“Praying Through Pilgrimage: A Journey of Dominican Discernment” tells the story of two young pilgrims, Molly Burhans and Gabriel Valle, whose separate journeys during the 2025 Jubilee Year unexpectedly converged in Siena, Italy. Together, they traveled more than 20,000 miles and visited over 150 holy sites while seeking deeper prayer, healing, and discernment. Though they began on different continents, both found themselves drawn toward Dominican spirituality and a growing sense of vocation. After meeting in Siena, they journeyed together to Assisi and throughout the Marche region, where a Franciscan hermit named Fra Emmanuel guided them through days of prayer, silence, and pilgrimage. Along the way, they prayed a novena to St. Dominic using the Nine Ways of Prayer, allowing the rhythm of walking, sacred places, and shared devotion to shape their spiritual journeys.
The talk reflects on pilgrimage as a transformative encounter with God through place, prayer, and companionship. Molly’s pilgrimage began shortly after the death of Pope Francis, carrying her from Oxford to Rome and across the United States before returning to Italy to walk through Tuscany toward Siena. Gabriel’s pilgrimage began months earlier in Rio de Janeiro and included walking the entire Camino de Santiago before continuing through major pilgrimage sites connected to Dominican saints and traditions. Drawing from her background as a cartographer and data scientist, Molly Burhans uses GIS and mapping to support the storytelling of the pilgrimage experience, visually tracing the landscapes, routes, and sacred places that shaped their journeys. Together, their stories become a testimony to the mysterious ways prayer, providence, and pilgrimage can guide people toward vocation, community, and deeper communion with God.