Why I Lead Pilgrimages

An invitation to France 🇫🇷

Right now I’m sitting in the Denver International Airport waiting for my delayed flight home to Wisconsin. I just spent four days in California with three dear friends.

A non-exhaustive list of topics we discussed: arranged marriage, Mormons vs. Calvinists vs. Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, family troubles, marriage difficulties, flailing friendships, COVID trauma, Bible studies, Exodus 90, Catholic influencer drama, bishops who are doing a good job revitalizing parish life, singleness, life imprisonment, plastic surgery, who you’d hire if you had to hire a hitman, why wines in the midwest aren’t very good, how to order a burger at In N’ Out, St. Agatha, talking to kids about sex, if Peter left his wife when he started following Jesus (we did consult two priests and one bishop via text and got a wide variety of answers so you do you in terms of this traditional belief, l-o-l).

One of these friends was a pal from college but the other two I met on the first ever Catholic Feminist pilgrimage, back in 2021. To be with them often reminds me of Rivendell, the fictional home for elves in Lord of the Rings: “Rivendell was the perfect house, whether you liked food or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear and sadness.”

Many of us are carrying weariness, and fear, and sadness. Many of us are hauling burdens that feel difficult or unfair. And while flesh-and-blood community, the kind that isn’t behind a screen but is right in front of you to squeeze their cheeks, doesn’t take that weariness away, it certainly make it much more bearable.

My life would look very different without the internet and to be frank, I’m starting to get more than a little annoyed with people who write long, annoyed tirades about the deadliness of social media without acknowledging that it does have some good qualities. Does that mean you should be on it? Perhaps not! Everyone needs to discern for themselves and take into consideration their own temperaments, sin patterns, and life desires. I’m not going to sit here and tell you to completely log off the internet because without the internet; I wouldn’t be able to make a living writing about Jesus + justice for thousands of inspiring Catholic women each week. We wouldn’t have raised almost $100,000 for various charities, I wouldn’t have changed my mind about certain cultural topics because of information others have shared, and I wouldn’t know some of my dearest friends.

But all of that being said: I do think there is something so powerful about living out our faith in an incarnation, touch-and-feel way. There’s something about the magic of an in-person gathering that simply can’t be replicated online, no matter how strong our Zoom connection is.

So today, I want to encourage you to take your participation in the Catholic Feminist community from the digital sphere to an in-person gathering. If you’ve been feeling adrift in a sea of online content for Catholic women and have a longing to create real, rich relationships with other faithful feminists, I made this for you.

In October 2025, I’m taking a group of women to the south of France on the Way of Mary Magdalene.

We’re going to some really incredible places, and the trip will mainly be focused on the women of the Gospel. But some of my favorite highlights include:

• Collégiale Royale Sainte-Marthe, a collegiate church that houses the relics of Saint Martha, the sister of Mary

• The Rock of Penitence, where Mary Magdalene prayed and was raised up by angels

• The Cathedrale Sainte-Anne in Apt, which houses the remains of Saint Anne, the mama of Mary

• Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, where we can pray in front of the skull of Mary Magdalene

• The asylum where Vincent Van Gogh lived

• Cannes, Aix-En-Provence, and more!

I don’t lead these trips for money (to be blunt with you, if I was in this for the cha-chinga, I’d just post clickbait all day with thumbnails of myself looking angry. CATHOLIC FEMINIST *DESTROYS* THIS RED PILLER!!! It’s not like I don’t know how to do that.) I don’t lead these trips because I want to see beautiful sights, although that’s certainly a kickass perk. I lead these trips because I long to see you, face-to-face. That’s really the simple answer, and the truest one. I want to look in your eyes and ask you about how you love your neighbor, and then I want to pray alongside you.

A lot of people wistfully tell me that they’d love to come to France, but they’re unable to due to finances or responsibilities at home. Many of these concerns are valid + I honor them. Maybe you can’t take that much time off work. Maybe you can’t be away from your little ones that long. Maybe you can’t afford it. If I was a shady ~lifestyle coach~ on the internet posting the above-mentioned clickbait I’d say those are all JUST MINDSET BLOCKS! but the truth is, they might not be. International travel is expensive, time consuming, and might not be in the cards for you this season. I don’t set airplane prices, unfortunately. I get it.

I do, however, want to pose this question:

What if you…can?

What if you can find a way to take that time off of work? Have you explored it? What if you can leave your kids for that long, because you have a kind, smart, capable husband¹? What if you can afford it, if you save and maybe say no to a few other things?

I think sometimes we simply assume things are out of our reach without taking the time to really consider them as possibilities. Have you looked at the budget? Have you considered who you’d ask to watch your littles? Have you prayed about it?

Is it worth asking God about? I think so, personally.

I’m over the moon that we’ll be joined by Fr. Zachary Galante as our spiritual father. Please feel free to respond to this e-mail with any questions you have. See you in France, my sweet friend!

In Him Through Her,

Claire

1. Ask me, was the curly hair routine for my daughter that I demonstrated multiple times done a single time while I was in Poland last pilgrimage? No. Then ask me, did anyone die? Also no!