This year the Xavier Society for the Blind will travel to Rome on a pilgrimage. Each year Father John Sheehan, SJ, Chairman of the Society, leads a group of travelers, sighted and visually impaired, on a journey to tour an area of spiritual significance. In 2009, he led a group to the Holy Land and in 2010, Fr. John traveled with his group to Greece and Turkey to trace the steps of the Apostle Paul.
This year, From October 2 to 9th, Rome is the chosen destination. The Holy City offers centuries of historic and religious sites to be explored. The cost is $2,300 per ticket, which includes airfare, hotel (double occupancy), all tours and admissions and dinner on the first and last night. (Single occupancy is an additional $380.) Mass will be celebrated at a different site each day. Reservations are available online at www.xaviersocietyfortheblind.org or by calling 212-473-7800 and asking for Manuel.

The itinerary includes visits to Jesuit sites including the rooms of St. Ignatius, La Storta, the Gesu Church, and San Ignazio. The group will visit the catacombs, St. Peter’s, the Vatican Library, and the Sistine Chapel. They will take part in special celebrations with Roman story-tellers, and attend the Wednesday audience with the Holy Father. They will visit many of the traditional sites of ancient Rome. Other options are still being explored, but the schedule remains flexible to take advantage of special opportunities as they become available.
For those who would like to attend the pilgrimage and support the Xavier Society for the Blind, but who may not be able to afford the full cost of a ticket, a raffle is being held. Only 250 tickets will be sold in the raffle, and tickets cost $50. The First Place winner will receive 2 tickets to the pilgrimage, including air fare, hotel, and everything in a standard ticket, 2nd Prize is $1,000, 3rd Prize is $500. The drawing will be held on August 3rd. (If you make a reservation, and win the First Prize, we refund your reservationmoney.) Raffle tickets are also available at the website, www.xaviersocietyfortheblind.org or by calling the office 212-473-7800 and asking for Manuel.
This year is particularly significant for the Xavier Society for the Blind because, after a year of intense work, they have completed the recently approved new translation of the Bible. They had to re-record the Old and New Testament, re-format the large-print version, and translate the new text into Braille. Printed on both sides of each page, this translation of the Bible fills 45 volumes. On the trip to Rome, the tour group hopes to present the Pope with a leather-bound edition of the four Gospels in the new translation.

A complete Braille Bible will be donated by the XSB to the Vatican Library. The Xavier Society for the Blind provides religious and spiritual materials primarily but, not solely, in the Roman Catholic tradition, to anyone with visual impairment in audio, large-print, and Braille formats. Since 1900 they have provided these services at no cost to their clients. A basic belief of the Society is that blind people can do almost anything that sighted people can, when given the tools, and part of their mission is to provide some of those tools. The pilgrimage is always a very special experience, exploring new dimensions of God’s word alive in our lives, the spirit of theXavier Society for the Blind.

XAVIER SOCIETY for the BLIND
154 East 23rd Street www.xaviersocietyfortheblind.org
New York, NY 10010-4599 Phone: (212) 473-7800