Newark St. Francis de Sales Church led a group of 54 central Ohio parishioners on a “Blessings of the Bourbon Trail Pilgrimage” from Oct. 22-25 in northwestern Kentucky.
The pilgrimage included visits to several bourbon distilleries along with sites that have had a major impact on Catholicism in the United States. The sites were chosen to help educate pilgrims about some of the first Catholic settlements in America.
The pilgrimage began with a visit to the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist near Bardstown. At the abbey, the tour group was welcomed and provided with a 30-minute question-and-answer session by guestmaster Father Carlos Rodriguez. The group received a detailed understanding of the history of the Trappist monks who established their site in 1848.
Following the briefing, Father David Sizemore, pastor of St. Francis de Sales, celebrated Mass in the abbey chapel. After Mass, pilgrims toured the abbey grounds and visited the gift shop. All items sold raise money for the abbey, which is a community of Roman Catholic monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of Strict Observance, commonly known as Trappist.
The website www.gethsemanifarms.org also displays items that can be purchased such as fudge, fruitcake and religious items made by the monks of Gethsemani.
Following the visit to Gethsemani, the pilgrims enjoyed tours and tastings at Log Still and Maker’s Mark distilleries and Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center in Nelson County. In 1785, a churchgoer living in Maryland brought immigrants with distilling knowledge to Kentucky. Basil Hayden, a distiller, brought 25 families to start a local Catholic church community in Nelson County.
On the second day of the “Blessings of the Bourbon Trail Pilgrimage,” the group toured the Thomas Merton Center in Louisville. The center, home to the largest collection of works by Merton, a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, is in the W.L. Lyons Brown Library at Bellarmine University.
Following the tour of the center, the group celebrated Mass in Our Lady of the Woods Chapel at Bellarmine. The group then visited Stitzel Weller and Kentucky Artisan distilleries for tours and tastings.
The final day consisted of celebrating Mass at the Cathedral of the Assumption in downtown Louisville. Pilgrimage members also visited other sites in Louisville as well as the Old Forester and Angel’s Envy distilleries.
The location of the Kentucky pilgrimage was chosen as an affordable opportunity for central Ohio Catholics to visit important places in the life of the Catholic Church in America. Each year, Father Sizemore also leads overseas pilgrimages to holy sites in Europe, Israel and elsewhere. In June 2024, he will lead a Marian shrine tour to Fatima, Lourdes, Barcelona, Paris and other sites.
On the “Blessings of the Bourbon Trail” pilgrimage, participants enjoyed fellowship, celebrated daily Mass, learned about the history of Catholics in America and appreciated local spirits at distilleries founded by the early bourbon makers of the United States.
Dan Bell is a Newark St. Francis de Sales parishioner.