Spring is in the air, and here at The Remnant we're gearing up for another pilgrimage to Chartres, France—the three-day walking pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres.

This year's theme is pretty appropriate: "The Peace of Christ Through the Reign of Christ."

If you know anything about this pilgrimage, you'll know is dedicated first and foremost to Notre-Dame de Chartres—Our Lady of Chartres—the cathedral itself having been built a thousand years ago to house one of Christendom's greatest relic—the actual veil of Mary.

And secondly the Pilgrimage is dedicated to Christ the King. You'll hear a lot of "Vive le Christ Roi" along the road to Chartres. In fact, in imitation of the Vendee, the Cristeros of Mexico made famous "Viva Cristo Rey!"

First time pilgrims will be struck by the image of the Sacred Heart, which is emblazoned across most of the French flags (and now our U.S. flag, as well).

This is a throwback to the Catholic uprising in the Vendee during the French Revolution. Those French Catholics (the forefathers of the Traditional Catholic movement today) knew that the reason their country was being torn apart was because the kings of France had neglected to consecrate France to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as requested by Christ himself at Paray le Monial a hundred years earlier.

And so, faced with the Freemasonic takeover of France, the Catholics of the Vendee sought to show their allegiance to Christ the King by placing the image of His heart on their country's now-Masonic flag—the Trois Couleur—a tradition that continues to this day in France, especially on the Pilgrimage to Chartres.

You won't hear "La Marseillaise", either, and nor do many pilgrims celebrate July 14^th, Bastille Day and for the same reason. The Pilgrimage to Chartres is Catholic first and patriotic second.

The new pilgrim will learn a lot of great history about our Catholic past along the road to Chartres. And after the Pilgrimage this year, we'll be making another pilgrimage (this time by plane and bus) to Austria and Budapest---to walk in the footsteps of Emperor Charles I of Austria, the last King of Hungary, the last King of Bohemia, and the last monarch belonging to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine before the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. We hope to visit for the first time ever the tomb of Empress Zita, wife of Charles—the last Catholic queen of the Holy Roman Emperor.

With historians Dr. John Rao and Jamie Bogle (author of A Heart for Europe) on hand, this one promises to be a great trip!

I hope you'll find this blog useful for sharing your photos and experiences as we make our way across Europe.

Please tell you friends and family to follow your journey into our Catholic past right here on ChartresPilgrimageUSA.com