At the end of July 2025, former director, Fr. Joe Laramie, SJ, our new Assistant National Director, Grace Mazza Urbanski, and part of the USA team headed to Paray-le-Monial, France. They traveled there on pilgrimage to attend a gathering hosted by the international office of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. Together with people from around the world, they joined to celebrate our love and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was deeply moving to walk through the streets of Paray-le-Monial and pray in the Chapel of the Apparitions, where, 350 years ago, St. Margaret Mary’s visions of the Sacred Heart changed the world. We could tangibly see the impact of this devotion through everyone gathered from many countries—Colombia, Philippines, Mozambique, and Italy, to name a few—all gathered for the love of Jesus, because His love has reached His Church in every corner of the world.
The pilgrimage included sharing in small groups about each person’s devotion to the Sacred Heart, as well as how they see this devotion impacting and moving the hearts of their own communities back home. The day also included the opportunity to walk and pray through The Way of the Heart while visiting the different sites in Paray-le-Monial, such as the Basilica, Chapel of the Apparitions, and La Colombière Chapel. The day ended with a time of celebration and fraternity, sharing snacks, songs, and dances unique to our cultures and countries.
Our team wants you to know that we prayed for you while visiting these holy and beautiful churches and places where the saints have walked, prayed, and set the world ablaze with the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
