Gaudí, Grottos, & Grace: A Jesuit Student Pilgrimage
(This article was initially published in The President's Report | 2024-2025. Click here to read the publication.)
Following in the footsteps of Ignatius of Loyola requires a willingness to take the first step and embrace whatever God places before us. This summer we traveled to Spain, France, and Portugal in search of our Jesuit and Marian roots. With twenty-five students, we visited places at the heart of our Catholic faith and culture—from Barcelona to Lourdes, Loyola to Santiago de Compostela, and from Fátima to Lisbon. Along the way, we encountered experiences we never knew before, but the most significant changes on this journey would happen within ourselves.
Following in the footsteps of Ignatius of Loyola requires a willingness to take the first step and embrace whatever God places before us. This summer we traveled to Spain, France, and Portugal in search of our Jesuit and Marian roots. With twenty-five students, we visited places at the heart of our Catholic faith and culture—from Barcelona to Lourdes, Loyola to Santiago de Compostela, and from Fátima to Lisbon. Along the way, we encountered experiences we never knew before, but the most significant changes on this journey would happen within ourselves.
One of the most powerful moments of this journey was our visit to La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona—the great and unfinished masterwork of Antoni Gaudí. Entering the cathedral, we saw its majesty, its modernist Gothic vision, and the vibrant natural colors flowing through the “forest” of stained-glass windows. We felt connected not only to the sacred art of Gaudí but also to a larger world. Students were struck by the beauty of the space and the devotion that “God’s Architect” brought to his work.
From Barcelona, we traveled to Manresa and Montserrat, sites deeply tied to Ignatius’s conversion. We visited the cave where he prayed and began to write the Spiritual Exercises. We visited the Benedictine monastery in Montserrat, surrounded by the same stunning landscape and rhythm of prayer that Ignatius once cherished during his visits there.
Our pilgrimage then led us to an encounter with the Virgin Mary at Lourdes. We joined thousands in a rosary procession, drank from the waters of the sacred spring, and witnessed the deeply moving sight of the sick and disabled asking the Virgin for intercession. As Marcelo Menéndez ‘28 reflected, “It opened my eyes to how universal the Church really is. Seeing Catholics from all over the world come together to honor the Immaculate Conception and her son Jesus Christ was incredibly powerful and humbling.”
Leaving Lourdes, we went to Loyola—to the house where Ignatius had his conversion experience. There, one of our students, Henry Brumfield ‘27, entered the Catholic faith by receiving his First Communion in the very chapel where Ignatius left behind a life of glory for one of service and evangelization.
A pivotal moment of the trip was our time in Santiago de Compostela. We felt the profound energy of the Pilgrim Mass and watched a massive thurible called the botafumeiro swing above us—a reminder of the centuries of pilgrims who have stood at the tomb of the Apostle St. James.
In Fátima, we participated in another candlelit procession and reflected on the power of prayer. Several students chose to stay behind for a 600-foot kneeling walk, deepening their connection to Christ’s suffering. We concluded in Santarém, praying before a Eucharistic miracle, and in Lisbon, we saw the birthplace of St. Anthony.
However, the greatest gift of this pilgrimage was not what we saw, but how it transformed the students’ faith. Miguel Chamorro ‘28 captured it best: “This pilgrimage was my spiritual reawakening. I pray a decade of the Rosary every night now.”
For those seeking to grow in faith, experience new cultures, and become stronger men for others, pilgrimages like this are life-changing. Join us!
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For information about the upcoming summer pilgrimage for Belen students in grades 9-11, click here.
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For information about the upcoming summer pilgrimage for Belen students in grades 9-11, click here.
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba, by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the school's property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit is situated on a 34-acre site in western Dade County, just minutes away from downtown Miami.