Your past participation in one or more of the AMM pilgrimages has encouraged me to write to you about this fall's opportunity to have your special intentions remembered during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

I last visited the Holy Land 30 years ago while on retreat with fellow priests. It was in January, and among my most vivid memories was celebrating Mass in the grotto beneath Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity — the exact site traditionally considered to be the place of Jesus' birth.

We toured many places mentioned in the Bible, but two, in particular, stand out in my mind. First, the well in Nazareth where Our Lady would have drawn water for the family home. Second, the simple synagogue where she and Joseph would have brought the Child Jesus on the Sabbath.

It is a joy to be planning another trip to these sacred sites. From November 4-14, I will lead members and friends of the Association of the Miraculous Medal on a long-awaited pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

I invite you to join us in spirit as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus and Our Blessed Mother.

We will walk along the roads and riverbanks where Mary accompanied Jesus as a child and throughout his ministry. We will tread the sorrowful way to the site of her Son’s Passion. We will behold the empty tomb, sharing in Our Lady’s unspeakable joy to know that Jesus lives!

AMM is offering a unique sacramental that can represent your presence along the journey. It is a beautiful Olive Wood Palm Cross impressed with a blue enamel Miraculous Medal for a suggested offering of $21. We will carry your Palm Cross to the Holy Land, where it will be blessed at one of the holy churches we visit. We will mail it to you the week of November 21, which is shortly after our return.

We will be celebrating daily Mass, and will include any special petitions you'd like remembered. Your participation will add to the spiritual fruits of our journey.

Not only will your intentions be remembered in the Holy Land, these same needs will be included in November's daily Mass and other devotions at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal here in Perryville, Missouri.

The simple gesture of sending your petitions is a sign of deep faith. It also fulfills Saint Paul’s call to “Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)

You can follow the pilgrimage “virtually” through daily updates posted on our website, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Sending the suggested offering for any Palm Cross(es) you request (or an even more generous gift, if you choose) will assist AMM in its ministry to bring people closer to Jesus through Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

Thank you for allowing AMM to accompany you along your spiritual journey—just as Mary followed Jesus along his. May your love for Our Lady lead you, and others, to a life of unending joy with God!

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Sincerely yours in Mary,

Fr. Kevin McCracken, C.M.
Spiritual Director