Pilgrimage as a Work of the Order of Malta

An Hour of Reflection with Rev Fr Anthony Robbie, Conventual Chaplain ad Honorem Order of Malta.

Recording Link: Reflection with Fr Anthony Robbie – 17 Feb 2024 

On 17 February 2024, Rev Fr Anthony Robbie, Conventual Chaplain ad Honorem, Order of Malta, led 30 members and friends from across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United States of America, in a reflection upon  pilgrimage as a work of the Order.

With higher degrees in Church History and in Dogmatic Theology, Fr Robbie has extensive experience leading lectures, retreats, spiritual reflections, and pilgrimages around the globe.

Fr Robbie deepens upon the historical, spiritual, and theological virtue of pilgrimage sites for our Order. We find divine beacons in the Holy Land, the Crusader legacies of Rhodes and Malta, our Magistral home in Rome and the Order’s annual pilgrimage to Lourdes.

The pilgrim’s journey transcends mere tourism, providing a religious and penitential depth. Through prayer, service, and solidarity, with fellow pilgrims and people in need, we can experience through sacred spaces an encounter between past and present, time and place, Heaven and earth.

Fr Robbie invites us to meditate:

Consider the impetus and sacrifice of the ancient pilgrim, marshalling their meagre resources, risking their health and safety, to undertake the arduous trek to the Holy Land.

Reflect upon the apparition of Mother Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes, to St Bernadette, “Let processions come”. Spiritual fruits await to help sanctify the soul.

Fr Robbie illuminates how pilgrimage translates the spiritual into action, encouraging us to answer Mother Mary’s invitation.

The Order of Malta Volunteers (OMV) in Australia were first founded by Fr Robbie in 2007, before he was assigned to Rome. As Parish Priest of the parishes of St Anne’s Bondi Beach and St Patrick’s Bondi in the Archdiocese of Sydney, Fr Robbie invited the Order in 2021 to establish a community kitchen in St Patrick’s parish. As well, an Order’s chapel is situated at St Anne’s.

The spiritual fruits of pilgrimage shine tangibly when we return to deepen our hands-on service of the sick and poor and defence of the faith in our home countries.

All members, candidates, volunteers, family, and friends are welcome to share the monthly formation series, “An Hour of Reflection with a Chaplain” of the Order of Malta. The next session, led by Padre Morgan Batt, will be held on 16 March 2024.