I know, I know, I am a terrible blogger...


My last entry was was back in August...once we arrived in Spain for World Youth Day, internet access was pretty much non-existent and I was exhausted from long days in the hot sun...


Today, I am another kind of exhausted!


Yesterday morning, I woke up at 5:15am to catch a ride to the Fargo Airport with my brother-in-law for my next adventure: a trip with my best cousin, Jenny, to visit my little sister in Naples.


When we found out Lana & Quinn would be stationed in Naples, Jenny and I immediately started talking about coming to visit. Around the time they actually moved (last fall), we'd already chosen dates to come see them. In January, after several months of intermittently checking ticket prices, we found a GREAT deal ...but there was a catch...a 24-hour lay-over...


But, we discovered the lay-over was in DUBLIN and thought it was a win-win situation! Tickets at several hundred dollars cheaper than the average price and a day on the Emerald Isle...didn't sound bad at all!


Fast forward to yesterday. Like I said, I woke up after just a few hours of sleep (waiting for clothes to dry so I could finish packing my sweet Pampered Chef rolling backpack (borrowed from my older sister Lisa and complete with PC printed fabric and a PC logo!) and got in the car with Taylor. +1hr drive to Fargo.


I was able to catch Mass at Nativity before meeting up with Jenny at the airport. Check-in was a breeze and we waited for our tiny little plane to load. -3 hours waiting for plane.


Our flight to Chicago went relatively well; +3 hours flying to Chicago. We arrived in the early afternoon and enjoyed a faux-Italian meal at the Macaroni Grill, found our gate and continued our first layover. -5 hours waiting for plane. Right on time, we boarded our plane...then it started to rain. Then it started to pour. And lightening. And hail. Just as it was starting to clear off (several hours later), there was a medical emergency and a lady had to be taken off the plane to an ambulance. Then the hold had to be opened, cargo containers removed, and her checked-bag taken off...


We boarded the plane in Chicago just before 6pm. Our flight departed around midnight-thirty...6 hours after boarding. -6 hours sitting in plane at gate...small + for the granola bars that the flight attendants gave us and for the group of middle-aged Irish dairy farmers who were across the aisle from us and entertained the cabin by singing a couple songs.


Also, this guy was on our flight: CanHead


For those of you keeping score, we are currently at 4 hours productive travel, 14 hours waiting.


To be perfectly honest, I am not sure how the flight to Dublin went...it was dark outside, I had a scarf over my eyes, earbuds in listening to classical jazz, was super tired and, naturally, quite uncomfortable from being scrunched in the airplane. Pretty much in that state between asleep and awake where things just don't make sense and pretty much anything is irritating. Seven hours later, Dublin greeted us with clouds and rain. +7 hour flight to Dublin.


We were planning to site-see during the day, then go back to the airport since we'd have to be back early in the morning for our flight to Italy...but, after the layover and discomfort of being stuck on the plane for 14 hours, we decided a hotel would be best.


Like the experienced travelers we are, we followed the signs to the hotel shuttles and began to wait...and wait...and wait. Finally, a shuttle to a different hotel arrived and we asked where the Hilton (located mostly closely to downtown) shuttle was; he pointed us a ways away to another shuttle parking lot. -1 hour waiting for shuttle.


At that shuttle lot, we waited some more and the Hilton shuttle just didn't show. However, 3 shuttles had come and gone for a place called Bewley's...we decided pretty much no matter where they were located and no matter what the cost, it would be worth a shot. The shuttle driver, a 50-something guy named Paddy, said they'd have room for us and off we went. -.5 hour waiting for shuttle before just deciding to go to Bewley's.


So, here we are....there is a wedding going on downstairs that I kind of want to crash (Leap Year-style). We are putting our feet up, then planning to take the city bus downtown to find somewhere nice to eat and wander around a little. We'll have another lay-over here on our way home so we've got another chance to look around.


Thank God, all in all, our spirits are still high and we are excited to be in Ireland!


Pray for us!

Feast of St. Clare from the Irish Chapel in the Basilica of St. Paul

Ok, so starting with Rome:

(Really though, we've done so much, my head is spinning....I am sure there are things I've forgotten already!)

We arrived in Rome on Wednesday (8/10) evening and had supper at our hotel (there is a dining hall that serves seated meals for supper and has a buffet for breakfast). Some people from our group went out to see the Trevi fountain, but I was too tired so I just stayed back at the hotel, washed some clothes in the sink, and got settled in :)

On Thursday (8/11) morning, we had breakfast at the hotel then boarded our touring bus (same one that brought us to Assisi) and headed to the Vatican. As we pulled up, we could see the tall Vatican walls, then the pillars of St. Peter's Square, then, we were let off the bus and could see St. Peter's Basilica in all it's glory. Words really cannot describe! The Holy Father is at his summer residence which is about 25 kilometers out of the city, so he was not in his apartment at the time, but to just consider the millions of pilgrims who have tread those holy grounds was just overwhelming.

We were able to have Mass with Fr. Mike in the Irish Chapel in the crypt of St. Peter's...and we were running late, so we did not have much time to really take everything in right away as we rushed to the Sacristy, then into the lower church, then to our small chapel. As we walked, we saw the Pieta, tombs of Popes and Saint Popes, and the main altar of St. Peter's, which I'd seen on so many EWTN broadcasts before :)

The chapel we had Mass in was very small....the 26 of us in my group just barely fit! But, it was BEAUTIFUL! (You can take photos upstairs at St. Peter's but you cannot take photos in the crypt, so I don't have a photo of it, but you could probably Google it).

Again, we were blessed with a great homily on this Feast of St. Clare, reminding us to live our lives in such a way that it would not make sense without Christ. Like St. Francis and St. Clare, they dedicated each and every day to spreading the Gospel, much to the chagrin of their family. To live in love with God and His creation, with that constant hope of eternity...so focused and dedicated to their calling that others just couldn't understand....this was such a great reminder for my life situation right now!

During Mass, my priest asked me to help distribute the Precious Blood at Communion...honestly, my first thought was, "Am I allowed as an Extraordinary Minister in this diocese?!" But, again, overcome....in the neighboring chapels, we could hear Mass being celebrated in several other languages, all coming together to worship God and receive his whole being. Could I help bring Jesus (Body, Blood, Soul, & Divinity) to those traveling with me?! Umm, yes! As I returned to my spot to kneel in praise and adoration, I felt like I needed to be pinched to wake up :)

Following Mass, we hurried back out of St. Peter's to tour the Vatican Museum. I am not sure of this, but I am pretty sure the portion we had time to see was just a tiny part of what the Museum had to offer! We saw statues that were as old as a few thousand years, mosaics laid by the masters, tapestries bigger than my whole living room, and then....

We entered the Sistine Chapel!

Oh....

Man....

Again, words cannot describe! (And photos aren't allowed!)

A friend warned me that it was not as big as I was probably expecting....and, it was not as huge as many of the other churches we'd seen, but it was incredible! There, in front of my very eyes, was the Creation of Adam! There was the Last Judgement! Here, in this inexplicably beautiful church were the greatest frescoes the world has and will ever contain. I could have stayed there for a week....or a month....but we only had about 20 minutes.

After the Sistine Chapel, we returned to St. Peter's Basilica to explore the nooks and crannies we were too rushed to see earlier. I got right up to the railing at the Pieta. I was overcome with tears standing before the tomb of Blessed John Paul II. I waiting in line to visit the Blessed Sacrament chapel, which was filled with Sisters of many different orders, Brothers and Priests, and lay faithful from all around the world; it was a great few moments!

We went back into the crypt and I was able to pray before the tomb of Pope Pius VI (both he and Blessed JPII in the same day?! Culture of Life overload!)

So, on Thursday afternoon, we had a break to do some shopping and get lunch right near the Vatican. I had pizza....it was delish! And followed it with a gelato. So far, I've had at least one gelato every day...they have all been a variation of chocolate.

I got some more souvenirs for my family, then we boarded the bus for the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Piazza Popoulo. We walked all afternoon. By the time we got back to the hotel around 4, I was ready to rest! Some of the group returned to St. Peter's, but I just rested, went through all my goodies, and got ready for the next day :)

San Francesco and San Chiari

Mid-morning, we got back on our bus (a Mercedez-Benz, no less), and headed up into the hills of the original city of Assisi. Up, and up, and up!!!

We met up with a tour guide who provided us with an earpiece so we could here her, even if we were a little ways away. This was especially nice for touring churches when silence was enforced by guards...we could still hear even though she was talking very quietly.

Like I said, Assisi is nestled into the hills (seriously, hilly, this city puts Duluth to shame!) and is completely walled. The surrounding area was farmland, mostly sunflowers and hay fields (that's right Dad, hilly, treacherous HAY FIELDS!), with the occasional vineyard. We entered the city through a large gate and seemingly stepped back in time. Many of the buildings featured a pink limestone, which is local, or were stacked stone. All had red, tiled roofs and iron barred windows. And, I've never seen so many window baskets of geraniums! A feast for the eyes for sure!

Our tour guide first brought us to San Chiari, which is where St. Clare's tomb is located. The upper church had a few frescoes but they had mostly been removed; the nave was actually quite plain (simple lighting, undecorated pews, little ornamentation). We looked around briefly before going into the lower level which housed relics of St. Francis and St. Clare. There was a portion of a (horse) hair-shirt which St. Clare wore, as well as a full habit (dress and cloak) and her cinture. Regrettably, almost all of the captions were in Italian, so I could only pick out a word here and there.

Also in the lower level is the tomb of St. Clare. I was able to kneel and pray just feet away from her body for a few moments but the crowd was thick and I want others to have a turn too! (Those of you who gave me an intention, know that it was prayed for at the tomb of St. Clare.)

Next, we entered through the second city gate (after the city was initially expanded due to Franciscan popularity) and saw a good sampling of the local shops....gelaterias, pizzarias, panini shops, and lots of religious goods.

After entering and leaving the original city gates, we arrived at the Basilica of St. Francis. The upper church was heavily decorated with frescoes, although part had to be rebuilt after the earthquake of 1997; it was not hard to find the "fixed" parts. Several parts of the roof had fallen in and two brothers (plus two lay people) had died. Amazingly, none of the stained-glass windows were damaged! Our tour guide talked about the artist who decorated the upper church (again, no photos allowed inside), then we headed into the crypt church.

Also heavily decorated, the crypt church at St. Francis was probably my favorite thing I've seen so far...I have a thing for crypts, I guess. There was just so much to take in, sadly, I must admit, I don't remember much. The image we see of St. Francis so often was taken from one of the frescoes in this crypt church.

Here, we also visited the tomb of St. Francis. Unlike St. Clare, his body is buried, but the area of the tomb has been excavated around and a very simple stone chapel was built (after his body had been secretly buried there for over 500 years). There were some beautiful Sisters praying in the chapel and I wondered how many thousands of Franciscans had spent thousands or millions of hours in prayer because of the example of this man. My spirit and prayer life is Franciscan (I think this is largely due to my mom's Franciscan spirit, and, even though my dad may not know it, his heart is Franciscan too:) ) and it was beautiful to be able to kneel before his tomb and ask him to intercede on behalf of myself and those I love. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if I ever join an order, surely, it will be a Franciscan order!

Our guided tour ended after our time at the Basilica of St. Francis and we were free to explore the city for 3 hours before returning to the bus. I went with some of the other girls to a pizzaria and had a delicious slice of mushroom and mozzarella pizza (the mozzarella was fresh). My pizza and meal was 6 euro, which, with the current exchange rate and the cost to change the money, was about equal to $10. It was yummy and the company was good ;)

After this, we walked down to San Pietro where I tried to make my holy hour, but kept falling asleep. The Blessed Sacrament was reserved in a side chapel (photos ALLOWED!), which was not as fancy as some of the other chapels we'd seen, but the whole while I was in there, only two others came in to light candles.

After San Pietro, we (Tracy (a girl from Brainerd and one of my roomates) and I) walked up a never-ending hill (seriously, we would reach what appeared to be the top, then the road would turn and there was just more and more hill!) past two other churches to San Apollinaire where we stopped briefly. After this, we sat in the shade and enjoyed the beautiful view before heading back downhill to the bus. We were a bite early for returning to the bus, so we treated ourselves to some gelato. We each had a cone of vanilla with chocolate swirls and some small chocolate bits that reminded me of the truffle bits at DQ.
Off-da! What a full but beautiful day! The weather was fantastic (warm and sunny, but breezy enough to keep from getting too hot). The sights were beautiful! And, my heart is very satisfied :)

We bussed the 2.5 or 3 hours back to Roma this evening (I slept nearly the entire way...I fell asleep before we were even all the way down hill from Assisi) to settle into our hotel and eat supper. Tomorrow, the Vatican!

St. Lawrence, St. Francis, and St. Clare, pray for us that our hearts may be filled with charity for all creatures and a fervor to live as the good Lord calls each of us.

Happy Feast of St. Lawrence....from Assisi!

ROMA! Here we are :)

We arrived this afternoon after a 2.5 hour bus ride down from Assisi, which is where we spent most of the day today.

But first...

Since I am a top down thinker, and because I know my mama would want to know every detail...in detail, here is my day:

We woke up around 6:45am (still extrememly tired from the time difference and so many sleep-deprived hours of traveling) and got ready for the day. I should mention here that there was a badet in our bathroom, whoa, culture shock! The rooms had modern amenitites and we each had our own little bed, so that was very nice!

We ate breakfast at the hotel. They had an array of things to choose from; I chose regular old strawberry yogurt and some flakey cereal. The milk for the cereal was luke-warm....thankfully, someone else at my table warned me or I am not sure I could have eaten it after the first bite!

After packing up, we bussed down to the Church of St. Mary of the Angels, which was really only a few blocks away. This is where Porziuncola is located. The new church (not "new" but newer than the church which St. Francis built) surrounds the old church as well as St. Francis's bedroom and his small chapel. There was an attached museum featuring art of the Blessed Virgin and it had a large section on Our Lady of Guadalupe, which I, of course, especially loved! The church itself was fantastic inside and out (no photos allowed on the inside) but we were only there for about 1 hour 45 minutes, so we did not have much time to look around  since  part of that time was Mass. I also browsed the attached book store and picked up some goodies for my family members and my "kids" at St. Agnes & Sacred Heart.

We celebrated Mass at one of the side chapels which was built in the 16th century, I believe. The chapel was tiny and very modestly decorated; it was lovely, really.  The Psalm  for today was something like "Blessed be God, who fills me with life". And, as it should, this line brewed up inside my soul. Praise God for life! For mine, and the lives of all those I love.

The Holy Spirit blessed us with a beautiful homily on this Feast of St. Lawrence and in the Basilica of St. Francis. When the Lord asked St. Francis to "rebuild His church", his first reaction was to rebuild the physical church, which truly was in ruins...what Our Lord really wished for him to do was to rebuild those more difficult parts of the church. People who are unwilling to accept what is difficult. Teachings that have been rejected or forgotten. A culture that responds to human whims rather than the Will of God.

This command, which was as needed in the 12th century as it is today, to rebuild the Church is a mission to each and every Christian - a mission we cannot afford to reject.

During the homily, Fr. Mike propsed a question that struck me and has been on my thoughts off and on each day. Are we more influenced by the culture of the day or living our lives in such a way that the Church influences our culture.

We are living in a culture that rejects so many basic truths. One that, by and large, rejects the importance of faith and the reality of eternity. A culture so skewed that, many times, lies are sold as the truth and the truth said to be a lie...oy!

Think of your plain, old, everyday life...are you living in a Culture that declares the (capital "T") Truth?

How many times in day do you reject that truth to choose human brokenness? Maybe you aren't knee deep in big-deal sins, but my dear St. Therese said that prayer is a surge of the heart towards God or a gaze towards heaven. How many opportunities for grace and charity do we miss?!?

Our culture needs life, centered on God the Father and creator and Sanctified through the Precious Blood of Jesus. A life, filled with the love and sweetness of Our Lord's finest creation, the Blessed Virgin Mary (who's excited that the Assumption and Coronation are just days away?! This girl!), and lived with total abandon to the Author of all things. We, as Catholic Christians, stand united in an unshakalbe hope, rooted in the Eucharist. The Holy Father implores up to be a people of great hope...we have the awesome power of the Lord, how can we despair!

Thank you Lord for filling me with LIFE!

Travel Log

Here is my travel log for the past few days:

Sunday (8/7) evening: drive from Perham to Brainerd to meet up with more pilgrims, then to Burnsville (after having just driven from Bloomington to Walker about 20 hours earlier, and Walker to home that afternoon).

Monday (8/8): Wake up around 7am, ride to airport, check bag, go through security, find our gate...and wait. Board plane, short flight to O'Hare, then wait.

Three hours after arriving, in Chicago, we reboarded a HUGE plane (I took pictures on my phone and sent to my family) and set off for Madrid. The flight was about 8 hours and we got on at about 4 or 5pm CST. They served us supper and there was time for 3 movies during the flight (Thor, Lincoln Lawyer, and Kung Fu Panda 2). I tried to sleep on the plane...no luck. I tried to watch the movies but was too sleepy to follow. Mostly, I was just annoyed at how bright the overhead screens made the cabin appear. I was drowsy, but I am quite sure I did not actually sleep at all.

Tuesday (8/9): My favorite part: at about midnight CST, it was 6am Spain-time and, the sun was rising. The cabin lights turned on and breakfast was served! We had ham and cheese sandwiches, juice and kit-kat bars! I decided that, from now on, whenever I eat breakfast at midnight, it will be a kit-kat bar!

We arrived in Madrid just in time to miss our flight to Rome (our flight from Chicago was delayed about 30 minutes due to heavy rain). We were escorted through the pretty and large, but nearly-empty Madrid airport where my Passport got its first stamp, before waiting for the next flights to Rome. About half of our group had an 11:45 flight and the rest of us waited for 12:55. For just a moment, while waiting to board our plane on the tarmac, we breathed in the warm European air (our first time outside in a day!)

After a 2 hour flight to Rome, where we flew over the Mediterranean (which was GORGEOUS), we reclaimed our luggage and climbed aboard a bus. It was a big coach bus so we each had our own seat-row...pretty comfy. I enjoyed the scenery for a while (fields, farm houses, and some sheep) before falling asleep. I woke up in Assisi!

Oh man....it took FOREVER! But we made it to our first destination!

Mama Mary, Pray for us!

I am entrusting my little efforts to the intercession of my Mama who is Queen of Heaven and Earth :)