“Alms for Palms“
- Exchanging a benefactor’s alms for a pilgrim’s palms folded in prayer & penance is an intregal part of pilgrimage journey. Since time immemorial pilgrims have depended on the charity of fellow Christians for food, supplies, lodging, transportation — with prayers and penances given in return. Pilgrimage without sponsorship is, traditionally, unknown.
The idea is for pilgrims to beg benefactors to provide them directly with the cash to cover the costs of pilgrimage. In exchange, the pilgrim promises to bring the intentions of his benefactors to the destination shrine in prayer & penance along The Way.
In this way, CHARITY IS MULTIPLIED.
Think about it.
“Some give by going. Others go by giving.”
It – Charity- is THE WAY of a pilgrim. A pilgrim cannot make pilgrimage on his own, so to accomplish it (for love of God) he begs the charity of another Christian for help. The other Christian cannot make pilgrimage at all, except by begging the charity of the pilgrim to bring his intentions in prayer & penance to Our Lady and her Martyrs at the shrine.
It is a holy exchange: Charity for Charity offered to God, Who is Charity. God’s ways are not our ways. So make His – yours.
Pilgrims and their sponsors can also use the alms for palms webform to underwrite the registration fee — which allows the pilgrim to walk without taxing his budget and the sponsor to walk away with a tax deduction.
In that way no soul or family need be turned away from the pilgrimage for want of material means, including a registration fee.