Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Byzantine Catholic Shrine

*** 2025 UPDATE ***

THEME: OUR MOTHER, QUEEN OF HOPE: FROM NAZARETH TO GOLGOTHA TO THE GULAG - LIVING THE JUBILEE OF HOPE IN CHRIST & THE VIRGIN
The Church has always drawn hope and inspiration from the witness of the Martyrs and Confessors - those who suffered and gave all for the cause of Christ and the Gospel. Many are surprised to learn that there are important modern Martyrs and Confessors, including those of Eastern Europe under the Soviet Empire. All of them had a great love and devotion to Our Lady, the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary. 

Join author, retreat speaker, and Byzantine Catholic priest, Fr. Christopher Zugger (Eparchy of Phoenix), for a Byzantine Parish Retreat and Jubilee of Hope Pilgrimage Aug 22-23 (with Divine Liturgy on the Sunday, Aug 24th at St George's in Olympia, WA)! 

There will be three talks over the course of the weekend: 

  • Learning from Mary to Trust (Even when all hope seems gone!)

  • With God in the Gulag: The Servant of God, Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ: Lessons in Learning to Trust

  • Trusting in the Protection of the Mother of God: Guidance from the Martyrs for Us Today

We will also celebrate a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help with our bishop, Bishop Artur Bubnevych from Phoenix, who will also offer the homily.

Come join us as we learn about the call to hope in Christ and Our Lady and the witness of the Martyrs and Confessors through liturgical worship, dynamic talks, music, activities, great fellowship and food! 

2025 Pilgrimage Speaker: Fr. Christopher Zugger

Fr. Christopher Zugger, Author, Retreat Speaker, and Byzantine Catholic Priest

Father Christopher Zugger is an ordained priest of the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church, ordained 1981. He hears confessions, assists at Divine Liturgies, services and classes in the parish, under the direction of the pastor. He provides spiritual direction for laity and clergy. Father Chris’ health problems give him a good perspective on the redemptive value of suffering, and his research over the years provides information for talks on topics as diverse as Contemplative Prayer in the East; Carmelite Saints; Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust; Scottish Catholics or Irish Catholics in Penal Times; Catholic resistance to the Nazis and Communists; the Church in China; Eastern Church Fathers; Syriac Spirituality; Liturgical Life of Eastern Churches. Father helps where he can in the Eparchy of Phoenix (Holy Protection of Mary) and in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. He is very thankful to God for the opportunity to continue to serve Him in new ways, and for the fact that Bishop Gerald Dino created this arrangement whereby he can continue to live where he has spent most of his priesthood since 1985.

Bishop Artur Bubnevych, Eparch of the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix

Bishop Artur Bubnevych was born June in 1975 in a little town called Perechin of the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine. He graduated from Uzhgorod Greek Catholic Seminary of the Blessed Theodore Romzha in 1998. He was ordained to minor orders, including the subdiaconate in 1999. He earned an advanced theological degree from the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria in 2001. He worked as a project secretary at the Chancery of the Eparchy of Mukachevo from 2006 to 2013. He also taught English at the Greek Catholic Seminary. In September 2013 at the invitation of our Bishop Gerald he came to our Eparchy of Phoenix with the blessing of Bishop Milan of Mukachevo to minister in our Eparchy and to serve in a pastoral capacity as assigned by the Bishop. He was ordained to diaconate on March 9th 2014 and on September 14th 2014 to priesthood at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Phoenix. On January 8 2015 he was assigned a pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church in Albuquerque New Mexico and on January 28, 2025 he was consecrated a Bishop and enthroned as the Eparch of Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix, which covers the entire West Coast of the United States and includes Alaska and Hawaii.

Pilgrimage Ticket Prices - Covers the Event, Materials, along with Meals Provided on Friday evening and Saturday Lunch.

  • Adults (18+): $30 per person

  • Youth (6-18):  $15 per person

  • Children 5 and Under: Free

  • Family Package: 6 or more in Immediate Family: $100

  • Clergy , Clergy Families, and Religious/Monastics: Free

Please note: You can also register here and either mail in or present a check at the event.

There will be children and youth activities on Saturday. Parents must be present on property at all times.

Retreat/Pilgrimage Schedule

Friday, Aug 22

  • 5:30pm Registration & Evening Meal

  • 6:45pm Welcome (Church)

  • 7pm First Talk - Learning from Mary to Trust (Even when all hope seems gone!)

  • 7:45pm Break

  • 8pm Byzantine Service of Compline 

  • 9pm Bonfire with Smores

  • 10pm Conclusion of the Evening

Sat, Aug 23

  • 9am Confessions (Shrine) and Byzantine Rosary

  • 10am Byzantine Hierarchical Divine Liturgy (OLPH Shrine) - Homily with Bishop Artur

  • 11:30am Holy Unction followed by Lunch

  • 1pm Second Talk - With God in the Gulag: The Servant of God, Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ: Lessons in Learning to Trust

  • 2pm Third Talk - Trusting in the Protection of the Mother of God: Guidance from the Martyrs for Us Today

  • 3pm Children's Pilgrimage to OLPH Shrine and Akathist to OLPH

  • 345pm Blessing of Objects and People and Anointing

  • 5pm Optional Dinner for Purchase and Bonfire, Music