The Fourth Glorious Mystery

Today was a truly blessed day for us peregrinos, or pilgrims. Not only were we able to participate in Mass at the beautiful Burgos Cathedral with Bishop McFadden, Bishop Rhoades, and another Bishop from Australia, but we were able to be there for the celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (a national holiday here in Spain!). It was a deeply moving, spiritual, and thought-provoking ceremony. Here are my thoughts on celebrating this special day in Spain.

As I mentioned above, the Assumption is a national holiday here in Spain. It took me several minutes to process that single thought in my mind. When examined we can realize that Spain must have a large enough Catholic population to demand that the Assumption be called a national holiday. In fact, 73% of the Spanish population is Catholic. That is just about 3/4 of the entire population. America however can only claim 22% of the population to be Catholic. Not even 1/4 of our population. I took some time to meditate upon this information. Now I ask you to do the same. Imagine to yourself living in a country where all of the stores and shops close down because it is a Holy Day. Being able to know that your neighbors, friends, and family are all celebrating the same event that day. What kind of nation would we be? For us Catholics, a better one with stronger faith. I think today was a truly a blessed day for us pelegrimos.