By Marie Tregre
Founder, Magnificat Travel

Dear Pilgrim Family,
As we reflect on the last year, words cannot express the gratitude and blessings we have experienced in the last 12 months. We encourage you to read more about our journeys in our 2019 newsletter.

On a personal level, we welcomed new life in our family in February, as my daughter Katie and her husband, Mike, had their first child Charlotte Rose. She is healthy and beautiful! Our youngest daughter Evelyn began a new adventure in the Disney Internship Program in Florida, which has been a lifelong dream for her.

We are blessed to be Magnifying the Lord in our pilgrimage through life and throughout the Diocese of Lafayette and beyond. In 2018, we brought two mission trips to Puerto Rico, as my homeland still continues to rebuild.

Magnificat Travel also had the honor of traveling with two bishops. Our very own bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, the Most Rev. J. Douglas Deshotel, joined us on the Centennial Pilgrimage to Canada. It was a powerful moment as we stood next to the Deportation Cross (featured on the front cover) and prayed for the past, present and future of Acadiana. This moment will stay near to my heart for many years to come.

In addition, the Most Rev. Steven Lopes, bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter—the equivalent of a diocese for former Anglican clergy and lay people within the Catholic Church—joined us on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

As our 17th year of service came to a close, we traveled with more than 1,500 pilgrims and missionaries. God continues to bless this ministry, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to be a vessel of God’s grace as we continue taking pilgrims to holy places.