Four young people from Colombia, along with a priest and a deacon soon to be ordained, embarked on the Way of Saint Francis of Assisi starting from Rome to express their devotion to the saint.

On April 12th, four young people from the Bogotá and Pereira sections, together with a priest and a deacon soon to be ordained, began the Way of Saint Francis of Assisi starting from Rome. This journey involved a 350 km trek through central Italy, carrying their backpacks. On average, they walked about 30 kilometers daily, and at the end of each day, they arrived in the afternoon to celebrate Holy Mass.

The final destination of the pilgrimage was La Verna, the place where Saint Francis received the stigmata. After completing the route, they returned to Rome to accompany Father Christian Martínez, L.C., in his priestly ordination and to meet with the Regnum Christi family.

During the pilgrimage, they stayed at various Franciscan sanctuaries and monasteries along the way. Father Christian Martínez, L.C., expressed that he had longed for this experience, especially because of his devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi.

As a future priest, these days helped me to reflect deeply. I found much peace and tranquility amid a personal challenge: to walk the entire way without distraction from music, books, or talks. I wanted to accept and fully live the fatigue, hunger, sleep, and physical pain that walking entails, as a reminder that, in daily life, we can also offer to God what we are experiencing without fleeing from it.

Even if blisters form on the feet, we can keep walking. The path is beautiful, the goal is even more so, and the best part of the journey is doing it always together, because we do not go alone». P. Christian Martínez L.C.

Information from the Communications Office of the Colombia-Venezuela Territory