Seitai Hoshikai, Akita, Japan

When I tell anyone about going on a pilgrimage in Japan, I get blank looks. Japan is not considered a Christian nation, and in fact, it is only 1% Christian. I have been to several Marian Apparition sites in Europe, and had heard about the others in other parts of the world, such as Guadalupe, Mexico, Aparecida in Brasil, Rwanda in Africa, and Vailkhanni in India. One of the less talked about approved apparition sites is in Akita, Japan.

Having recently moved to Southeast Asia, I had made plans to do as much travelling as possible. One of the top places on my itinerary was Japan, because I had always found the Japanese culture fascinating, both its history and the modern pop culture. So while planning my trip, I spoke to my uncle who had lived there recently, and he mentioned Akita, and going there with a tour group. As I mentioned before, I rarely join tour groups simply because I do things very impulsively. 

So I went to Tokyo for 10 days. Somewhere in between I decided I would definitely go to Akita. So I found a bus company (Akita Dream Bus) which costed 9,100 Yen each way from Tokyo, for an overnight bus of 8 ½ hours. There are of course the bullet trains but these are highly expensive, and night buses save the money for 2 nights of accommodation. In the end, as my budget was as low as possible, a Japanese speaking friend of mine booked my ticket online and I managed to get the return journey tickets for 9,200 yen round trip.

The bus left JR Tokyo at midnight and arrived at 6:30am at JR Akita. To go straight to the shrine, you go to the East exit of JR Akita Station, and  to Bus Stop number 4. On the bus, you collect a ticket with a number on it, and you watch the screen in front of the bus, when you reach your stop, the amount you need to pay is displayed according to the number on your ticket. The stops for the shrine are either Yuzawa or Yomogidakamityou (a better walk).

The walk from Yomogidakamityou is uphill for about 20 minutes, once you’re at the top; you take the first left, and first left again, and reach the shrine on the right after passing a cemetery. The view from the top of the hill is spectacular. At the shrine, there is Seitai Hoshikai Church itself, which is a beautiful structure with Japanese temple style roof, doors, and intricate wood carved beams. On the right of it is the convent, and to the left is a guest house. Unfortunately none of the sisters spoke English so I couldn’t ask as many questions as I would have liked.  The opening hours of the Chapel are from 9:00-11:30am, and 1:00-4:30pm.  

The church has two side chapels:  the right hand side has a statue of St. Joseph, and on the left, where I spent all of my time, was the miraculous wood carved statue of the Virgin Mary, standing on a globe, with a cross behind her, and her arms outstretched downwards, this pose is a representation of an image of Our Lady of All Nations of the Netherlands.  

The history of the place and the apparitions is this: A woman named Agnes Sasagawa had a conversion during her 20s and wanted to be a nun. She suffered from a botched appendix operation and went deaf. After drinking water from Lourdes, she was healed of the appendix pain and eventually became a nun in Akita. In 1973, Sister Sasagawa received the stigmata, and on the same day, the right hand of the statue of Our Lady began to bleed. The blood was sent for examination, and found to be real human blood. The statue then began to cry human tears (also tested in a laboratory in Tokyo) for six years a total of 101 times. Pilgrims flocked to the site until the tears eventually stopped. There were also three messages given to Sister Sasagawa very similar to those of Fatima, including a prophecy that her deafness would be healed, and it happened during a Mass in 1982.

To accommodate all the pilgrims and the curious, a guest house was built, with two beautiful gardens, one of them that has a long pathway with the Stations of the Cross, and another, Mary’s garden, which has a statue of Our lady smiling, surrounded by multi-coloured well kempt Japanese plants, a very peaceful place to sit and pray. I managed to pray the Stations of the Cross in the garden, and spent most of it in the shrine at the chapel of Our Lady. The sister there was very kind and gracious to me despite our language barrier, and even let me stay locked inside during the lunchtime break when the chapel should have been closed. 

Mary's Garden

Statue of Our Lady of Akita in Mary's Garden

Seitai Hoshikai Church, Akita

One of the Stations of the Cross

Miraculous statue of Our Lady of Akita

Our Lady of Akita

Approach to the shrine, guest house on the left

Turin Shroud, Turin, Italy

Much speculation about the validity of the Shroud as belonging to Jesus Christ has arisen since it was first discovered. I have read several books about it, and until this day, despite technological advances, its authenticity remains a mystery. I once asked a very talented tattoo artist if he could do a tattoo of the face of Jesus in the Shroud (this man could tattoo any image, drawing, photograph, etc), and he came back to me a week later and said that it is simply impossible. One can believe what they may about the Shroud, or not care at all, however, it is the single most important and fascinating relic in the history of the Church.

This relic is not exposed for public view very often. In fact, in its history, it has been displayed for public veneration very few times, in 1898, 1978, 1998, 2000, and 2010. Luckily, I managed to take a pilgrimage there for my birthday and see it with my own eyes. the next scheduled exposition date should have been in 2025, but for some reason the Archbishop of Turin requested that it be sooner, after the controversial restoration work on the cloth, and at a time that I could actually be there. The exposition was free, one only had to order tickets online, which I did promptly.

The relic was placed in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, in a special frame that preserved it. There was a video beforehand that informed the pilgrims about the history of the Shroud, as well as the components of it, where the wounds were, etc. Inside the Cathedral, the atmosphere was one of great reverence. We could walk in front of the exposed Shroud, and also pray in the church.

First view of the Shroud

Front view on the left, back view on the right

View from the church

Back of church view

Lalibela, Ethiopia, Africa

So this is where the mystery of the background photo gets solved. Yes it is a real place and yes I have been there. It is not specifically a Catholic Pilgrimage site; however, it is a pilgrimage site of great importance to our close cousins, the Ethiopian Orthodox. They like us believe in the Eucharist and venerate the mother of God, the Virgin Mary. Ethiopia is one of the world’s poorest countries, but is home to very noble and dignified beautiful people, keepers of treasures such as (allegedly) the Ark of the Covenant, and a Jerusalem all of their own, with a rich biblical history dating back to the wise Queen of Sheba visiting King Solomon, whom Jesus Himself mentioned, and the Eunuch whom Saint Philip converted to Christianity and baptized.

I went to Ethiopia for my birthday and managed to see quite a lot of it thanks to Dawe Emede Travel and Tour Agency.  From Addis Ababa I flew to Lalibela and was dazzled by the depth of faith of the Ethiopians. There is an area in Lalibela named The New Jerusalem; the story goes that early Christian Ethiopians would do annual pilgrimages on foot and by sea to Jerusalem, especially to be baptized in the waters of the Jordan River. On these lengthy journeys several people would die of hunger and fatigue. It is said that God appeared to the noble King Lalibela in a dream and instructed him to build a Jerusalem there in what is now called Lalibela, so that his people would be able to reap the blessings of a pilgrimage without risking their lives. So the king had sites such as Mount Tabor, the River Jordan, Gethsemani, and Calvary all constructed in rocks and hills nearby, including 11 rock hewn churches. Some sites more elaborate than others, but all extraordinary nonetheless.

What impressed me the most, and why they say that Lalibela is ‘beyond words’, is the Bete Giyorgis (Saint Georges Church, he is also the patron Saint of Ethiopia, as well as England and Greece) rock hewn church. It is said that Saint George appeared to King Lalibela and asked him to build this church, and legend has it that a hoofprint near the church belongs to the horse of Saint George himself. Heading there, you walk along a regular dirt patch, and then stop in awe, as immediately before you appears a steep square precipice surrounding an incredible cross structure that was constructed from the roof down, by digging! It is one of the most remarkable buildings I have and probably ever will see in my life. 


Walking down into the church, the inside is simply decorated like all Ethiopian churches, with cartoon like icons, with a central wall which encloses Holy of holies-the Eucharist, and always a veil covering the icons of the Virgin Mary, as an extra sign of reverence. Outside our guide told us that they believe that people who went to the river Jordan to be baptized would be incorrupt when they die. He said that some Ethiopian pilgrims went there and dipped their feet, and were buried in holes in the wall - the walls of the cliff have several holes, some for monks to pray in, and others to put bodies in, apparently. He motioned us to a particular hole in the wall, and said that the people in there had walked in the Jordan and their feet were incorrupt. I looked in, and sure enough, 3 skeletons, all bones, except for the skin only covering their feet, surprises everywhere! Ethiopians also have their own saints, beautifully depicted in their typical colourful style, all with admirable lives peppered with miracles. I can talk about Ethiopia for hours; it left such a deep impression on my soul, but I will post once more about Aksum, where the Ark of the Covenant and other Churches are.

The River Jordan

Ethiopian Icon of the Virgin Mary

Bete Medhane Alem, the world's largest monolithic church

Representation of the Tomb of Adam, below Christ's Cross, Calvary

Gethsemani

The approach to Bete Giyorgis

Bete Giyorgis

Ethiopian Orthodox Priest

King Lalibela

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City, Mexico

 This is another of my favourite sites. One needs to only read up on the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to understand how Mexico converted despite the many failures of the Spanish conquistadors, and how not only is the image completely miraculous (it survived a direct bomb hit, the cactus fibre should have disintegrated hundreds of years ago yet remains intact, the actual image hovers above the fibre, etc etc), but it is also a beautiful image that adds to the many unique and colourful folkloric art that Mexico rightly boasts. My grandma used to have this image framed, and while growing up in California it was a familiar sight, but on coming to Mexico for the first time in the early 2000s, I fell in love and added myself to the many Guadalupeña devotees out there.

The Basilica can be reached by Mexico City’s very user friendly, cheap and clean Metro, it seriously puts several European underground systems to shame. On exiting at La Basilica, you enter a myriad of market stalls, selling lush food, clothing, and then the closer you get to the Basilica, the more you see religious art, rosaries, trinkets, cool mesh bags, and mostly images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, aka La Virgen, or Lupita.

The actual Basilica is a new, circular one, which was built to represent the Virgin, with a crown at the top, a flowing mantle of a roof, and interior lights that represent the roses. As one enters, the focal points are the cross at the altar and the image of Lupita hanging above it. Behind the altar is a set of televators that people move across in zigzags to view the image and pray and cry.  There are several daily masses and confession seems to be constant, people are in there for an hour at a time. I was blessed enough to witness a wedding in Nahuatl, the ancient Aztec language, the bride and groom and celebrants were wearing feather headdresses, it was splendid.

I was also granted the special privilege of an interior tour, I entered the Sacristy where former Pope John Paul II prepared for Mass, and even got to go right behind the actual image, which is kept under a strong safe. Outside the Basilica is a square where dances are performed during festivals, and from where one can walk to the original Basilica which is now slightly sinking, and to the other sites where Saint Juan Diego met the Virgin. There are also beautiful park areas and fountains and everything is very well kept, it is an oasis in the middle of the chaos of Mexico City.

The new basilica

The miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The bent cross that was on the altar below the hanging image when a bomb went off

Safe behind which the image is kept

The mantle like roof and rose like lights inside the Basilica

The old Basilica

Televators from which the image can be venerated

Saint Michael's Cave, Gargano, Puglia, Italy

This place is one of my favourite sites on the planet. It is a beautiful little town named Gargano on the top of a mountain in Puglia, a place in Southern Italy renowned for its good food. One can get there flying into either Bari or Pescara airports, which are both equally far from the town. Most people in the know go to Gargano from San Giovanni Rotondo. This place was a pilgrimage haunt of Padre Pio, as well as Saint Francis, Saint Lucy, and several others. The story goes that in the late 500^th century, Saint Michael appeared on this hill by the cave and asked the bishop to build a church nearby where people could worship God, and he granted his protection from invaders. The church was built, and Saint Michael protected the people and appeared three times, and when the bishop asked if the saint would like him to consecrate the cave in his honour, Saint Michael replied that he himself had consecrated the cave and that no evil shall enter it.

The cave is quite small and is a church, with an otherworldly small statue of Saint Michael by the altar. To get there one needs to walk down several hundreds of steps and the feeling and smell of the air is a clear and ancient one. It is beautiful inside and out. There is a separate chapel in the cave where confessions are constantly heard, and an air of sacredness to the place. Most visitors including myself stay at the Casa dei Pellegrini conveniently located adjacent to the cave, from which one can take a lift right into the shrine.

Side view of the church and entrance to the cave

Entrance says this is a holy place and is the gate to heaven

Inside the cave after Mass

Statue of Saint Michael by the altar

View from top of Monte Sant'Angelo

Also home to the world's best cup of hot chocolate

Cave entrance

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Padre Pio - San Giovanni Rotondo 2010

Padre Pio's town, San Giovanni Rotondo, Puglia, Southern Italy.

I am a fan of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina so have been here several times. The site has changed a lot since the early 2000's, it used to just be the original parish with Padre Pio's tomb in a room below, where devotees would kneel around the tomb, place roses and petitions through a grill, and have a chance to quietly reflect. Now it has grown into the huge Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church large enough to house 36,500 people, with a golden room housing the saint's tomb, where you are ushered in a queue past the crack in the wall from where you can see the silver casket. I personally prefer what it was like before, however, it is a frequently visited pilgrimage site, and is still holy ground where Padre Pio once lived, celebrated masses, opened a hospital, and is now buried. 

In the town I have met a few older locals who used to personally know him, the devotion to him there and in Italy in general is incredible. The lady whose hotel I always stay in used to know the saint when she was a little girl, and he predicted that she would open a hotel for when his friends come to visit.

One can see the original parish, the new basilica, the museum of his personal items, and do the stations of the cross in one or two days. Heading up to nearby  Monte Sant'Angelo is a must. I will go into that next, suffice to say it is a favourite pilgrimage site for Padre Pio himself.

The Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church

Saint Padre Pio's Tomb

The viewing spot in the wall where the tomb is

One of the many mosaics of the saint in the church