Legion of Mary members make pilgrimage to Lewouran, Indonesia, where faith blossoms into service

By Gabriel Abdi Susanto

Around 1,000 members of the Legion of Mary from 21 Curiae in the Larantuka Deanery, Diocese of Larantuka, made a pilgrimage to St. Peter the Apostle Station Church in Lewouran, East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on Friday, 23 October 2026. The pilgrimage offered an opportunity to deepen their faith while reflecting on their call to make God's love present through service to others.

The pilgrims first gathered at the Rosa Mistika Marian Grotto in Riangbunga Station. After praying the Tessera, the Legion of Mary's characteristic prayer, and celebrating the Eucharist, they continued their journey to Lewouran to pray before relics of St. Peter the Apostle and a fragment of stone from the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

For the faithful of Lewouran, the visit was a significant event in their community's spiritual life. The small village in East Flores welcomed hundreds of pilgrims who came to pray and draw closer to God through devotion to St. Peter, the apostle of Jesus and patron of the local church.

Father Moses Atasoge, parish priest of St. Joseph Lewotobi Parish, said the pilgrims' presence offered the faithful an opportunity to strengthen their bonds of fellowship and grow in their understanding of St. Peter's spirituality.

“For the faithful of Lewotobi Parish, the presence of these pilgrims is a historic moment. They regard this day as one filled with meaning,” he said.

According to Father Moses, the event was made possible through the collaboration of Legion of Mary members and the Parish Pastoral Council. Local faithful helped prepare the venue, coordinate activities and organize the liturgical celebrations.

He stressed that the experience reminded the faithful of the importance of fraternity, cooperation and surrender to God.

“We learn to build strong bonds of fraternity, work together well, and cultivate a spirit of surrender under God's protection and power. We believe that without God's intervention, none of this could have been accomplished properly,” he said.

Father Marco Solo Kewuta {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/cem/senza-titolo-1.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"} From the Marian Grotto to St. Peter the Apostle

Sisi Leba, chair of the pilgrimage organizing committee, explained that the event was the annual pilgrimage of the Renha Rosari Larantuka Comitium, held every October.

This year, members from 21 Curiae took part. Sisi said the original plan focused on the Rosa Mistika Marian Grotto in Riangbunga Station. However, she proposed that the pilgrims also visit St. Peter the Apostle Station Church in Lewouran, where the relics of St. Peter and the fragment of stone from the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica are kept.

The proposal was approved by the Comitium. After completing their prayers at the Marian grotto, the pilgrims proceeded in procession to Lewouran.

For Sisi, the journey carried spiritual significance because it brought together two devotions deeply rooted in the life of the Church.

“In the Gospel, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Peter are always close to Jesus and, in many ways, work together. Therefore, we journey from the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Peter,” she said.

She added that the pilgrims were deeply moved, touched and strengthened in their faith by the experience.

Sisi described Lewouran as a spiritual oasis, a place where people can seek inner peace and encounter God.

She likened the village to a little Nazareth: a simple place that may not be widely known but can offer a profound experience of faith. She recalled Nathanael's question in the Gospel of John 1:46: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

For Sisi, the question invites reflection on how spiritual encounters are not always found in large or well-known places. God can also reach people through small and humble communities.

Relics as a bridge to the universal Church

The relics of St. Peter the Apostle and the fragment of stone from the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica were brought to Lewouran by Father Marco Solo Kewuta, SVD, a priest from the village who serves in the Vatican in Rome.

According to Father Marco, the journey covered more than 15,000 kilometres and passed through six checkpoints: Rome, Dubai, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Denpasar and Kupang.

The presence of the relics has special significance for the Lewouran community. Father Marco recalled that when Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted and affected surrounding areas, his village was relatively spared, and its residents did not have to evacuate.

He also remembered 2001, when he blessed a church painstakingly built by the local faithful and spontaneously chose St. Peter the Apostle as its patron. Six years later, in 2007, he was called to serve in the Vatican, in the setting centred on the tomb of St. Peter.

Father Marco said he did not intend to present Lewouran as a sacred place in itself. Rather, he sees these experiences as part of God's providence, whose mysteries are not always fully understood by human beings.

“I do not want to make Lewouran or our church sacred in itself, but these experiences hold a mystery of God's power that perhaps many people do not yet know,” he said.

He hopes that pilgrims who arrive carrying personal struggles will find peace, hope and renewed strength in their faith.

Father Marco said he had heard accounts of some pilgrims shedding tears while reading the prayers he had prepared and the guidebook he had written. For him, such experiences show how pilgrimage can become a space where people bring their inner struggles before God.

He also sees the presence of the relics as a spiritual bridge between the universal Church in the Vatican and the faithful living on its peripheries.

In his book, Relics of St. Peter and the Holy Stone from the Holy See of the Vatican in Lewouran, he explores the spirit of synodality promoted by Pope Francis: the call to walk together, foster unity and involve all the faithful in the life of the Church.

However, he cautioned that pilgrimage must not end with admiration for relics or emotional experiences alone.

Quoting a prayer inscribed at the Porta della Preghiera, or Door of Prayer, in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, he emphasized the importance of faith that produces good works: “O Lord, make my faith bear fruit in good works.”

“Faith must not remain merely at the level of the heart and mind, words or inner feelings. It must be translated concretely into acts of charity, compassion and service to others,” he said.

Prayer that becomes service

Father Marco encouraged Legion of Mary members to translate their pilgrimage experience into concrete concern for those in need. He cited several social challenges facing local communities, including crop failures, the plight of orphans, families living in poverty, the sick, the elderly and victims of human trafficking.

He said the Legion of Mary's apostolic mission could be expressed through a tangible presence among these vulnerable groups.

Sisi Leba said Legion of Mary members seek to fulfil this calling according to their respective abilities. Many are elderly people, retirees, farmers and homemakers living on modest incomes.

These limitations, however, do not prevent them from serving others. Their social outreach includes visiting the sick, persons with disabilities and the elderly, as well as accompanying people affected by disasters and family difficulties.

“We will continue to preserve, live out and develop the spirituality of Mary. We will carry out our apostolate through prayer and simple works, depending on what we are able to do,” Sisi said.

She explained that service does not always mean providing material assistance. Being present, showing concern, praying and being willing to listen can also be meaningful gifts to others.

The pilgrimage to Lewouran is therefore expected not only to deepen devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Peter, but also to strengthen the spirit of service in everyday life.

Joy amid limited resources

Kalis Muda, chair of the local church council at St. Peter the Apostle Station Church in Lewouran, described the arrival of the pilgrims as a historic experience for the community.

“The presence of the pilgrims is not merely an ordinary visit, but an event of faith that brings joy and a particular sense of pride to the entire community,” he said.

Welcoming around 1,000 people, however, was no easy task. The church building could not accommodate all the participants, requiring the local faithful to organize space and services with limited facilities.

The challenge was particularly significant because the people of Lewouran also live in an area affected by the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki. Nevertheless, through mutual cooperation and solidarity, they did their best to welcome the pilgrims.

Kalis hopes the visit will draw greater attention to the needs of the local faithful, particularly the development of church facilities and infrastructure to better accommodate pilgrims in the future.

More importantly, he hopes the shared experience will nurture a stronger spirit of prayer, fraternity and social concern within the community.

For the faithful of Lewouran, the relics of St. Peter are more than objects that attract visitors. Their presence serves as a reminder that even a small community far from the centre of the Catholic Church remains part of the universal Church.

For the Legion of Mary members, meanwhile, the journey from the Rosa Mistika Marian Grotto to St. Peter the Apostle Station Church offered an opportunity to deepen their faith and renew their commitment to the apostolate.

Ultimately, the pilgrimage invites participants to return to their daily lives with a fundamental question: How can prayer give rise to concern for others, faith strengthen fraternity, and an encounter with God inspire people to stand alongside those in need?

In Lewouran, East Flores, the witness of faith is seen not only in prayer before the relics, but also in the willingness of the local faithful to welcome others despite their limited resources. There, the pilgrimage finds its continuation: in a faith lived out through service, solidarity and love.