The Three Hearts Pilgrimage is a 35-mile walk through the backwoods of Eastern Oklahoma, from the banks of the Illinois River to Clear Creek Abbey. It began four years ago when a group of men and boys decided to walk 11 miles to the Benedictine monastery in Hulbert, OK, as an act of penance and prayer, and every year since then, it has expanded and grown; last year there were more than 900 faithful, on-fire Catholics from all over the country who participated, and they are expecting the turnout to be far bigger this year! St. Francis Xavier Parish is putting together a group for the pilgrimage, called a “chapter,” and we hope you will consider marching behind our banner!

The “Three Hearts” in question are the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Most Chaste Heart of St. Joseph. The pilgrimage is held in honor of these three hearts which, in the hidden life of Nazareth, were bonded together in mutual love and admiration, and which still beat with compassion and desire of the health and holiness of Christian families, the awakening of faithful vocations, and the protection of our nation.

There’s a lot of similarity in how you do it, of course, and one could be said to “hike” the “pilgrimage.” The big difference is the purpose. A hike is a recreational activity, that you do with some friends in some beautiful place, just for fun. A pilgrimage is a public act of prayer and penance, undertaken for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. You do it not just with a few friends, but with! And the whole point is not just the walking, or the distance travelled—it is walking somewhere. That somewhere is usually a noteworthy shrine or a church, or in our case, the Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek. The graces flowing during and from a pilgrimage are the real point.

Part of the provision which the organizers have made for the pilgrims on the Three Hearts Pilgrimage is a regular flow of shuttle busses to transport anyone who needs a ride to the end destination. So if you don’t think you can walk the whole way, never fear of getting abandoned or left behind. In fact, you will see a lot of young families with strollers, who are planning to take advantage of the shuttles once their little ones wear out.

There will be daily Mass, opportunity for confessions, the praying of the Holy Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet, plus meditations and singing of hymns. But besides these things, there is time for quality conversation, and perhaps best of all, time to walk in silence and listen to the trudging of feet on the gravel, and the sound of people singing and praying, laughing and chanting, and the tolling of the Abbey bells. There’s nothing quite like it.

Yes. To help pay for the busses, the water provided along the road, the big meals on Thursday and Friday nights and Saturday afternoon, the pilgrimage has a ticket fee. Adult tickets cost $58, children under age 12 are free, and students and military can get the youth rate at $28.

Fill out the form on our website (above/below) so that we know to include you in our communications, or print it off and bring it to the parish office. Then go to the Three Hearts Pilgrimage website (www.threeheartspilgrimage.org), and register. They will ask you, during the registration to pick a chapter to walk with . . . select St. Francis Xavier, Stillwater, and you’ll be officially under our banner!

Of course! The most important thing is by sending us your prayer intentions! The whole point of a pilgrimage is prayer, and we will be praying for you and for the whole parish of St. Francis Xavier in a general way throughout the pilgrimage. If you have anything particular that we can pray for, please let us know! You can also lend support to the pilgrimage as a driver, even if you cannot do the walking, and if you would like to help cover the cost of another pilgrim from our parish, or the gas costs for our pilgrim caravan to and from Stillwater to Locust Grove, OK, such almsgiving would be welcome! You can also donate toward the overall costs of the Three Hearts Pilgrimage on the event website.

Great! Please fill out the contact form above/below, and include any specific questions you have in the questions box. If you’ve got a question, it may be that thirty other people have the same one. Besides, submitting the form will get you included on our Flocknote communications, so that you will have access to all of the updates and information we are sending out to members of our pilgrim chapter.