciscan Media

Walk Route

You can begin at St. Bernard of Clairvaux, or the College Park Metro station.

From the Metro station, exit on the east side toward Campus Drive and River Road. Walk east on Campus Drive until just past the ice rink. Take the Northeast Branch Trail to the south, which is approximately a right turn from the direction you are walking in. Head south to Riverdale Road and turn left to go east. After crossing Kenilworth Avenue, and just past a Megamart, turn right onto St. Bernard Drive. Look for the entrance to the church.

After leaving St. Bernard, head back out to Riverdale Road and walk west, in the direction that you came from. Walk all the way until the Riverdale MARC station, near the 2Fifty BBQ. Turn right to walk north on the Riverdale Park Trolley Trail. Walk north all the way to Guilford Road, and turn left to walk west. Cross Rt 1, and continue until Guilford intersects with Knox. The Catholic Student Center will be on your left.

To get back to the Metro station, return on Guilford Road the way you came. Turn left onto Hartwick Road. Hartwick Road ends at Calvert Road; continue straight onto Calvert Road. Calvert Road ends at the Metro station. Peace be with you! Total distance, Metro to Metro, is about 6.2 miles. St Bernard to the CSC only is about 3 miles.

Saint-Bernard Parish has just celebrated its 75th anniversary since its creation in 1948. 

In 2005, St. Bernard Parish and Our Lady of Fátima Parish were merged as part of the new twinning program in the Archdiocese of Washington to form a single parish serving the American, Hispanic/Latino, African, Asian, and Portuguese-speaking communities. 

Having been chosen as the Jubilee parish of the Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee in the Archdiocese, the faithful will be able to make a pilgrimage, gather for worship, participate in faith formation, retreats, receive the sacraments and, in doing so, fulfill the conditions to obtain a plenary indulgence. 

For this jubilee year, St. Bernard Parish is offering two Masses a day (8:00 am in English, and 7:30 pm in Spanish) and one hour of confession per day. (6:00 pm – 7:00 pm).

Six masses on Sundays (4 in Spanish, 1 in English and one in Portuguese).

The parish is open to the faithful - pilgrims from 10:00 a.m. from Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, is open from 5:00 am. 

We encourage pilgrims to light a candle, recite the prayer of Saint Bernard, to read the life of Saint Bernard, and above all to know his spirituality.

ABOUT SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was born in 1090 in Burgundy, France. His parents were of the highest rank of the nobility, and they were known for their piety. He had six siblings.

At the age of nine, his parents sent him to school in Châtillon. It was there that he discovered a love for literature, and he devoted himself to its study in order to be better equipped to study the Scriptures. He developed a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he became known for his piety.

When Bernard was nineteen years old, his mother died. He feared facing the temptations of the world, so he began to consider a religious vocation.

At that time, Robert de Molesme was working to restore the Benedictine religious order to its former rigor. Bernard was attracted to this new branch of Benedictines called the Cistercians.

At the age of twenty-two, he felt that God was calling him to enter the Cistercian monastery of Cîteaux. He persuaded thirty other men (including some of his brothers) to join him in entering.

Bernard was very pious and fervent throughout his year of novitiate. After taking his vows, his superiors recognized that he had made great progress in the spiritual life. They therefore sent him with twelve others to establish a new monastery. This new monastery would become the famous Abbey of Clairvaux.

Bernard was made abbot of this monastery. The beginning of his work there was difficult, because he fell ill because of the austerity of the authorities. But he soon made great progress, for the monastery's reputation for holiness soon led to one hundred and thirty new men to join it, including his father and brothers.

Bernard soon began to do great work in this role, establishing many more monasteries and traveling to many places. He was offered the position of bishop in several dioceses, but he refused them all.

Bernard also wrote many sacred works on theological topics such as sacred space and music, the seven stages of advancement in the spiritual life, and the role of the Virgin Mary.

His reputation spread within the Church. He helped end a schism within the Church and he was called to help fight heresy. Pope Eugene III commissioned him to preach the Second Crusade, and Bernard was able to arouse great support for the struggle for the Holy Land among Christians in France and Germany.

Saint Bernard died at the age of sixty-three in 1153.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux did much for the Church, and he was made a Doctor of the Church. 

You can use this novena to ask for the intercession of this holy monk!

PRAYER 

Dear Lord, we thank You for having given us Saint Bernard of Clairvaux as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the virtue he showed throughout his life, from his childhood in a holy family life.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, you were born into a holy family. Your godly parents ensured that you were raised with a solid foundation of faith, and you continued to serve God worthily throughout the rest of your life.

Please bring my requests before God, the One you have served!

The foundation of the faith that you received in your childhood helped you on the path of religious vocation. As a monk, you have contributed much to your religious order and to the whole Church.

Pray for me, that I may always seek to serve God worthily in my life. 

life, as you did. Pray that I will be eager to give my life to serve Him and His Church.

Please also pray for .................. (mention your intentions here).

AMEN

v Our Father

v Hail Mary

v Glory to God

Saint Bernard, pray for us!

PRAYER TO THE MOST BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Mary, O Lady, Run, make haste, O Lady, and in your mercy help your sinful servant, who calls you, and deliver him from the hands of the enemy. Who did not sigh before you?  We sigh with love and pain, for we are oppressed on all sides.  How can we do otherwise than to sigh for you, O consolation of the wretched, refuge of the proscribed, ransom of the captives? We are certain that when you see our miseries, your compassion will hasten to relieve us.  O our Sovereign Lady and our Advocate, commend us to your Son. 

Grant, O Blessed, by the grace you have merited, that he who, through you, has graciously shared in our infirmity and misery, may also make us, through your intercession, partakers of his happiness and glory.  AMEN

(By St. Bernard of Clairvaux).