“Family Rosary Priest Tells Of Pilgrimage to Europe” from the June 29, 1950 Door County Advocate
Family Rosary Priest Tells Of Pilgrimage to Europe
Father Rudolf James Hodik, rosary priest, pastor of Casco, has returned to his parish after touring three months through 20 European countries.
He left Casco last March as the leader of the Family Rosary Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome and the shrines of Our Lady. Among his pilgrims was E. S. Ackerman, Sturgeon Bay city clerk.
On Easter Tuesday the priests of this pilgrimage attended the mass of Father Pio, the stigmatic priest. While touring France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Portugal, they visited the world renowned shrines of La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima, Lisieux and the Miraculous Medal in Paris.
The Family Rosary Holy Year pilgrimage has been described as the happiest ever carried by the American Express Co. On land and on sea and on every possible occasion they and their spiritual leader have done their utmost to spread devotion to Our Lady amongst their fellow travelers and amongst people they visited, according to Fr. Hodik.
Behind Iron Curtain
On April 21 the pilgrims embarked on the S.S. Queen Elizabeth for home, but Fathers R. J. Hodik, and R. S. Kerch stayed and visited thoroughly every country on this side of the Iron Curtain.
On June 2, escorted by guards with loaded guns, they got behind the Iron Curtain into Czechoslovakia.
“The people there are very unhappy and want us to pray harder than ever for the conversion of Russia and a lasting peace,” Fr. Hodik said.
Audience With Pope
“The biggest thrill and the outstanding event in the entire trip was the private audience I had with the Holy Father,” Fr. Hodik stated. “The Holy Father highly complimented me for bringing people closer to God through spreading the daily family rosary.”
On June 8 he visited with the royal family in London, England, and congratulated King George VI on his birthday.
While in Palestine Frs. Kerch and Hodik had a special audience with the Patriarch of Jerusalem. He gave each of the two priests his personal medal.
In Passion Play
Taking in the passion play at Oberammergau is an event these two priests will always remember. They are the guests of Alois Lang, the leader of the passion play.
The most gruesome day was when they visited the Dachau concentration camp. Here in the crematories 250,000 people were burned. Human bones that look like chalk can still be picked up on the grounds.
The last weeks Fr. Hodik spent in England and Ireland. Here he preached the daily family rosary and also visited the shrines of Our Lady as he did in every other country.
Last year Fr. Hodik celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination. On that occasion his people presented him with a purse. He brought this with him on his pilgrimage and distributed it to the poor and needy in all the 20 countries he visited.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
Articles about pilgrimages
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