Full Medjugorje Update

25 March 2011

Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Day 1

Last night we left for Medjugorje, Bosnia, and at midnight we stopped for a passport check at the Slovenian border. Once we got into Bosnia, the roads were very winding. Prof. Cassidy and his almost 6-year-old son came with us.

When we arrived at the castle, Nancy, Patrick, and the Ukrainian doctors greeted us with cheers and applause. Nancy and Patrick are so joyful and charitable.

After we got our rooms (I’m in the large dormitory with 30 other women), we went to the Church and saw the Statue of the Risen Christ. There is a miraculous flow of water coming from His knee and it’s the consistency of human tears. We were told about that, but you don’t realize it until you touch it what it is. Why His knee? No one has said for sure, but it’s where Mary’s face would have touched Him as she embraced Him on the Cross.

Then I got to be in the choir for Mass at St. James Church and then we had lunch at the castle. Even though it’s a Friday, it’s the solemnity of the Annunciation, so we had a gorgeous feast of celery soup, a noodle lasagna, and cake.

Then we went to Cennocle, a men’s rehab for drug/substance addiction and heard 2 men give their glorious testimonies of what this place has done for them.

Then we climbed Apparition Mountain where Our Lady appears and prayed the Glorious Mysteries on the way up. Some people are able to see the sun dance on this mountain. Whether it be a supernatural even or a natural event, I don’t know, but it’s really neat all the same. At the top is a Statue of Our Lady and we had some good prayer time up there.

Then we walked back to the church for evening services. Jo Bob and I had headed back earlier than others, so we didn’t go to the services, but went to the bookshop, the Luminous Mysteries Mosaics, the Stations by the Risen Christ Statue, and then dinner, which didn’t quite go as planned, but we still ate. Somewhere in here one of the Franciscan couples got engaged.

We had a holy hour and Markita and I walked back in the dark, but fortunately we ran into some other Franciscans who had a light—thank goodness!

Day 2

Today we began with breakfast and then hurried off to hear the visionary Vitka speak. She was so joyful—always smiling, even throughout her description of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory which Our Lady showed her. She also talked about that in order to blossom, we need to water our flower with prayers or it will wither and die. I wish I could remember everything she said!

Then we went to Mass and had a talk by Fr. Svet and he talked about the need to be adventurous. On the way back to the castle, Markita and I stopped by some of the street vendor stores to buy some souvenirs, and we were each given a free prayer card. For lunch, the men from Cennocole made us delicious pizza and spaghetti.

Then we climbed Cross Mountain—a real mountain. It has the Stations as you walk up in the midst of jagged rocks. The Stations are the same copy as the ones on main campus—I believe they are the only 2 copies in the world. Then we rushed off to get to our Sunday Vigil Mass, which was packed and we stood most of the time. Then, we did a Rosary, had a holy hour, and had hot dogs for dinner. It was so squished in the Church, so Markita and I left for a bathroom break and then finished the hour in the outside area. Then Nancy and Patrick kindly let us pile into their van to ride back to the castle for the night.

Day 3

Today we had the time change for Spring ahead, and woke up very early for 6 am breakfast. During breakfast, Patrick gave a beautiful testimony of how he went from money being his god and how he came to love Our Lady through her messages. Then we prayed Morning Prayer on the bus while we waited for people who forgot their passports. Then after stopping in Split, Croatia (we saw a Franciscan Church and Diocletian’s former palace) we prayed a Rosary, watch “Amazing Grace” and told glory stories from Medj—it was a great time to reflect on our experiences.

Markita and me outside the "Castle" where we stayed. It's not
a real castle, but its design is based on St. Teresa of Avila's
"Interior Castle" of the Soul.

Waiting in line to touch the miraculous tears
on the Risen Christ statue.

So, I'm a Catechetics major. And we CAT majors always embrace
catechetical moments. This is one of them: sheep in a vineyard.
How much more catechetical can one get?

Markita and me sitting by the Adriatic Sea in Split, Croatia.

Full Update on Salzburg/Munich

27 January 2011

Salzburg/Münich

Day 1

Today we woke up at 6:30, got ready to go and jumped on the bus to Salzburg! They provided us with a sack breakfast and we prayed a Rosary before we watched “Sophie Schuell”. I was fairly exhausted, so I took a nap on the bus.

After a 3 hour bus ride, we had Mass at the Franciscan Church with the auxiliary Bishop of Salzburg. We at lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then had a tour of Salzburg with Prof. Maria Wolter, which included places where they filmed the Sound of Music. We also got to see more churches (which were cold), the birth place and residence of Mozart, the oldest restaurant (I think in Europe but it could be the whole world) which has been around since 803 AD, and a beautiful view of the city of salt.

Afterwards we checked into a really nice youth hostel and we got of a bit late start on our free time since Claire’s ankle was sore. So we didn’t climb the fortress steps, but we went to St. Peter’s Restaurant (the oldest restaurant) and had wiener schnitzel, potatoes, and apple strudel. Then we walked around the town and found a souvenir shop. Then we went to the classical music concert with a violin-viola duet by Mozart, a violin duet by Beethoven, and a violin-piano duet. And then we came back to the hostel and flipped through the Austrian channels on the TV. Salzburg definitely had the best TV in Europe.

Day 2

Today we went to Münich where we had Mass at Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) where Pope Benedict XVI sat as archbishop and Fr. Brad was fortunate enough to where papal vestments. It was gorgeous and had a series of side-altars around the back. Then we had a walking tour of Münich, and I was in Fr. Brad’s group. We went to St. Michael’s Church. At noon, we walked down to the Rothaus to hear the Glockenspiel and experience the life-changing experience of the golden chicken flapping its wings.

We continued the tour at the column of Mary where Pope Benedict XVI said goodbye to the people, and greeted them again. The people held a vigil here when JPII was shot. IT is a sign of national prayer for protection. Then we went to St. Peter’s Church and somewhere lodged in the choir loft, there is a cannon ball from an invasion.

Then we had free time. Megan and I had to use the restroom, but got separated from our groups in the process, so we had a fun afternoon, just the two of us. We walked around the open air market and got lunch: chicken and fries in a funnel. Then we went back to St. Michael’s to hang out with Jesus for a bit.

Next we went to the Residenz after wandering the streets for a bit. We saw 2 of the 3 chapels, the many rooms, the room of ancestors, and the amazing reliquary, which included the skull and hand of John the Baptist, his mother’s head, Mary Magdalen’s finger, something of the Virgin Mary, a piece of the crown of thorns, a piece of the sponge that touched Christ’s lips, a hand of St. John Chrysostom, and 2 mummified Holy Innocents. Plus many others, but it was difficult to read the labels, if they were labeled.

Then we walked around to different stores and found a chocolate store and a spice store. We followed a sign to a pizzeria, but we never found it. So, again we walked around a bit more. At one point, I was looking at a map and almost walked into a bronze statue. It was then that I realized that this was not a fancy enough place for random statues, and I gasped—it was a street performer! Thankfully, Megan was watching where I was going and it wasn’t problem. We also saw a hammered dulcimer player and an accordion player performing together.

Then we found a pizza place for dinner where I pretended to speak German, and she spoke to me in German (but to Megan in English). Then we sat outside and ate and ran into Sr. Joan Paule and walked back to the bus where we finally met up with our groups and went back to the hostel in Salzburg.

Day 3

Today Diana, Jeanine, Julie, Claire, Fr. Joseph, and I tried to find the Sound of Music Castle after we loaded up the bus. We’re not sure if it was it or not, but it was pretty and had a pond with swans as well as a pretty church inside. It was probably a senior citizen home based on what we understood from the sign. We had to head back for Mass so we started to walk back, but ran into a man who knew where it was! Unfortunately, it was a ½ hour away, so we had to go back.

We had Mass at St. Peter’s Cathedral, and it was in German. So there was much meditative time, and the music was absolutely gorgeous—it was Mozart’s Mass and it was done by an orchestra and choir.

Then we went back to the bus and went to the town of Mondsee for lunch. Afterwards we went to the Church next door, which is where the wedding takes place in the Sound of Music. Then we headed on our way back to Gaming.

We thought this was the Castle in the Sound of Music at the
beginning, but it turns out it wasn't. But it was beautiful!

The Franciscan Church in Salzburg

The famous statues and surrounding area that
are in the Sound of Music.

Skyline of Salzburg. The building at the highest point
is the fortress.

The Cathedral in Salzburg. Underneath the glass
pyramid is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
She is under the glass because of the snow and cold.

Julie and Markita outside the birthplace of Mozart.

Me at St. Peter's in Salzburg: the oldest restaurant 

Me and Megan in Munich at the Residenz Munchen.

Me and Markita in the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Munich
where Pope Benedict XVI sat as Archbishop.

New Banner!

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Surprise! A new banner featuring a view of the Kartause from the back hill. I'm still playing around with some of the other photos, so it might be different later on.

This summer, I'm planning on completing this blog. I just finished a three week session for a Psychology class on main campus, so when I get back, I'll be working on more posts from trips and photos, and if you want to ask questions about a certain trip or just in general questions about travel tips, etc., then just post them in the comments and I'll get to them-- and much more quickly than during the semester!

Auf Weidersein, Österreich

Praised be Jesus Christ!

We are now in the final hours of the Austrian experience. Basically, today was cleaning, packing, and relaxing. And tonight, we have our room check, a bonfire, midnight Mass and testemonies, and we leave for the Vienna airport at 3am. And then I will get home in the evening somtime tomorrow. Today is basically the 48 hour day.

Please pray for safe travels. Danke schoen!

Off to Rome again!

Christ the Lord is Risen! Alleluia!!

Well, Easter around the Kartause was fantabulous. (Emily and I went to Vienna on Sunday for Mass at St. Stephan's; I also hiked Book Mountain and went to the waterfall.) However, you're going to have to pardon me yet again from not posting. Easter Monday I was running down a hill behind the Kartause in my dirndle, fell, and broke my finger. And I'm in a cast. Fortunately, it was only my left pinkie finger, so I can still take my exams, but typing with one hand takes a bit of time.

So, this week consists of:
JPII's Beatification on Sunday
X-rays on Monday after we return from Rome
Exams Teusday and Wednesday
Packing when not studying or praying
Flying home on Friday!

Hopefully I'll find some time to take my time typing posts and to post pictures and/or a transcriber to help me type more quickly.

[Update as of May 5: The xrays look good and everything is improving, but I will be in this cast for 4-6 weeks.]

One day (or, rather, a couple hours) in a new country-- Slovakia

Unfortunately, I'm a little behind with my other posts-- Lourdes will get updated as soon as I can (finals will be starting in less than a week) and I will get a post up about Mariazell as well. Hopefully while I'm at home I will be able to post pictures from these wonderful adventures.

April 21, 2011

Julie and I are staying in Gaming for Easter break, but we decided to take a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia on Thursday since there wasn’t much going on here then. And I have now been to all the countries of my ancestry!

Me at the train station in Bratislava.

We left at 4:30 am with Claire, Jeff, Katie, and Regina who were flying out of Bratislava to Ireland (however, we didn’t know that we would be on different trains once we got to Vienna because we were going to different train stations). The only problem we encountered on the way there was that we got off at the wrong “Wien” stop. But there was a train going to the same place five minutes later and we had a 20 minute layover, so it wasn’t a problem. But we didn’t have as much time to buy our supplement ticket for our Eurrail (Slovakia doesn’t take Eurrail), so we just bought the full-price ticket, which wasn’t too expensive anyway.

We found a Tube station sign in Bratislava!

Once we arrived in Bratislava, we didn’t know which bus to take to get to the city centre, so we bought our ticket back to Austria, which turns out was only 26 cents since we only had to get to the Austrian border to use our Eurrail. Then we were looking at bus schedules and finally figured out how to get there after asking the lady at the desk who spoke English. (We don’t know any Slovak—at least when we went to Prague, I at least knew how to say ‘No’ and learned how to say ‘English’ in Czech.)

The Castle in the background. 

Unfortunately, once we figured out the right bus, we got on it, but going the wrong direction. But it was easy enough—just hop off and cross the street, and get on the bus going the other way. We were really, really surprised at the small amount of people that we saw—this is the capital of Bratislava, so we were expecting it to be pretty large. But, it was really tiny.

When we reached our destination, we found a Capuchin Church and they were singing Praise and Worship in side, but we weren’t able to go inside. Down the street a little bit was another Catholic Church, but again, we couldn’t go in. However, we were able to peek through the windows on the doors.

Julie and me outside a church wherein they were
singing praise and worship in English.
Unfortunately, we couldn't figure out
how to get in.

Then we walked up to the Bratislava Castle which had a tremendous view of the city (the only disadvantage of visiting castles is that they are all on top of hills, and you have to walk up the hills). In front of it was a statue of St. George.

Me and the statue of  I think it's St. George. There's
probably a legend about it, too. I think he might have
turned his head at a crucial moment.

Then we went to the Cathedral. As we arrived, we saw tons of priests, nuns, and a bishop exiting the church. We talked to one of the Missionaries of Charity who was stationed in Bratislava and she said that it was the Chrism Mass. It was a gorgeous Gothic style church, and had beautiful side altars.

Priests exiting the Cathedral. Notice the
castle in the background!

The tall building with scaffolding I believe is the cathedral.

St. Michael's gate

After that, we did some shopping and saw St. Michael’s gate. Then we went back to our bus stop and to the train station. We ate lunch outside and then boarded the train for Wien. Our one train was a bit late, so we ran to the next platform, and made it. And we also met up with Hannah, and later several other FUS students who had also done day trips.

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.