Paris, France, Jun 19, 2019 / 11:00 am
Catholics walked through Syria's Wadi al-Nasara, or "Valley of the Christians," this Pentecost, praying the rosary, alternating between the Arabic and French prayers for each decade.
Their two-day pilgrimage, inspired by the annual Notre Dame-Chartres walk in France, coincided with Pentecost pilgrimages in Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt organized by the French humanitarian organization SOS Chretiens d'Orient as a gesture of prayer and solidarity.
"These few intense days of hiking and prayers will remain engraved in hearts as precious moments when Syrians and French were united by the same Spirit," Madeleine, a French volunteer for SOS Chretiens d'Orient in Aleppo, Syria wrote on their blog.
"The pride of having traveled the kilometers with bravery, the long discussions shared, the services rendered together have been a reflection of the love that binds our two countries by the grace of God," she said. "We were in communion with the pilgrimage of Notre Dame de Chretiente in Chartres."