Ana Luisa Martinez has always loved the Blessed Virgin Mary, but that love grew much deeper when she and her husband took their children on a seven-month pilgrimage.
It wasn’t your ordinary pilgrimage.
With four sons ranging in age from 13 all the way down to the tender age of 14 months, it involved extensive preparation, planning and plenty of prayer.
Three years ago, Martinez felt a tug on her heart to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City where St. Juan Diego’s tilma with its miraculous image is on display.
“I couldn’t afford it,” Martinez said. “I knew it would be nice if I could go and visit her there, but this is what I have. And this is what we’re going to do.”
Martinez was referring to an inspiration she had: Since a trip to Mexico City was unattainable, why not visit each of the churches in the Diocese of Phoenix that are under the patronage of Mary, Mother of God?
Turns out there are two dozen of them stretching across the sprawling 44,000 square miles, four counties and the Gila River Indian Community that comprise the territory of the Diocese of Phoenix.
Martinez went to her husband Michael, a data analyst who is not a Catholic but very supportive of her faith.
“I told him, ‘I really want to do this.’ And he was like, ‘OK, let’s do it!’”
Martinez gave him the list of every parish and mission in the Diocese of Phoenix that had the Blessed Mother’s name in it and he created a spreadsheet.
“He’s very analytical,” Martinez said. “He put everything in order: the distance, how much time we needed, everything.” The journey began in September.
The family lives in North Phoenix and the first stop in their odyssey would be Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale. The plan was to attend Mass at a different parish on the list for Sunday Mass every week except the weeks of Christmas and New Year.
What was it like driving four young boys around the diocese every weekend? Was there any whining or complaining?
“Not at the beginning because it was something new,” Martinez noted. All along the way, they talked about their unparalleled undertaking as a family: What did you think about this parish? What did you like? What didn’t you like?
“And it really created a sense of valuing what you have, but also saying there is something more out there.” As the Sunday trips progressed, Martinez said there was some pushback from her sons.
“We just want to go to our parish,” they told their parents.
“And I took that opportunity to say, ‘Hey, we are on pilgrimage. That is what pilgrims, you know, feel.’ And for me it was beautiful to see their yearning, that longing to go back home, for them to understand that the parish is their spiritual home,” Martinez said.
In the car, they prayed the rosary and talked about their experience. At the end of Mass at the parish or mission they were visiting, they would approach Our Lady’s image and pray an act of consecration for their family. They would also ask the priest for a blessing.
Afterward, they would do something special as a family. “We would get some drinks or ice cream if our budget allowed, or get some food,” Martinez said, “but we always tried to do something special — even if it was small — something that made a difference.”
A couple of times, they had to stay overnight, such as their visit to Our Lady of the Lake in Lake Havasu City, about 200 miles northwest of Phoenix. They went to Mass on Saturday at Our Lady of the Desert in Dolan Springs, about 90 miles from Lake Havasu City.
The family caught the eye of the pastor of the tiny church because the six were obviously visitors to the area. “The priest was very welcoming,” Martinez said.
At Our Lady of Victory Mission in Sacaton Flats, the priest was ill and so there was only the Liturgy of the Word offered.
The family had a long conversation afterward about the importance of priests and the need to pray for them. They also talked about trusting in God’s Providence. Martinez said she asked her sons if any of them had ever thought of being a priest.
By March, the family had visited all 24 churches named after Our Lady in the diocese. Across the miles and the aisles of churches large and small, there were lessons.
The children learned that “it doesn’t matter where you go if you are a temple of the Holy Spirit, you bring that. It doesn’t matter where you are because you know who you are.”
Miguel Antonio, who was 13 when the family made the local pilgrimage, said the experience helped bolster his faith. Today, he’s a junior at St. Mary’s High School in Phoenix.
“The trips to the different parishes helped me to get out of my comfort zone and reflect on my life and my relationship with my family, friends, and especially God,” Miguel Antonio said. “It helped me to see that I was not alone in my struggles and that God would always take care of me.”
As fulfilling as the pilgrimage around the diocese was, Martinez still longed to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. A native of Sonora, she’d traveled there once as a small child.
For the last five years, Martinez said for her birthday, she has prepared a spiritual gift to present to Our Lady. Some years it’s a novena. Other years, it’s a succession of rosaries or Masses. Time was running out for Martinez’ 45th birthday and she wondered what she would do.
In the end, it was Our Lady who had a gift for Martinez.
‘Mission accomplished’
One day, out of the blue, her mother invited her to go to Mexico City and said she would pay the airfare for the trip. Martinez at first demurred but then changed her mind, saying her only wish was to visit the famous shrine honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Ultimately, the whole family journeyed to Mexico City, bringing with them the intentions of friends, family and co-workers. Miguel Antonio, Martinez’ eldest son, placed the written prayer intentions in the special receptacle for them at the foot of the tilma.
“It was a feeling of ‘mission accomplished,’” Martinez said. “We brought the heart of the people to her.”
Miguel Antonio said he was deeply moved by the visit to the basilica. Being in the presence of the Eucharist there brought him to tears in a way that had never happened before.
“I felt an inexplicable sense of peace that I could only describe as the sense you get when you return home after a long and exhausting trip … I’ve struggled a lot in life but when I went there, I felt happy and fulfilled.”
Thinking back on the family’s pilgrimage to 24 Marian parishes in the diocese, Martinez noted that the Blessed Mother is the intercessor par excellence who always brings us closer to her Son. Anyone, Martinez said, can approach her in myriad ways.
“It doesn’t have to be fancy as long as it’s the best you have in that moment.”
With the Jubilee Year well underway across the globe and last October’s publication of Bishop John Dolan’s first pastoral letter, Catholics are embracing the virtue of hope.
They’re also gearing up for pilgrimages to churches in Rome and around the Diocese of Phoenix. That’s because Bishop Dolan’s pastoral letter declared that six diocesan churches as pilgrimage sites throughout the Jubilee Year. Catholics will be able to obtain a plenary indulgence by visiting one of the churches and fulfilling the requirements listed in the decree.
Jubilee sites
Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix
St. Anthony’s in Sacaton
St. Mary’s Basilica in Phoenix
St. Mary’s in Kingman
Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona
Sacred Heart in Prescott
To learn more about the sites, indulgences and to read Bishop Dolan’s letter, visit dphx.org/tilma
