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Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage

A National Pilgrimage Devoted to Christ and Our Lady

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A Pilgrimage of Prayer: Join Us for the 2025 Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage

You are invited to the third annual Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. Organized by the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph, this one-day pilgrimage is an opportunity to draw closer to Christ through His Mother in the heart of the Church.

More than 3,000 pilgrims gathered last year to pray the Rosary, receive the sacraments, adore the Eucharist, and celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The day offered many graces—conversion, peace, healing, and a renewed love for Our Lady.

This pilgrimage is open to all: individuals, families, parishes, young and old. Whether you’ve come before or are discerning your first pilgrimage, we invite you to make the journey—to set aside a day for God, to join in prayer, and to encounter the Lord through Mary.

Come, and let the Rosary lead you to the heart of Christ.

Pope Leo XIV Echoes Our Lady of Fatima’s Call to Pray for Peace

“Peace be with you!” 

A few days ago, from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Successor of St. Peter addressed a broken and fragmented world with the words of the Risen Christ: “Peace be with you!” It was an extraordinary moment that filled many hearts with a profound sense of Christian hope and joy.

At the conclusion of his prepared remarks, Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful to join him in the recitation of a Hail Mary. He asked everyone in attendance, as well as the many millions watching by livestream, to pray for his newfound ministry and, perhaps most importantly, to pray for peace throughout the world.

Our Mother Mary always wants to walk at our side, to remain close to us, to help us with her intercession and her love. So, I would like to pray together with you. Let us pray together for this new mission, for the whole Church, for peace in the world, and let us ask Mary, our Mother, for this special grace.

My friends, Pope Leo XIV is quite right. We must pray for peace. Prayer is almost always the first means for acquiring divine assistance (cf. Ps 69:2). It is the certain and indispensable key to opening the treasury of heaven and bending the ear of the eternal Father (cf. Jn 16:23). If we do not pray, especially in times of need, the treasury of heaven risks being unopened and the graces that God designs to give, squandered forever. Today, in a world marked by senseless suffering and seemingly endless war, we have such need for prayer, and in particular, prayers for peace.

On this glorious feast of Our Lady of Fatima, we recall how Mary taught the shepherd children (Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco) to say the Holy Rosary for peace and an end to the First World War. 

Over the course of her apparitions in Fatima, Portugal, Our Lady asked the children to pray the Holy Rosary specifically for peace, not once, but at least three times! On May 13, 1917—Our Lady requested that the children “[s]ay the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” Four months later, she repeated the same charge, saying, “Continue to [pray] the Rosary to bring about the end of the War.” Finally, on October 13, 1917, she enjoined them a third time, adding, “I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue to say the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.”

In so doing, Our Lady conveyed the splendid and even privileged place of the Holy Rosary in the communication of divine grace. But even more marvelously, she reminded the world about Rosary’s special relationship to the gift of peace. In Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Leo’s saintly predecessor, Pope John Paul II, wrote of this relationship:

A number of historical circumstances […] make a revival of the Rosary quite timely. First of all, the need to implore from God the gift of peace. The Rosary has many times been proposed by my predecessors and myself as a prayer of peace. At the start of a millennium which began with the terrifying attacks of 11 September 2001, a millennium which witnesses every day innumerous parts of the world fresh scenes of bloodshed and violence, to rediscover the Rosary means to immerse oneself in contemplation of the mystery of Christ who “is our peace,” since he made “the two of us one, and broke down the dividing wall of hostility (Eph 2:14). Consequently, one cannot recite the Rosary without feeling caught up in a clear commitment to advancing peace, especially in the land of Jesus, still so sorely afflicted and so close to the heart of every Christian. (14)

As good sons and daughters of the Church Universal, let us heed the invitation of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope St. John Paul II, and now Pope Leo XIV, and pray for peace throughout the world. Let us pick up our rosaries and tell our beads with renewed fervor, asking Mary, our Mother, to intercede for every nation under God, bringing them (one and all!) the Risen Lord’s gift of peace.

Through the power and efficacy of the Holy Rosary, may we become true channels of Christ’s peace.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Fr. Maximilian Maria Jaskowak, O.P.

Written by Fr. Maximilian Maria Jaskowak, O.P.
Fr. Maximilian Maria Jaskowak, O.P., is a Catholic priest and Dominican friar of the Order of Friars Preachers (Eastern Province, USA). He currently serves as instructor of moral theology and Director of Spiritual Life Programs at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, MD. In addition to his teaching and mentoring responsibilities at the seminary, Fr. Maximilian is one of the directors and co-founders of the COR IESU Project, a new preaching initiative of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, dedicated to the work of priestly formation.

The Power of the Rosary: How Our Lady of Fatima Teaches Us to Pray

Prayer is often the first means for acquiring divine assistance (cf. Ps 69:2); it remains the certain and indispensable key to opening the treasury of heaven and bending the ear of the eternal Father (cf. Jn 16:23). If we do not pray, the treasury of heaven risks being unopened and the graces that God deigns to give, squandered forever. And yet, in this increasingly secular age, many people do not yet know how to pray as they ought (cf., Rom 8:26). 

Fortunately for us, the Christian tradition boasts a number of perennial teachers on prayer, Our Lady being foremost among them. Pope St. John Paul II observes:

Could we have any better teacher than Mary? From the divine standpoint, the Spirit is the interior teacher who leads us to the full truth of Christ (cf. Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:13). But among creatures no one knows Christ better than Mary; no one can introduce us to a profound knowledge of his mystery better than his Mother. (Rosarium Virginis Mariae 14)

With such an effective teacher, Christians should have every confidence in making real progress throughout their spiritual lives, regardless of their personal history and continued struggles with sin. On this glorious feast of Our Lady, we have reason to believe that the magnificent lessons bequeathed to the shepherd children at Fatima are equally applicable to us today. Sadly, for reasons of time and space, we can only rehearse two such lessons here.

Our Lady of Fatima

Lesson One: Four Prayers from Fatima
The Fatima apparitions include four prescribed prayers, each beholden to the truth of God as sovereign and judge. Through their frequent recitation (and eventual memorization), it is clear that the shepherd children acquired a greater sense of holy religion, as evidenced by their exceedingly pious (and indeed salutary) conduct during the monthly Marian apparitions. For those of us who do not yet know how to pray as they ought, these prayers are an excellent prompt for initially turning toward God and beginning to walk the road of Christian perfection. 

The four prayers, which I put before you now, read as follows:

Four Prayers from Fatima

1. “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love Thee! I beg pardon of Thee for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee!”

2. “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly and offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”

3. “O Jesus, [this act of sacrifice] is for Thy love, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

4. “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.”

The Madonna of the Rosary Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Lesson Two: The Power of the Rosary
Perhaps most importantly, Our Lady of Fatima taught the shepherd children about the power and efficacy of the Holy Rosary. 

In his apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Pope St. John Paul II described the Rosary as “a most effective means of fostering among the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery” and “a genuine training in holiness” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae 5). For good reason, then, Our Lady asked the shepherd children to take up their Rosary beads, not merely to pray for themselves, but for the conversion of poor sinners. 

In fact, during the first Marian apparition—that is, May 13, 1917—she entreated the children to “[s]ay the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” Four months later, she repeated the same charge, saying, “Continue to [pray] the Rosary to bring about the end of the War,” and on October 13, 1917, she enjoined them a third time, adding, “I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue to say the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.”

In no uncertain terms, Our Lady of Fatima conveyed the splendid and even privileged place of the Holy Rosary in the communication of divine grace. As history attests, it is a formidable and exceedingly powerful instrument of prayer. 

Mary, Our Teacher in Prayer
This latter lesson should please the children and devotees of Mary greatly and incite us all to pray the Rosary more often! But for those of us who struggle to pray, or do not yet know how to pray as we ought, let us wield the Rosary with confidence, asking our mother and our teacher … to help us pray in the manner of our glorious Queen!

Fr. Maximilian Maria Jaskowak, O.P.

Written by Fr. Maximilian Maria Jaskowak, O.P.
Fr. Maximilian Maria Jaskowak, O.P., is a Catholic priest and Dominican friar of the Order of Friars Preachers (Eastern Province, USA). He currently serves as instructor of moral theology and Director of Spiritual Life Programs at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, MD. In addition to his teaching and mentoring responsibilities at the seminary, Fr. Maximilian is one of the directors and co-founders of the COR IESU Project, a new preaching initiative of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, dedicated to the work of priestly formation.

Easter Joy: The Triumph That Transforms

It’s Easter! Christ has risen! Alleluia! He has opened the gates of heaven, destroyed death, and welcomed souls into the joy of eternal life.

Yet we’re not quite there; Earth is still our home. And so, we might understandably ask just how Christ’s death and resurrection affect us “here and now.” How does the resurrection change our day-to-day lives?

 “In his dying, he destroyed death; in his rising, he restored life” (CCC 1067). Christ by his death and resurrection has merited for us the grace to sanctify our earthly lives and go to Heaven when we die. But heartaches and headaches, trials and tears all still come and the suffering of each is with us in our daily lives. Why is this so? How are we to understand the continued presence of suffering in the world even after the death and resurrection of our Lord? Was his destruction of death only partial or his restoration of life only temporary?

Not at all! The difficulties surrounding us are not a deficiency in God’s redemption but the result of his super-abundant mercy. By his grace, he uses these difficulties for our good. Just as silver is tried by fire, so our loving God tests and refines us through difficulties (cf. Zech 13:9). The trials we receive purify us. The hardships we are given sanctify us. 

To make sense of this mystery, consider the awesome and mysterious events of this past week. It was through the death of Christ that the effects of sin were destroyed. And now by the mercy of God, through our trials and hardships, we can receive the life of Christ. Suffering is no longer a sign of defeat, but a source of life, for Christ has conquered it. Thus St. Paul said, “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor 12:9).

You and I have each been given a cross, and it is a wonderful gift. For with this cross, we are able to follow Christ in his passion and beyond to the resurrection. Our crosses unite us to Christ in this life so that we may be perfectly united with him in the life to come. “If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Rom 6:8). In this way, our personal troubles and pains do not hinder our lives but enhance them. By the mercy of God, they become for us a ladder leading straight to God.

Truly today we have reason to celebrate! For God has so gratuitously blessed us that even our small earthly trials can lead us closer to him in heaven. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).

This article was originally published in dominicanajournal.org and was written by Br. Michael Prize, O.P.

Image: Fra Angelico – Resurrection of Christ and Women at the Tomb, 1438-1440, Tempera on Panel

 

Lent: A Call to True Conversion

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that prepares us for the joy of Easter. Many Catholics observe Lent by abstaining from meat on Fridays, a practice rooted in penance and spiritual discipline. But beyond simply replacing meat with fish, Lent calls us to a deeper conversion of heart.

Fasting and abstinence are not ends in themselves—they are meant to lead us to greater reliance on God. As we walk this Lenten journey, we are invited to reflect on the sacrifices we make and how they draw us closer to Christ. True renewal comes not just from external observances but from interior transformation.

To explore more on this theme, read the full reflection on the meaning of Lenten sacrifice from the Dominicana Journal.