On our last episode, I welcomed two of our Sullivan Undergraduate Saints Fellows to talk about the pilgrimage through France that our cohort completed at the start of summer. The final destination on that pilgrimage was Lourdes. As follow up to that episode, I want to share with all of you a relatively short reflection on thirst. In particular, I want to talk about a pilgrim’s thirst. But in the end, I really want to talk about the waters of Lourdes.

Follow-up Resources:

• Read this episode in article form at OSV Magazine under “A thirsty American pilgrim drinks his fill at Lourdes” by Leonard J. DeLorenzo
• The Song of Bernadette, by Franz Wurfel
• Learn more about the Sullivan Undergraduate Saints Fellowship
• “Pilgrimage and the Urgent Question of Faith,” by Leonard J. DeLorenzo, essay in the Church Life Journal
• “A pilgrimage of sacred art,” by Leonard J. DeLorenzo, article in Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly

“Encountering Christ on Pilgrimage, with Joan Watson,” podcast episode via Church Life Today

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

Arising from the McGrath Institute for Church Life, the Sullivan Undergraduate Saints Fellowship forms Notre Dame students as leaders in the study and spirituality of the saints. We launched this fellowship in 2025 with an inaugural cohort of 12 students selected from a pool of many, many applicants. As part of their fellowship, our saints fellows completed a course this past semester (with yours truly) on praying with the saints. Next year they will become leaders of other undergraduate students, as they form groups of students who pray together and serve together in a manner common to a saint each fellow selects. But in between the course they complete and the year of leadership they undertake, the whole cohort of 12 fellows, along with me and a chaplain, make a pilgrimage to immerse ourselves in the cultures that gave rise to particular saints––cultures which, in turn, these saints renewed and enriched. This year’s pilgrimage was to France, specifically: Paris, Chartres, Lisieux, LeMans, Tours, and Lourdes.

Today, two of our Sullivan Undergraduate Saints Fellows join me to talk about the meaning and significance of this pilgrimage with the saints. Macy Vance is a rising junior and Kate Apelian is a rising senior at Notre Dame, but really I should let them introduce themselves.

Follow-up Resources:

• Learn more about the Sullivan Undergraduate Saints Fellowship
• Check out the wildly popular “Saturdays with the Saints” lecture series
• “Pilgrimage and the Urgent Question of Faith,” by Leonard J. DeLorenzo, essay in the Church Life Journal
• “A pilgrimage of sacred art,” by Leonard J. DeLorenzo, article in Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly
• “Saints who flew, with Carlos Eire,” podcast episode via Church Life Today
• “Encountering Christ on Pilgrimage, with Joan Watson,” podcast episode via Church Life Today
• “Saints, for Real, with Meg Hunter-Kilmer,” podcast episode via Church Life Today
• “The Theology of the Saints, with Katie Cavadini and Leonard DeLorenzo,” podcast episode via Church Life Today

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

Hi everyone. For today’s episode I do not have a guest joining me; instead, I am just going to share with you directly. You see, my dad died a few weeks ago and just last week we celebrated his funeral Mass. I’ve written a few books over the years and I dedicated one of those books to my dad, who raised me. That book is about fostering communion with our beloved dead. The beloved dead now include my dad. So what I wanted to do today is share with you a portion of the book in remembrance of my dad, specifically the book’s brief epilogue where I highlight five pastoral priorities for this communal task of fostering communion with the dead. These are priorities for those of us who mourn, for those who accompany – or should accompany – those who mourn, for families, for parishes. The book’s is title Our Faithful Departed: Where They Are and Why It Matters, published by Ave Maria Press in 2022. After I share the epilogue with its five priorities with you, I then read my dad’s obituary, which I wrote.

Follow-up Resources

• Our Faithful Departed: Where They Are and Why It Matters, by Leonard J. DeLorenzo
• Our Faithful Departed Discussion Guide, a free resource for parishes, schools, families and friends.
• “Heaven in the Midst of Death, with Laura Kelly Fanucci,” podcast episode via Church Life Today
• “Life is changed but something ended, with Stephanie DePrez,” podcast episode via Church Life Today
• “Life in Death in Life, with Robert Cording,” podcast episode via Church Life Today
• “Praying for the Dead, with John Cavadini,” podcast episode via Church Life Today

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.