BC High Students Chosen to Contribute to Global Jesuit Pilgrimage App
BC High embarks on The Ignatian Year – the 500th anniversary of St. Ignatius’ conversion from soldier to pilgrim – as one of only twelve high schools worldwide to craft reflections for the Journey with Ignatius Virtual Pilgrimage.
Earlier this year, the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies selected Boston College High School as one of twelve international high schools to help relaunch of the Journey with Ignatius app (available on Android and iOS.)
The Journey with Ignatius app features a 12-week virtual pilgrimage that allows “pilgrims” to follow in the footsteps of the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius Loyola, from his years as a young page in Arevalo, Spain to his final days as Superior General of the Jesuits in Rome, Italy. Pilgrims engage with a particular theme and location each week through St. Ignatius’ own writings, insights from selected Jesuit sources, and invitations to programs on Ignatian spirituality all while joining a community of prayer.
Seven BC High students crafted written and recorded reflections under the direction of Mrs. Jennifer Manning, religion teacher and program leader of the Michael D. White ‘70 Center for Emerging Leaders, and Fr. Patrick Nolan, SJ, assistant director of enrollment and chaplain to athletics. The reflections will reside in a new high school section of the app.
These seven students considered the theme of “departure” as part of the fourth week of the virtual pilgrimage, which focuses on the Hermitage of Olatz, the Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Olatz, where St. Ignatius stopped to pray as he sought a new path of holiness after recuperating from his leg injuries sustained at the Battle of Pamplona.
Six of the students (Johan Almanzar ’22, Colton Begley ’22, Sam Burns ’22, Kevin Camy ’22, Johnny Duddy ’22, Michael Cairo ’23) selected to offer reflections are members of the inaugural cohort of the Michael D. White ‘70 Center for Emerging Leaders. The seventh student (Sebastian Ortiz Gonzalez ’25) represents the Arrupe Division.
“The invitation by the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, welcoming our students to contribute to the Journey with Ignatius app, came at an opportune time as we commission our inaugural cohort of the Michael D. White ‘70 Center for Emerging Leaders and embark on our celebration of the Ignatian Year, celebrating the 500th anniversary of St. Ignatius Loyola’s conversion,” said President Grace Cotter Regan P’12.
To learn more about the Journey with Ignatius app and to download now, click here.