(ANS – Nyergesújfalu) – To celebrate the centenary of the arrival of the first Sons of Don Bosco in the country, the Salesians of Hungary organized a pilgrimage by bicycle, retracing the journey made by the pioneering missionaries.

This pilgrimage lasted for three years, but done only during the first ten days of August. Divided into 3 stages, the last stage of this bike ride was finally completed on 7 August 2013, with the arrival of the boys at Nyergesújfalu. The motto of the last segment was "We go back home."

The group of cyclists, which has remained more or less the same over the course of these three years, started the first stage on August 1, 2011. It began from Cavaglià in the province of Vercelli, Italy and arrived at the border of Gorizia on August 8. The following year, again from the 1st to the 8th of August 2012, the young people retraced the stretch from Gorizia to Verzej, Slovenia. This year, they completed the final stage, from Slovenia to Péliföldszentkereszt, where in 1913 the first Salesian community was established.

The boys, who in the course of three years have covered about 70 km per day, have always had the opportunity to deepen Salesian history especially the one related to the Salesians in Hungary. In 2011, the cyclists have visited many excellent Salesian presences including the Santo Stefano house, where the Salesians have trained many young Hungarians. During this first stage, they had stopped daily at the other Salesian houses: in Milan, Brescia, Verona, Padua, Venice and Gorizia. In 2012, focusing on the theme of the journey, the boys have visited the communities where many Salesians of Hungary have stayed before, like those of Ljubljana, Celje, Ptuj, and Verzej.

This year, starting from Verzej (Slovenia), they crossed into Hungary and paused in Nyergesújfalu; here they stopped at the small station where the first Salesians disembarked their train and travelled on to Péliföldszentkereszt.

Before completing the last and final 8 kilometres, from the train station to the Salesian house, the boys stopped by the cemetery to give thanks to the first Salesians who had implanted the Salesian charism in the country. Upon reaching the house of Péliföldszentkereszt, they attended a Mass of thanksgiving and toasted to the completion of this long pilgrimage.

Posted on 12/08/2013