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The Order of Malta has been involved in pilgrimages ever since it’s foundation as the Order of St. John of Jerusalem over nine hundred years ago.  At first it provided medical care (often palliative care) to pilgrims who had traveled from Europe to the Holy Land.  Within a few decades it established medical centres at a number of Mediterranean ports to assist pilgrims who were on their way to the Holy Land.

Today, the Order continues its emphasis on pilgrimages, particularly providing opportunities for the sick and the poor who might not be able to make a pilgrimage on their own.

Since 1958 national associations of the Order of Malta have participated in an annual pilgrimage in early May to the Sanctuaire-Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes in southern France.  In 2026 over 7,000 pilgrims took part including over fifty from Canada.

In Quebec, since 1965, volunteers from the Order of Malta have been providing emergency first aid services every Sunday and during special events to the many pilgrims who visit the Notre-Dame-du-Cap Sanctuary in Trois-Rivières.  The Order’s infirmary is equipped with a medical bed and the same equipment found in an ambulance.

Each year, the Vancouver Delegation and its volunteers sponsor a bus for elderly people and people with disabilities who are attending the Marian Pilgrimage of the Archdiocese of Vancouver.  They also provide first-aid services there.

In Ontario, members and volunteers sponsor a pilgrimage for elderly and poor people visiting Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland where they visit the site of one of the missions established by the Jesuits in the 1640s.

Cardinal Angelo Acerbi, Prelate of the Order from 2001 to 2015, wrote, “The pilgrim who joins a regional, national or international group leaves his home and makes his way towards a Shrine. There is an exterior movement, marked by the various stages of the journey, and there is also an interior dimension which gives meaning to this “onward march”. For a believer it is a life-giving experience which should lead to the formation of a “new heart” and a “new spirit” under the influence of divine grace. Setting out from our home or native land, being closely involved with the sick and suffering, reminds us of the transience of life. Saint Peter indeed calls our life: “the time of pilgrimage” (1 Peter 1: 17) and the author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes: “Let us go forth to him outside the camp, for here we have no lasting city” (Hebrews 13: 13-14).”