Bishop Hagemoen presides at Mass as “Pilgrims of Hope” gather at Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for annual pilgrimage

(Excerpts from an article by Jon Perez, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Hundreds of pilgrims gathered at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel July 20, 2025, to celebrate the annual pilgrimage to the sacred site west of Humboldt.

Braving rainy weather, parishioners from throughout the area attended the Sunday morning Mass on the hill, celebrated by Saskatoon Bishop Mark Hagemoen, along with diocesan pastors serving in the area, and a number of Benedictine monks from St. Peter’s Abbey, which first established the pilgrimage more than a century ago.

Music ministry was again provided by the Mount Carmel choir, which includes past and present parishioners of St. Scholastica Parish in Burr and St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish in Humboldt.

The annual pilgrimage included opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, prayer devotions before and after Sunday morning Eucharist, and the traditional blessing of the fields with the Blessed Sacrament from the top of Mount Carmel hill, beneath the statue of Our Lady and the Child Jesus.

Martha and Mary: Service and Contemplation

In his homily, Bishop Mark Hagemoen reflected on the Gospel from Luke 10:38-42, and Christ’s words to his beloved friends Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus.

The gospel describes how Martha welcomes Jesus into her home, relating how Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened,” while Martha is busy serving.

Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help with the work, but he answers: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken from her.”

Noting that there are many reflections and commentaries about this gospel passage, Hagemoen said some maintain that Martha represents the active ministry in the world by those proclaiming Christ and God’s Kingdom to others, while Mary represents the contemplative aspect of prayer and faithfulness to our Lord in the world. However, the bishop stressed that in all vocations and walks in life, we are called to both the contemplative and the active in embracing and living the mission of Christ.

The bishop pointed to the Benedictine spirituality of the monks of St. Peter’s Abbey at Muenster, which combines both action and contemplation, work and prayer.

“It’s interesting: the Benedictines, they do all things. They have prayer, they have work, and of course, all of this is rooted in a rule which immerses itself in prayer and the Word of God,” said Hagemoen.

“They have an active ministry. Many of their priests built up this region at a time when it wasn’t the diocese of Saskatoon, but rather the Abbacy of Muenster,” said the bishop. “Now, we benefit from that faith and work of the Benedictine community to establish the faith that brings us to this day.”

Bishop installs seminarian as Lector during annual pilgrimage

Diocesan seminarian Huy Le, who is serving at St. Augustine Parish in Humboldt this summer, was instituted to the Order of Lector by Bishop Mark Hagemoen during the Eucharistic celebration at Mount Carmel.

Being instituted as a lector gives Le the ability to now officially read the Word of God and instruct people through catechism at the parish level. After his summer of serving at St. Augustine Parish, Le will return to Christ the King Seminary in Mission, B.C., for his fourth year of theological studies, as he continues to study and discern his call to priesthood. The next step would be ordination to the transitional diaconate.

 

RELATED:  Read the full article about the Mount Carmel Pilgrimage – LINK

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