At the Grotto with Bernadette: Lourdes

(NOTE: My battery is really low right now, so I'll post as much as I can before it runs out and then update the post later.)

April 1-10

On Thursday afternoon after my Theology of the Church class, we left Gaming for Paris via bus, train, and overnight train. Friday morning, we arrived safe and sound in Paris. We were there only for the day, so we saw the major sights: Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre (Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo as well as French Romantic Movement pieces), ate crepes and bread, went to the Miraculous Medal Shrine for Mass and saw Sts. Louise de Merillac and Catherine Laboure, saw St. Vincent de Paul up close in a really nice little church ; and we stayed the night with the sisters at the Sacre Coeur Basilica which was absolutely gorgeous!!

The next morning we went to Lourdes and arrived there in the afternoon.

Quick note before departure

Praised be Jesus Christ!

I did get back from Medjugorje and it was a glorious trip! But, in 3 hours or so, I will be leaving for our second 10 day trip. We're going to Lourdes, and on the way there, we will be stopping in Paris, while on the way back we will stop in Nevers. However, things are pretty crazy here as usual, with classes and all that, so unfortunately, it will be a little while before I have posts for these two trips. Thanks for your patience!

Rome/Assisi/Venice/Padua quick-update

Praised be Jesus Christ!

This will be just a brief overview of the places we went. If you want to ask more about a certain place, feel free to and I will reply in the comments. Otherwise, I hope to do a more detailed update, if not while I'm here in Gaming, when I get back at the end of the semester.

March 5-14

Friday: We left Friday and traveled through the night to get to Rome on Saturday.

Saturday: After we checked into our hotel, Julie, Claire, Hayley, Mary Kate, Alexis, and myself headed to Netunno where St. Maria Goretti is. We also got gelati and took pictures by the Mediterranean.

Sunday: My first time in the Vatican (which I believe is my 7th European country). We went up to the cupula, which is the very top of the dome in St. Peter's Basilica. That would be a workout of 551 stairs up and 551 stairs down. We went down to the papal crypts and prayed in front of JPII's grave. After a Latin Mass in the Basilica, we went outside to have the Angelus with the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. We had a tour of the Basilica with the seminarians, and then went to Tre Fontana where St. Paul was martyred. Oh, and I got to use my French twice when we tried to find it!! (This trip has a neat story...)

Monday: We had a tour of Early Christian Rome which started at the Colosseum. Afterwards, we had our Scavi tour and saw the bones of St. Peter.We went to Mass at St. Paul Outside the Walls, but were late because we went to Soprani's for souvenirs. We also had a holy hour that night.

Tuesday: Today we had our 4 hour tour which included Trevi Fountain, St. Andrew's Church, St. Ignatius of Lloyola's Church, the Parthenon, etc. Then Katie, Hannah, Julie, Claire, and I went to the Vatican Museum after getting gelati. (Another interesting story...) Then I played flute for Mass at St. John Lateran's, which has the Table of the Last Supper, and two Popes, and the heads of Sts. Peter and Paul, as well as the Baptistry where many early Christians and martyrs were baptized. We ended the night with a holy hour.

(Ash) Wednesday: Julie and I went to Mass on our own at St. Peter's Basilica, and it was in Italian. (Story...) Oh, and they put the ashes on top of your head, not on your forehead. Then we had a papal audience. (really cool!) Then, Mike, Jeff, Katie, Julie, Emily, and I went to Opus Dei headquarters and got to venerate the tomb of St. Josemaria Escriva. At 3pm, we climbed the Santa Scala, which Christ climbed when He went to meet with Pilate. Then we went to Santa Croce, Mary Major, and the Purgatory Musem.

Thursday: We went to Assisi-- which is so beautiful!! (And we got to say an international Rosary on the bus, and I got to lead the French decade.) We went to Our Lady of Angels, which has the original Portiuncula, and the Transitus Chapel. We had Mass at St. Rufino, and saw the baptismal font where Sts. Francis and Clare were baptized. (And it has a beautiful statue of Our lady in tears).

Friday: We went to Santa Chiara (San Damiano cross, St. Clare's body and relics). After lunch we went to San Damiano. Then we went to the hermitage and prayed in the cave where St. Francis did and had  a St. Clare group meeting. We also had a FOP that night.

Saturday: Mass at San Francesco (we were not able to see the tomb of St. Francis because it was being rennovated) a walking tour of the town. That afternoon, Marianne, Jeff, Katie, Emily, and I departed for Venice.

Sunday: We went to Mass at the gorgeous San Marco, but it's a bit touristy, so we couldn't stay long. We also went on a gondola ride and had gelati.

Monday: We woke up really early and headed to Padua, where we were able to go to Mass at St. Anthony's and touch his tomb and see his tongue, voice box, and jaw (he is known for his preaching). We also went to St. Matthew's church just down the street, and saw his tomb, as well as a "tomb" with relics of St. Matthias. We were only in Padua for a couple hours, but I loved it.

Like I said, feel free to ask questions about the stories and I'll get to them more quickly!

Very brief update (again)

Praised be Jesus Christ!

I greatly apologize for the delay in posting about the Rome/Assisi pilgrimage. After Assisi, Marianne, Regina, Emily, Jeff, and I went to Venice and Padua before making it back. And when we got back, we had tons of homework and I still had a midterm to take. I will post a very quick update, but that will have to suffice for now, since I'm leaving in about 3 hours for a pilgrimage to Medjegorje.

Poland Day 3: Krakow, Nowa Huta, and Wadowice

February 20, 2011

Before we went to Mass at the Cathedral (which was in Latin and Polish), we went to the field right outside the hotel where John Paul II met the 3 million or so people when he came back to visit Krakow as Pope. After Mass, some of us had the opportunity to go to Nowa Huta, which was to be the ideal communist city without God. The steel workers there did not want a city without God and built a steel cross which they fought to defend. Today, there is a replica of the cross (as well as a chapel) and we did praise and worship at the cross, which was super neat just to realize God’s greatness and strength—more mighty than the communists. We also visited a Church which looked like the ark, but I don’t remember the significance.

           

Finally, we went to Wadowice, the birthplace of JPII and visited the museum, the Church where he was baptized, etc. and heard the call to the priesthood. We also got Pope cake which was delicious, but I wouldn’t have minded splitting it with someone.

Then we came back to Gaming, arriving at 2 am. So far, this trip has been my favorite. Not only because I’m Polish, so I was really excited to be in the land where my people came from, but just the whole nature of the trip. I don’t think anything can top it.

Poland Day 2: Krakow and Divine Mercy

February 19, 2011

After getting lots of sleep, we had breakfast and a tour of Krakow (where we were staying). During free time, Sr. Carrie Ann and I walked around the town center and went into some churches: St. Mary Magdalen, a very tiny church, one we didn’t know the name of, and the Franciscan Church, which was my favorite. First of all, it was Franciscan. There was a gorgeous stained glass of God the Father and a plaque where JPII prayed inside. There was a copy of the Shroud of Turin as well as a Eucharistic chapel with the image of Matki Bozej Bolsenej (Our Lady of Sorrows) which I have a copy of at home. Sister and I decided to do a holy hour there and it was beautiful.

Afterwards, we met up with Sr. Joan Paule, Julie, and Claire and got perogis for lunch. Then we boarded the bus and headed to the Shrine of Divine Mercy. The first chapel we went to had adoration and we said the chaplet at 3pm in English, Polish, and French (there might have been one more language, but I couldn’t really tell…). Then one of the sisters from St. Faustina’s order gave us a talk about Divine Mercy. Afterwards, we went to the gift shops and had Mass at the Church (a modern-style church which was just consecrated in 2002 by JPII).

Back in Krakow we had dinner and had delicious chocolate covered ice cream for dessert. Back in the hotel, we watched some Polish television, but nothing has topped Salzburg television.

Poland Day 1: Czestochowa and Auschwitz

Praised be Jesus Christ!

So, now that I survived my midterms, I can finally blog about all my adventures in Poland!!

February 28, 2011

We left at 8:30 pm for Poland and arrived in Czestochowa at 5:30 am. On the 9 hour bus ride, we watched Karol Wojtyla, which is an excellent movie about John Paul II’s life from the time of the invasions of Poland at the beginning of World War II, up to his election to the Papacy. However, it was a long ride, so we tried to do some homework as well. And we got very little sleep, but the Lord most certainly granted us the grace to get through the day.

When we arrived in Czestochowa, we dashed off for the Shrine of Our Lady of Czeshtochowa in the frigid pre-dawn air to see the unveiling of the icon. It was such a beautiful ceremony. At 6 am, trumpets and timpani began to play a fanfare as the beautiful icon of the Queen of Poland was unveiled. It was such a moving experience.

Hitler tried to have this basilica destroyed several times, but each time, something happened so that it stayed intact. God is so mighty!

After a brief tour, walking around the altar on our knees (as the pilgrims do—and we got to see JPII’s stole which he wore during the assassination attempt), and Mass (which I was fortunate enough to play for) we made our way to Auschwitz.

One’s life is never the same after visiting a concentration—I can’t even image what it must have been like to have survived being an inmate and adjusting back to what you could maybe call ‘normal’ afterwards. It is a place of degradation and despair and evil.

We were first greeted with the infamous gate which says “work makes you free” (which is of course truly wrong) and then went into some of the bunkhouses which now have displays: the collected belongs of the inmates, their hair, pictures of them and their life. Then we got to see what the rooms looked like, the place between two buildings where many were tortured and shot, St. Maximilian Kolbe’s cell where he died, the gas chambers and the crematorium. Then we went to Berkenau where they would arrive by train through the gate of death to the unloading platform where their fate was determined. Many were sent immediately to the crematorium (which is now demolished). Surrounded by barbed wire, the bunkhouses, no bigger than a very small house, held 400 people.

It was a dismal day when we went which matched the mood of the camp. Before we left, I had some time to reflect on what we experienced: the hatred which the Nazis had and the truth, beauty, and goodness which they did not know. We also prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet by the memorial on the grounds.