1. About Us

The Pilgrims of the Eucharist constitute in the Catholic Church a public association of faithful of diocesan right. Our religious family consists of two branches of consecrated life, male and female: the Pilgrims of the Eucharist (priests and brothers) and Pilgrims of the Eucharist (Sisters), and a Third Order for lay people who share our charism and spirit. We are currently in the process of approval as a Religious Institute of Diocesan Right.

Our history begins in 2005, in the city of Valledupar / Cesar (Colombia), considering October 12th of that year as the date of our foundation; Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar. Our Founder, the Reverend Father Francesco Maria of the Holy Trinity, started the first foundations in the Diocese of Valledupar (Colombia) and Florida (Uruguay). In 2008 the priests and brothers reached the Archdiocese of Pamplona and Tudela (Spain), and in 2010 the Sisters followed.

2. Charism

The Sisters of the Pilgrims of the Eucharist with Monsignor  Francisco Perez Gonzalez, Archbishop of Pamplona and Tudela, Spain.

The Pilgrims of the Eucharist are geared toward intensively cultivating a Eucharistic spirituality and thus to LIVE A EUCHARISTIC EXISTANCE, which is to be food for the life of the world, by the transformation that takes place in him who, as the Son, does what pleases the Father . Said Existence translates into: Being a Sacrament of Unity, through the expropriation of one’s own will and fully pledged in living the Spirit of the Beatitudes.

Brothers

To be food for the life of the world, means accepting lovingly the Will of the Father, keeping His Word, (Jesus Christ), because "One does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4), by this means, the Pilgrim is constituted in someone sent to satiate the hunger that man has of God and that God has of men.

In the Eucharistic mystery, is the Person of the Son who sent by the Father gives himself to us as food for eternal Life, just as the Pilgrim sent by the Father is constituted in food that gives himself up, "You give them something to eat" (Mk 6:37) and is received (heard) because he always says and does what the Father wants and desires.

***
“It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven, and give life unto the world”.  (Jn 6:32-33)

3. Spirituality

Through the profession of the Evangelical Counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience, we intend to live in total, exclusive and definitive, generous and joyful surrender to the Lord, occupying ourselves only His things. In addition we profess vows of surrender to the Spiritual Maternity of Mary and docility to our Guardian Angel.

Our spirituality is Eucharistic and Marian.

 
It is Eucharistic because all our life and existence revolves around the surrender and donation of the Person of Christ, which constitutes us in food for the world. Before the Eucharist we pray, and for love of her we work in spreading the correct understanding of her doctrine and of her worship. All of our life of Liturgical Prayer is conducted before the exposed Blessed Sacrament; before which each priest, brother or sister has a daily hour of adoration.

It is Marian because the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, is our safe haven in our journey back to the Father, hence it is necessary that we recognize and love her dearly as a Mother and Teacher, because She is the model of Eucharistic Life, who teaches us to listen and keep the Word of God (Christ), so that we can later be and do all that the Father wants and desires of us. "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38), to listen to the Virgin Mary is to love and obey God, She imprints in the heart of the Pilgrim, that "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5).

The Pilgrims, in light of the church, understand the gospel as the encounter with the person of the Son, in which the Father reveals to us the mystery of his poverty which is unfathomable wealth, because in Him, in Christ, the Father has given us everything. The Pilgrims of the Eucharist want to experience the simplicity and simpleness of the gospel (Christ), following the example of all the saints and especially of St. Francis of Assisi, who manifested with his life and existence, what it means to live “not by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”. It is for his love of the gospel and the simplicity of his life that he is constituted as our main patron saint.

The Pilgrims of the Eucharist are characterized by living In a constant attentive listening to the Word of God (His Will), through the church by means of its legal representatives; therefore we profess a great love for the church, and for the Roman Pontificate in a spirit of humility and obedience. We are also characterized  by living of the Providence which is a manifestation of that same Will, this providence not only understood as receiving from God the material bread, but as receiving from God all that which makes it possible for us to achieve His ultimate goal, the eternal Beatitude. The Pilgrims live a fraternal life in the spirit of poverty, gratuition, and joy, which is in turn communion with the three divine Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

4. Prayer life

To live what we celebrate

Prayer and union with God is the basis for carrying out a genuine formation of the religious, for it is its foundation and the bedrock on which to build the entire building. It is from the prayer, in its unitive aspect that the Pilgrim is formed by the Father and he can bear fruit. Our prayer is called to be a universal prayer because it is Eucharistic; it distinguishes itself in that it is confident and humble, knowing that the initiative always comes from God. It is the prayer especially of one who is willing to listen to the Will of the Father, that transforms him in Son and food, and this is what gives our prayer a universal and specific character.

All of our life of liturgical prayer is done in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance, to live what we celebrate. Our life is thus a reflection of Jesus life: life of constant listening and donation to be able to serve God first, as He wants to be served, and then all men, through whom He wants to be loved and nurtured. We pray and sing, according to the Hours, Divine Office in the choir: Office of Readings, Morning Prayers (Lauds), Daytime Prayers, Evening Prayers (Vespers) and Compline, thereby joining by the Universal Prayer of the whole Church in Jesus, to the Father, through the Holy Spirit.

 
In the morning, after our personal devotions, we sing the Morning Prayers (Lauds); followed by half an hour of silent adoration and afterwards we attend the celebration of Holy Mass. Then we have the Office of Readings, followed by the Eucharistic blessing. Around midday, with Mary, we pray the Holy Rosary and the midday prayers. At 3:00 pm following Jesus desires expressed to St. Faustina Kowalska we adore his unfathomable mercy and love by the recitation the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

By late afternoon we sing Vespers and have another half hour of silent adoration with the Lord. Finally the day ends with the singing of Compline. All our community, priests and brothers, as well as sisters, have one additional hour of personal daily adoration; we take turns day and night to constantly accompany Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

5. Fraternal life

Aspirants and postulants in Valledupar (Colombia)

We live in open conventual fraternity open to the apostolate in a style of contemplative-apostolic life that allows us to either pray with Jesus alone, or go out in his name to bring the Gospel to men and women of our time. For us community life is fundamental, which translates into living life in a family. God calls us to be family and to show with our lives the true family, the image of the Trinity, which is family in their love. In our monasteries the true fraternity must reign and is verified in time spent together, caring for one another. We pray, we ourselves do our daily chores, eat, study, and attend community recreation ... always in a spirit of communion under the gaze of the Server whom plays the role of Christ for us. This, our life, must be characterized according to our spirit for being poor, gratuitous, and happy.

6. Apostolate

“You give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37)

Our first ministry is our public testimony of religious consecration. We evangelize with our presence and remind Catholic faithful of the future life to which they are called by the pure love of Christ.

Family Circles

Our community is not defined by what it does but by what it is called to be, "Food for the Life of the World", by which its apostolate is developed in line with the Will of God discerned through the Server and his counsel, in accordance to the needs of the Church in a world hungry of God.

Spiritual Retreats

The Pilgrims of the Eucharist are missionaries as long as we are present where the Father wants. Sent by Him through our Servers (Superiors), we desire to be “food the world”, our  own life and existence is a public testimony of surrender and donation, "We go where there is hunger of God", by what we find in the Pilgrim Centers (Parishes where there unfolds the missionary action: retreats, catechesis, family circles, perpetual Eucharistic adoration, itinerant missions, etc..) and in the Bethlehem’s "Houses of Bread" (places where a specific apostolate develops) means by which we reach and achieve that which the Lord wants from us "to feed a world hungry of God."

Itinerant missionaries

 

Promoting Eucharistic Adoration

7. Contact

We are present in Spain (Archdiocese of Pamplona and Tudela), Colombia (Diocese of Valledupar) and Uruguay (Diocese of Florida).

 To contact us:

* Brothers: hnos.peregrinosdelaeucaristia@gmail.com

* Sisters: peregrinadelaeucaristia@gmail.com

8. Activities with the Pilgrims