Sharing Our Journey

Last year I was blessed to spend a week in Rome with "the middle child" and it was awesome! After our time in Rome (where we had a fabulous dinner with Joan Lewis), we met up with my oldest daughter who was traveling Europe; she was on a mission to visit 15 countries and 22 cities in 60 days—and she succeeded. You can bet that back home, her dad, brother, grandparents, family and friends were eager to follow her travels (and be assured of her safety.)

Luckily, modern technology kept us all connected via Instagram, FaceBook, Snapchat, Twitter, etc... (Yes, I was with teenagers so Snap stories were a common occurrence!)

This year, I am heading back to Rome! Teresa Tomeo and I will be leading  the first ever WINE & Shrine Pilgrimage Women's Pilgrimage through Italy, and we'd love for you to join us.... virtually! If you don't know what a Snap story is, don't worry, because you can walk with us in the foot steps of some great female saints, the martyrs, mystics, monastics and moms on our WINE Pilgrimages website (www.WINEpilgrimages.com).

Set www.WINEPilgrimages.com as one of your "favorites". When you go to the site, you will see a blue button that says "Journey With Us." Simply click on that button and you will be on our Pilgrimage blog, and in a sense, on our pilgrimage with us. From here you will be able to see pictures of our travels and get daily updates on our journey—voila! You will be  journeying with us, virtually! You will also be able to interact with the group of women in Rome by leaving a comment in the comment area. 

Looking forward to journeying with you!

Blessings!

Kelly

To journey with us on our WINE & Shrine Pilgrimage through Italy, subscribe to our posts and get an email in your inbox each day.

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A Resolution Worth Keeping!

Dear Friends,  

As we enter the New Year it is natural to look back on 2015 and tempting to resolve how we can make 2016 even better. We often focus on goals that deal with our health ("I’m going to snack on only carrots and celery!”), our weight (“Everyday I will work out and by March I’ll look like a supermodel!”), our work (“This year I am going to be über organized!”), our homes (“My house will look magazine-photo-shoot ready at all times!) And let’s face it, those goals usually last until the second week of January… or for me January 3!  

So, I thought I’d offer you a resolution you can keep, and one with an eternal effect!   We are in the Jubilee Year of Mercy, truly an extraordinary time in Church history. It is a time when the doors of God’s mercy are opened wide and we are invited to walk through them and into the embrace of His merciful love like never before. Simply put, why not resolve this year to embrace the gift of God’s mercy?

There are many ways we can do this—make a point to go to confession once a month… volunteer at a homeless shelter… be extremely forgiving… comfort a friend in need… perhaps make a pilgrimage to a local cathedral and walk through the holy doors, which have been opened for this Jubilee year. This is a beautiful outward sign of and inner yearning to transform your heart and turn back to God. Or, better yet, why not join us for the upcoming WINE & Shrine Women’s Pilgrimage through Italy, June 17-26, 2016!  

This is going to be a spectacular pilgrimage! Our saintly female focus is unique, our timing during the Jubilee Year of Mercy is perfect, and our itinerary is beyond fabulous. This pilgrimage has been prayerfully planned with the intercession of some seriously saintly women who we will be spending time with in Italy—Catherine of Siena, Rita, Clare, Monica, Helena, Scholastica, Cecelia, and Priscilla—to name a few!

We will walk through the holy doors in Rome, have a tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel with American-born art historian Dr. Elizabeth Lev, experience the peace of Assisi and the beauty of Siena, celebrate Mass in historical churches, shop in quaint areas, enjoy a wine tasting and cooking lesson in Umbria, grow in fellowship with our sisters on the tour, and our sisters in heaven!  

Make a resolution that is worth keeping! Take advantage of this extraordinary time in Church history!

Sign up today, and experience the graces that come with pilgrimage to Rome during a Holy Year…. And do it with your sisters!  For more information, a flyer, and to register visit: WINE & Shrine: Visiting the Great Female Saints of Italy.  

Blessings and Happy New Year!