Nov. 25, 2015 By Colleen Miner Sign-ups have begun for the annual high school pilgrimage to the Washington, DC March for Life. The theme of this year’s pilgrimage is in honor of the Year of Mercy. Three youth buses will depart the North Country on the morning of Jan. 21 arriving in Washington late afternoon for an outdoor national monument tour. The western Youth Bus for Life departs from Watertown’s Immaculate Heart Central High School at 8 a.m. The northern bus will depart from Massena’s Trinity Catholic School at 6 a.m. with stops at St. Mary’s in Canton at 6:30 and St. James in Gouverneur at 7. The three buses travel together once they are in the Washington area. Following check-in at the Virginia hotel, the group will have a pizza dinner followed by a presentation on human dignity by The Culture Project. Friday morning the youth will attend the Life is Very Good Youth Mass and Rally sponsored by the Archdiocese of Arlington. The March for Life begins at 1p.m.. After the march, the group will gather on the steps of the Library of Congress (some will have time to tour it, too) before heading as a group to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Friday evening dinner will be at a restaurant near the hotel. On Saturday morning, participants will have the opportunity to attend Mass and tour the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Following lunch at the basilica, the group will head home, arriving in the North Country late Saturday night. Chaplains for this year’s pilgrimage are Mark Reilly, pastor of St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s in Massena, northern bus; Father Thomas Higman, parochial vicar in Saranac Lake, eastern bus and Fathers Bryan Stitt, diocesan vocation director; and Father Carl Subler, chaplain at Fort Drum, western bus. The pilgrimage is open to high school students and Virtus-trained adult chaperones 21 years of age and older. The chaperone to student ratio is one chaperone for every four students. Registration is online this year. The form along with more information is located at the diocesan respect life webpage: www.rcdony.org/pro-life/ where payment can be made by credit card or Paypal. To pay by check, registrants must complete the online registration form and forward a check (with the traveler’s name included) to the diocesan lock box: Diocese of Ogdensburg Youth Buses for Life PO Box106 Canajoharie, NY 13317. The cost of $150 includes coach bus transportation, two nights in a hotel, Friday and Saturday breakfast, Thursday and Friday dinner and Friday’s bag lunch. It also includes a t-shirt and sling-bag along with a few other items including a wrist rosary and precious feet. Forty-percent of the Youth Bus for Life participant cost is funded by the diocesan Respect Life collection held each January Early registration is recommended as the western bus is nearly full Further information is available from John & Colleen Miner at the Respect Life Office 518-891-2309 or cminer@rcdony.org.
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