Marta Veiga, CLC in Portugal
The CLC Portugal Pilgrimage was born out of the desire of many members who, conveyed this wish to the National Team. The ideal pretext was the 50th anniversary of CVX in Portugal.
“God wills it, man dreams it, the work is born” – the participation of volunteers from all over the country, who, without knowing each other previously, formed an organizing team divided into spiritual, road, and logistics teams, confirmed us on our path. Each one, with their own talent, built this adventure.
It took about eight months to prepare, but we finally set off last Thursday from Nazaré to Fátima, under the grace of asking: “Re-Unite with Mary.” Eighty-two pilgrims, ten of whom were foreigners from the worldwide CLC: Slovakia, Latvia, England and Wales, France, Germany and Spain took part in this walk.
On Saturday, for the final leg, 30 more members of CVXP joined us, and we arrived in Fátima 110 members.
It was a journey full of adventures, overcoming challenges, community prayer, times of sharing, reflection, and silence. We started at the Sanctuary of Nazaré, were welcomed with flower carpets in Coz, passed through Porto de Mós, and continued to Fatima. Each pilgrim, with their own motivations and life stories, their own intentions, went step by step together, towards Our Lady.
The foreign pilgrims always had the assistance of a special interpreter, Fr. Pedro Cameira, SJ, while Fr. José Eduardo spoke Portuguese and Spanish to the others.
Our pilgrim book contained prayers and intentions that came to us from the entire global community: from the Philippines to Brazil, from Syria to England and Wales.
When it was hot, there was ice and water to cool us down; when there was no microphone or pulpit, we improvised; when our shoes came apart, we glued them back together; and to top it all off, Carmen from Germany treated us to a wonderful solo rendition of Salve Regina.
We passed through the holy door, as pilgrims of Hope, all together.
This is the beauty of ONE community on a journey—we arrived with hearts full, overflowing, with all the good we received, as one body.
