Detroit — Faithful from the Archdiocese of Detroit took in some local history and had a chance for spiritual reflection Sept. 7 as part of a daylong Changing Lives Together pilgrimage to several historic churches in the area.

Ninety-one participants began with a tour of the church and grounds of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth, founded in 1920, where they learned about the parish’s special outdoor grotto, which is a tribute to the grotto in Lourdes, France, where St. Bernadette Soubirous received an apparition of the Blessed Mother in 1858.

Participants also had the opportunity to see the parish’s Garden of Gethsemane, which seeks to provide a quiet place of contemplation for pilgrims and parishioners alike. The garden features bronze statues of Jesus, Peter and John, as they may have looked during Jesus’ agony in the garden.

Afterward, the parish’s pastor, Fr. John Riccardo, gave a blessing with a relic of St. Anne, the patroness of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Nicole Ehred, from Allen Park, had been on several pilgrimages before, including the last three World Youth Days, but she was just as excited to be a part of this local journey.

“It’s nice that we have so many special spots in this area,” she said. “With the big pilgrimages overseas, there is a lot of physical preparation. Local pilgrimages are different — these are spots you can visit easily, and you can go back to easily. These are things I think people in the area are unaware of.”

The next stop was at SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake. Founded in 1885 as the first seminary in Michigan, it is the only seminary dedicated specifically to preparing foreign-born seminarians, primarily from Poland, to serve in the United States.

Participants visited the Shrine Chapel of Our Lady of Orchard Lake and the Marian Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, and had free time to check out the seminary’s bookstore, the Seminary Chapel and have a Polish-style lunch in the dining hall.

A special opportunity was also available to venerate a relic of Blessed Pope John Paul II — a blood-stained piece from the clothing he wore during an assassination attempt in 1981. The relic was a personal gift from Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow and the late pope’s personal secretary, to the seminary.

They couldn’t linger long, though, as two more churches awaited, and the participants soon returned to their buses to visit St. Florian Parish in Hamtramck.

Founded in 1907, the church today is eight stories above ground in the Gothic style. In 1969, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow — the future Pope John Paul II — celebrated Mass here. The many historic aspects of St. Florian included its Detroit-built massive pipe organ, a high altar and side altars decorated with actual gold leaf and twin spires at the very top of the establishment.

Though the church was founded by and grew through the local Polish population, today it also serves Albanian, Asian and many other nationalities in the Detroit area.

The fourth and final stop was at St. Joseph Church in Detroit. Founded in 1855 by the German population, it is structured in the style of Victorian Gothic Revival and is listed as being “of national importance” in the National Register of Historic Places.

St. Joseph also houses five stained-glass windows made by Mayer of Munich — world-famous stained glass makers — in 1873, and is the oldest known Mayer glass in the United States.

Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron celebrated a vigil Mass for the pilgrims at St. Joseph, preluded with a choral performance by the St. Joseph Chant Schola, St. Joseph Men’s Schola and St. Joseph Cappella, directed by the parish’s organist and choir director Michael Semaan.

The archbishop included a special prayer for peace in Syria as requested by Pope Francis that same day, and tied it into his homily. He concluded by asking God to bring peace, “especially peace in Syria,” and after a moment of silence prayed a Hail Mary with the faithful.

Steve Cooper, who attended the pilgrimage with his wife, Clare, was touched to be able to remember those in the Middle East during the pilgrimage.

“Since Pope Francis wanted us to pray for Syria today, it’s put a different perspective on the pilgrimage,” said Cooper, who lives in Shelby Township. “We know that our Christian brothers and sisters are having a hard time over there right now.”