Pilgrimage to Madeira with Bishop Schneider
The year 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Blessed Karl of Austria who died on 1 April 1922 at the young age of 34. In celebration of the centenary year, the Gebetsliga is pleased to announce a special pilgrimage to the island of Madeira with Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan and promoter of Blessed Karl.
Pilgrimage Itinerary
August 4 - 11, 2022
Serving as pilgrimage director, Bishop Schneider will lead the faithful on an eight day pilgrimage of prayerful recollection across the island of Madeira as pilgrims immerse themselves in the place where Blessed Karl spent his final days. Pilgrimage events include: visits to the island’s churches, a walking tour of sites from Karl’s life, Mass and prayer at Blessed Karl’s tomb on Monte, and private time for personal reflection.
Thursday, August 4, 2022
Early evening departure from Washington Dulles on a non-stop overnight flight to Lisbon, Portugal.
Friday, August 5, 2022
Early morning arrival in Lisbon. After a short layover, transfer onto a ninety-minute flight to Madeira; the larger of two of the islands in the Madeira archipelago, in the Atlantic Ocean, 250 miles north of Tenerife, Canary Islands. Morning arrival in the capital of Funchal, “floating garden of the Atlantic! Check-in at hotel. Afternoon visit to the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte.
Saturday, August 6 to Monday, August 8, 2022
Three days of Sacred Liturgies and talks by His Excellency, Bishop Athanasius Schneider and Canon Jean-Marie Moreau to honor the Centenary of Blessed Emperor Karl’s death! Suzanne Pearson, a Delegate of the Blessed Karl League for the US and Canada will also give talks. Visit the sites connected to the Imperial Family in Madeira. See the Port where Emperor Karl and Zita (who was expecting their eighth child), first saw the island after a three-week harrowing sea voyage. After the second failed attempt to reclaim Hungary, the Imperial couple was placed in the custody of the Entente, who banished them onto a British gunboat departing from Baja, Hungary, on November 1, 1921, destination unknown. Up until then, no country offered to take them. After traversing the treacherous wartime waters of the Danube, Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar, the Captain finally received orders to drop them off on the Portuguese Island of Madeira. Arriving on Nov. 19, 1921, worn out physically and heartbroken at being cut off from his children and his people, the Emperor was comforted by the sight of a church jutting out of the hillside, saying to Zita, “It reminds me very much of our churches back home. I’m certain it’s a church of Our Lady. We’ll go there soon..” Indeed, it was dedicated to Our Lady of the Mountain and ended up being very much a part of the Emperor’s story to this day! Visit the grounds of Reid’s Palace Hotel, former site of the Villa Victoria, their first dwelling. In January, Zita traveled to Europe to pick up their seven children and bring them to the island. By her return in early February, Karl had accepted an offer of the Quinta do Monte, a summer villa in the hills above the city. It was without electricity and heating and had little running water, but with their dwindling funds and credit, Karl was thankful to have a place for the family. In the dampness of early March, he caught a cold that soon turned into pneumonia. By the time a doctor could see him, an infection had spread and no treatment helped. Visit the grounds of this villa and hear accounts of those last days. Even in his illness the Emperor never lost sight of his duty, telling Zita, “I must suffer as much as it takes so that my people can come together again.” On April 1, 1922, at thirty- four years of age, he took his last breath, returning his soul to God. He is entombed at the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte as he requested. At the time of his death he was considered a saint, even by his enemies. Within one year the archbishop of Vienna was petitioned to open a cause for his canonization. The Emperor Karl League of Prayer for Peace among Nations, formed when Karl was a boy to pray for his protection, was appointed by the archbishop to promote the cause. By the time of WWII over ten-thousand miracles had been reported. In 2004 he was beatified. Empress Zita lived sixty-seven more years after Karl. A cause was opened for her beatification, in keeping with the promise that she and Karl made to help each other get to Heaven. See a photographic exhibition at the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte telling of the Imperial Family’s life on the island.
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Full-day Island tour with enchanting scenery and tales of Madeira’s rich history; visit a quaint fishing village, see terraced landscape carved into the cliffs and enjoy an oceanside lunch. Late afternoon return.
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
A day in Funchal! Visit a wine lodge (sample one of Madeira’s most well known exports), a Flower Market and House of Embroidery (Madeira’s famous linens). Visit the Sé Cathedral (famous for its sixteenth century Manueline altar) and the venerable Colegio, a magnificent church reflecting the missionary zeal of the seventeenth century Jesuits.
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Early morning flight departure from Funchal to Lisbon and on to New- ark. Mid-afternoon arrival in Newark.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C., serves as the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Astana. Born Anton Schneider in Tokmok, Kirghiz SSR in the Soviet Union, his parents were ethnic Germans from the Ukraine who were sent by Stalin to gulags in the Ural Mountains after the Second World War. They traveled to the Kirghiz SSR after being released from the camps. In 1973, shortly after making his first Holy Communion by the hand of Bl. Oleksa Zaryckyj, priest and martyr, he left with his family for Germany. When he joined the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra he was given the religious name Athanasius. He was ordained a priest on March 25, 1990. Beginning in 1999, he taught Patristics at Mary, Mother of the Church Seminary in Karaganda. In 2009 he authored, Dominus Est — It is the Lord: Reflections from a Bishop in Central Asia on Holy Communion (Newman House Press), which discusses ways of receiving the Eucharist with reverence. On June 2, 2006, he was consecrated a bishop at the Altar of the Chair of Saint Peter in Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, by Angelo Cardinal Sodano. In 2011 he was named auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Astana.