Walking pilgrimage to Mount Carmel Shrine during Jubilee Year of Hope

By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News

The Mount Carmel hill was again alive with song, prayer, and community Aug. 17 during a special Jubilee Year of Hope pilgrimage that saw several groups walking to the picturesque shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel west of Humboldt, SK.

It was the second summer pilgrimage event at the sacred site this year, with the regular annual Mount Carmel pilgrimage celebrated July 20.

A late afternoon Sunday Mass on the Mount Carmel hill was a highlight of the Aug. 17 Jubilee Year “waling pilgrimage” event. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

The “Pilgrims of Hope” theme of the Jubilee Year was lived out in the walks organized to the shrine site Aug. 17, with some 30 pilgrims walking all day from Saint Augustine Parish in Humboldt (23 km), and a second somewhat smaller group walking from St. Bruno Parish in nearby Bruno, SK (12 km). Some pilgrims also walked to the Mount Carmel site from the neighbouring Gaudet farm (about one kilometre).

Many who did not participate in the walking portion of the day nevertheless joined in the Pilgrims of Hope celebration on the hill, which included opportunities to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as well as Sunday Eucharist. The late afternoon Mass was followed by the sacramental anointing of the sick, and praise and worship led by local youth.

The pilgrimage event concluded with testimonies from two young adults who took part in a diocesan Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome and other sacred sites in Italy earlier this year.

Celebration of the Eucharist

Fr. Colin Roy, pastor of parishes at Burr, Humboldt, Muenster, and Pilger welcomed pilgrims to the celebration of Mass at Mount Carmel shrine Aug 17. He was also among the group of some 30 pilgrims who walked from St. Augustine Parish in Humboldt to the shrine for the special Jubilee Year “walking pilgrimage” event. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Fr. Colin Roy, pastor of parishes at Humboldt, Burr, Muenster, and Pilger, welcomed those assembled on the hillside, before presiding at Mass, joined by pastors and parochial vicars from throughout the area.

Rebecca Farthing (left) and Tianna Williams provided music ministry for Mass Aug. 17. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Music ministry for the Mass was led by Tianna Williams of Bruno, and Rebecca Farthing of St. Paul Co-Cathedral in Saskatoon.

In the homily, Fr. Peter Olisa, pastor of parishes at Watrous, Young and Imperial, reflected on the value of hope that is being highlighted throughout the 2025 Jubilee Year, as well as exploring scriptural themes of pilgrimage.

Fr. Peter Olisa, pastor of parishes at Watrous, Young, and Imperial, was homilist for the Aug. 17 Mass at the shrine site. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Olisa urged the assembly “not to lose consciousness that you are a pilgrim,” noting that “nothing in this life should override our journey… this life has been give to you and to me to prepare for life with God: let’s not waste it.”

Pilgrims must “travel light,” he added, saying “sin is a heavy weight, a heavy load” that can be lifted through the Sacrament of Reconciliation “to help us get back to the journey.”

Priests from throughout the area joined in celebrating Mass at the site Aug. 17 (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Testimonies after Mass

Speakers after Mass were Marie Millette and diocesan seminarian Huy Le, who both participated in the diocesan Jubilee of Hope pilgrimage to Italy earlier this year,

From May 19 to 29, 2025, a group of young adult pilgrims travelled to Italy on a diocesan pilgrimage led by leaders from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon: Sr. Marta Piano of the Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity and Evangelization and Mission Leader John Hickey, along with Fr. Bassim Shoni, pastor of Sacred Heart Chaldean Catholic Parish in Saskatoon. The trip included encounters with newly-elected Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City, visiting the tomb of the late Pope Francis, passing through Jubilee Holy Doors, and exploring sacred sites in Rome, Assisi, and Venice.

Marie Millette described how the trip to Italy became much more than an exciting experience with friends. “My focus shifted once the pilgrimage started and I realized that God had bigger plans for me during this trip,” she said. “God was able to use this trip as a way of showing me just how big and beautiful the Catholic faith is, and how I am called to be a saint.”

Marie Millette described the impact of her recent pilgrimage to sacred sites in Rome and other parts of Italy. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

She shared the impact of venerating the body of Blessed Carlo Acutis (1991-2006), who will be canonized a saint by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 7. “I had read many stories about Blessed Carlo prior to coming, and how he had a devotion to the Eucharist, and how he used his technology skills to create a website so people could learn more about Eucharistic miracles,” she said. “But when I arrived in front of his body, it really struck me: Blessed Carlo was just a teenage boy… it really got me thinking that if this teenage boy could be so close to Jesus, then so could I. And if he could be a saint, so could I, and so could everyone else around me.”

We can all be “living witnesses of the love of Jesus,” she said. “And by following his plan for us, we can reach that goal of heaven.”

She added that another highlight was the opportunity to climb the “Holy Stairs” transported from Jerusalem, and believed to be the steps that Jesus climbed on his way to trial before Pontius Pilate. “Climbing these stairs is done on your knees, and I went up I was really meditating on the Passion of Christ. He felt so close to me the whole way up, and I was brought to tears just thinking about how much he sacrificed for my sake,” she said. “I felt so close to Jesus in this moment and I could see the crucifixion in a new way. I could see that Jesus is our only hope and that he is the only way, and I want to live for him.”

Seminarian Huy Le, who has been serving at St. Augustine Parish in Humboldt over the summer, also described the hope that he encountered on the diocesan Jubilee pilgrimage to Italy.

Seminarian Huy Le described how he found great hope for the Church as part of a Jubilee pilgrimage to sacred sites in Italy this Jubilee Year. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Prompted by the spiritual direction of a Benedictine monk at the seminary, Le said that he thought about what he was seeking by going on pilgrimage to Italy, and eventually identified a desire that through the journey, God would reveal how alive Christ’s Church really is.

“On this trip I think the Lord has given me a two-fold answer – first in the people I encountered, all the young people from our diocese on the pilgrimage… to see how faithful they are and how on fire they are for the Lord; to see how much they really love the Lord,” he said. “The Church — that I am called to unite with, to serve — she is very much alive!”

On his last day in Rome, on his own, he found himself in a group of thousands in St. Peter’s Square, praying a candle-light rosary – all praying the same prayer, even in different languages. “Thousands of us at St. Peter’s — that’s how alive our Church is. Still very much alive.”

He said that he returned to the diocese feeling very humbled and very hopeful, thinking “I am not worthy… and yet, the Lord is still inviting me to serve his Church.”

Photos

Pilgrims to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel write down prayer intentions before Mass at the sacred site Aug. 17. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

(Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Walking pilgrims were joined by others who travelled to the site by vehicle for Mass Aug. 17, as well as opportunities for confession, anointing of the sick, praise and worship. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Ringing the bell at the start of Mass at the Mount Carmel shrine site Aug. 17. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

The entrance procession. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Priests from throughout the area celebrated Holy Eucharist during the special Aug. 17 “walking pilgrimage” event. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

A late afternoon Sunday Mass on the Mount Carmel hill was a highlight of the Aug. 17 Jubilee Year “waling pilgrimage” event. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

(Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Pilgrims travelled to the shrine Aug. 17 — including some who arrived on foot — for celebration of Mass. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Celebration of Mass, with Fr. Colin Roy presiding. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Proclaiming the second reading. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Proclaiming the Gospel. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Homilist Fr. Peter Olisa, pastor at Watrous, Imperial, and Young. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Prayers of the faithful. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Young pilgrims around the altar at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Aug. 17. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Waiting to receive the gifts during the offertory. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Fr. Colin Roy introduces the Sacrament of the Sick anointing provided to those in need of healing. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Young pilgrims with home-made crosses on the Mount Carmel pilgrimage site Aug. 17. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Following a supper break after Mass, youth from Humboldt led praise and worship music before testimonies from diocesan pilgrims to Italy. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Praise and worship was led by youth. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

(Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

The statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel holding the Christ Child stand at the top of the hill. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

(Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

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Kiply Lukan Yaworski is the coordinator of communications for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon.

Catholic Saskatoon News and the diocese Communications Office are supported by gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal: dscf.ca/baa