I've been blessed. Truly blessed.

I will soon graduate with a Ph.D. in Italian Literature from Duke University. For the last eight years, I've dedicated my life to the study of Dante, and I find it fitting to celebrate this moment by setting out on a pilgrimage of my own, much like the poet Dante in his Divine Comedy. However, I plan to meet God in a much less dramatic—but no less real—manner.

I've long dreamed of embarking on this journey since I was a young boy: walking the Camino de Santiago, a 641-kilometer (398-mile) pilgrimage on foot across Northern Spain.

This May, I am grateful to be making this pilgrimage with my friends from the Duke Catholic Center. This pilgrimage is a chance for me to meet God, thank Him for all I've received throughout the long journey of graduate school, and reflect in prayer as I discern the next chapter of my life.

I’ve already received generous support to make this pilgrimage possible, and I am now raising funds to help cover the remaining costs of lodging and meals. Your support will help cover 19 nights in simple accommodations and meals along the way, allowing me to fully embrace this pilgrimage with peace and gratitude.

If you feel called to support me, I would be deeply grateful. Any amount helps and means so much to me! I'll be posting weekly updates on my Substack (with pictures) so you can keep up with me. Here's a Google Form where you can send prayer intentions for me to carry with me as I walk. I will carry your intentions with me in prayer every step of the way.

Thank you for being part of this season of gratitude, discernment, new beginnings, and hope.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S.

In Paradiso 25, St. James asks Dante about hope. Dante responds:

“Hope is the certain expectation of future glory; it is the result of God’s grace and of merit we have earned.”

I hope that, on this journey, our prayers may help us find hope for whatever comes next in our lives.