The purpose of our pilgrimage, God willing, is to share in an invaluable spiritual experience, traveling through Italy, following the roads of Apostolic antiquity. As we approach the holy relics, in essence we personally can meet with the Saints of the Orthodox Church. In such encounters we pray to receive the abundant grace of God bestowing the consecration and healing to our souls and bodies. Such experience we will not find in the dimension of secular tourism… Pilgrimage tourism is not limited to the external experience. It is an inward journey that can reveal the external world in a new light.  We can experience a new richness of countless masterpieces of art, monuments of architectural grandeur, get acquainted with the unique flavor of cities and towns, surrounded by the beauty of the marvelous Italian nature. All this worldly beauty for us, who are aiming for the heights of the Spirit, begets a sense of wholeness, volume, depth and space …

Let us recall the words of Our Savior !: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” ( Matthew 6: 33 )

Pilgrimage is a prayer in motion, where mercy of God opens the hidden world in which we find grace-filled communion with the sacred Orthodox treasures, bright joy of meeting with the fellow wayfarers in Christ, and marvelous, ever – living saints, in Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Such meetings forever sanctify our lives! ”

With love in the Lord,

Fr. Vladimir Kaydanov
Pilgrimage Service Director

Rector of St Nicholas Church, Palm Coast, FL (ROCOR)
stnicholaschurchflorida.com