Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Navarra (Agenzia Fides) - “I am very proud to be in this land of Navarra ministering as Bishop, and the reason is because the missionaries from this land have been its best ambassadors to the world, taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the most remote corners of the world where no one had even heard of Christ before,” says Bishop Francisco Perez Gonzalez, National Director of the PMS in Spain, in his letter presenting the Javieradas Pilgrimages 2008, which he will preside for the first time as Archbishop of Pamplona-Tudela.
The city of Javier prepares to receive the nearly 90,000 people who will visit the place during the Javieradas 2008, this year being celebrated on March 2, with a mass in the morning, and on March 8, in the afternoon, with the theme: “Witnesses to Christ like Francis Xavier.” The events of the Javieradas begin March 2, with Stations of the Cross at 8:30am. The pilgrims who participate have been walking all night to reach Javier. At 10:30am, a mass will be celebrated in Javier Castle, presided by Bishop Francisco Perez. In the second Javierada, on March 8, there will be Stations of the Cross at 3:00pm and mass at 5:00pm. In addition to these two important dates, there are also other dates, although not as well-known: the Javierada for priests (March 10), the Javierada for children (May 17), and the Javierada for the sick (May 11, feast of Pentecost).
Bishop Perez, in his letter, asks that God “continue to give strength to the missionaries abroad” and, as well, that many young people may “discover the grandeur of believing in Jesus Christ and that they may be willing to follow Him with enthusiasm and generosity.” He also makes an appeal to all Catholics, asking that they “foster in the family, and in their relationships with others, this spirit of responsibility in maintaining this great gift of faith that we have received,” because with “Christian life: either you nurture it, or you lose it.” Thus, the participation in the Sacraments is of extreme importance, as they are the “source of life and grace that turn us into living witnesses of Jesus Christ.” “The thirst for the eternal that we all have and these pilgrimages, urge us to continue in this noble desire that becomes a place of encounter with the person of Jesus Christ,” the Archbishop of Pamplona concluded.
The Javieradas have been celebrated in Navarra since 1940. Pilgrims journey from the villages, towns, and cities of the region to reach the Javier Castle, where St. Francis Xavier, patron of Navarra and patron of missions, was born in 1506. He pilgrimage is celebrated together with the novena to Our Lady of Grace, normally within the first two weekends in March. (RG)(Agenzia Fides 21/2/2008 righe 34, parole 459)
