Dearborn — It all started in Cana in Galilee, where Christine Panyard was on a pilgrimage to Israel and Jordan. Her group entered a restaurant, where Fr. Alex Kratz, OFM, the pilgrimage’s leader, instructed to pilgrims to look up to see “something interesting.”

That “something interesting” was a full-size rattan motorcycle hanging overhead, which reminded Panyard of her divorced husband, John, a motorcycle police officer.

“We were in Cana, a place made famous because of a wedding, and I realized that day would’ve been our 34th anniversary,” said Panyard, a member of the Church of the Divine Child in Dearborn. “Motorcycles were his thing; we rode from Florida to Texas one time, and there was this motorcycle hanging in the restaurant. I just kept thinking about him the rest of the day.”

After lunch, the group celebrated Mass, where Panyard took the collection offerings, but then left the church and broke down.

“I just wept like I’ve never wept before,” Panyard said. “One woman came back for me, trying to hold me together. We didn’t get married in the Church; we sort of lived a careless, technically fornicating marriage, but when I was there in Cana, it was so profound to experience a release to what sins I’ve carried around for all those years and I just realized it.”

After her experience, Panyard realized she likely wasn’t the only one who’d experienced such a powerful encounter with Christ while on pilgrimage, so she began reaching out to the 40 people in her travel group, collecting stories.

“I think we pray in a community; Mass is a communal experience,” said Panyard, a published author who hopes to collect the stories into a yet-to-be-titled book. “Sharing stories makes your experiences more believable, more real, by telling our stories and sharing it as a communal experience. It shows people, ‘I’m not crazy, there’s a network of people who believe in me.’”

Drawing on her 26 years as a psychology professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, Panyard said sharing stories about faith adds validation to people’s experiences.

“There is a psychology behind sharing stories and common experiences, it’s like replicating research,” Panyard said. “Some people may seem timid about sharing their stories, worried that they may be seen as weird. But you need to risk it, take a chance. If we think of how much Christ risked for us, this is nothing. But I’ve never received ridicule, just more and more nudges that what I’m doing is the right thing.”

So far, Panyard has conducted about a half-dozen interviews with people who’ve had profound experiences on pilgrimage, but she encourages anyone who feels they have a story to email her at [email protected].

“The biggest feedback, the most rewarding part of this experience is listening to people share their stories,” Panyard said. “They have a safe place to share what occurred to them. Part of the joy is listening to how people experience the Holy Spirit and how it’s impacted their lives; how they’ve had a truly personal encounter with Christ.”

In 2013, Paulist Press released Panyard’s “The Sistine Chapel: A Biblical Tour,” a book about the biblical meaning of the scenes depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and she is currently looking for a publisher for her second book, “Stalking Michelangelo.”

She recognizes her third book is a turn away from art and toward personal testimonials, but after her pilgrimage to Israel and Jordan, she feels it’s what the Holy Spirit is calling her to do.

“I just wanted to make a unique book that would hopefully encourage more pilgrimages,” Panyard said. “I know it’s a sacrifice, in resources, time, physically, emotionally and spiritually, but it’s a profound experience and it’s an experience worth sharing.”

Share your story

If you have experienced a profound faith experience during or after a religious pilgrimage, contact Christine Panyard, [email protected] to share your story.