October & November (2015) in Betania II, V, & XVI
A group of thirty-seven members of the Bianchini family, the Betania Foundation, and Betania Choir, leaded by Mr. Geo Bianchini, traveled from October 20th to November 9th, 2015, to the United States of America, in order to participate in several meetings and share the message of love, family unity, and fraternal reconciliation of Our Lady Reconciler of All Peoples and Nations.
The first place to visit was the community of Betania II in Medway, MA, where Masses were celebrated by fathers: Nicholas Desimone, Dermot Roache, and Timothy Byerley. Several short concerts were given and a main one on October 25th, and they shared their experiences related to the Virgin of Betania, as eyewitnesses of her grand apparition at the Sanctuary of Betania in 1984.
The pilgrimage also visited Cardinal Jean Patrick O’Malley at the Archdiocese of Boston, where it also honored with songs of worship and praise the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel called “Bethany”. Cardinal O’Malley made reference to how they place called Bethany symbolizes friendship, reunion, and revitalization for pilgrims. Afterwards Mr. Geo Bianchini thanked him for his support and work, and introduced the choir for a brief performance.
Additionally, in Massachusetts, the choir was invited to give a concert at the Bethany Health Care Center, a nursing home where Sister Margaret Catherine Sims is living; the nun who spread the message of the Virgin of Betania since the 90s in the United States. Later the choir gave an interview on This is the Day, of the Catholic TV Network, with its president, Father Robert Reed.
They were in the convent Rosary Hill, in Chicago, IL, of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, from October 26th to 29th, where the delegation attended two Masses celebrated by fathers Robert Sears and Gerald Mulcahy. There they gave splendid concerts to parishioners of this community, and shared with the sisters, residents and nursing home staff, and parishioners. They also were invited to pray the rosary and to give a concert at the Polish church Our Lady Mother of the Church.
Then, they went to Betania XVI, in Vandalia, IL, where Deborah Pryor and Vanessa Keck welcomed them for the OSMM 18th Annual Conference, Our Sorrowful Mother’s Ministry, which also had the participation of the Bishop of Springfield, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, Father Bill Casey, Father Timothy Byerley, and the Apostles of the Interior Life.
Finally, Mr. Geo Bianchini with four members of his family traveled to the last meeting of the year of Betania V, Miami, FL, where members of the community welcomed him with immense gratitude and kindness, after he had said, “These are the nicest moments of our lives, feeling like true brothers in Jesus, who gives us love. He is our true happiness.”
