Roma!

So this has been mid-terms week. I'm almost finished now, just theology of the church tomorrow and all the others seem to have gone pretty well.

But on Friday we depart for our ten-day trip to Rome and Assissi! We depart Friday night at 7:00. The best part is that a lot of people are leaving early so they can visit other places in Italy and so there are only about 6 of us going down on the coach busses which means we'll each be able to have our own little compound of seats!

We arrive at our hotel between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday. At 6:00 we have Mass at Suore Riparatrici del Sacro Cuore and then return to the hotel for dinner.

On Sunday we head to St. Peter's Basilica at 9 for confessions and adoration. We also have the option to climb the cupola in St. Peter's or visit the Tombs of the Popes. At 10:30 Latin Mass begins in St. Peter's and at noon we go to St. Peter's square for the Angelus with Pope Benedict. At 2:45 we begin our tour of St. Clemente, St. Peter in Chains, Santa Maria Maggiore, St. Alphonsus, and San Presede. We have dinner at the hotel at 7 and at 8:30 we have a Holy Hour with Adoration at Suare Riparatrici del Sacro Cuore Mother House church.

We begin Monday at 8 a.m. with the "Overview of Rome" tour which covers St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs, Santa Maria della Vittoria (Bernini's Teresa of Avilla in Ecstasy), Capuchin Franciscan Bone yard Church, Spanish Steps, Sant Andrea delle Fratte, Trevi Fountain, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva (Saint Catherine of Siena, Bernini Elephant, Michelangelo's Christ with Cross), Pantheon, St. Agostino, Chiesa Luigi in Francese (Caravagio's St. Matthew's chapel), Piazza Navona. We then have free time until 5 p.m. at which time we have Mass at St. Paul's Outside the Walls, we then return to the hotel for dinner and have Holy Hour at 8:30.

On Tuesday we begin with Mass at Sts. Cosmas and Damian in the Forum. Before Mass we have a presentation by a Franciscan Friar and following Mass we have a viewing of the church crypt and Praesepio. At 9:45 we meet for a wlking tour of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, and Mamertime Prison. At 3:30 we have a detailed tour of St. Peter's Basilica. We then return to the hotel for dinner and have our last Holy Hour at 8:30.

Wednesday begins at 10 a.m. with a general audience with Pope Benedict. At 1 o'clock we have the option of Hospital Ministry at Hospital Bambino Gesu. At 2:45 we begin the devotional ascent of the Holy Stairs. These are the stairs which Christ climbed to meet Pilate. They were brought to Rome by St. Helen. At 3:45 we have Mass at St. John Lateran and at 5:00 we have a tour of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme with a focus on the Chapel of the Passion Relics which houses thorns from the crown of thorns, a nail from the crucifixion, splinters of the true cross and the cross of the good thief, and a replica of the Shroud of Turin.

We leave Thursday morning at 8:15 for Assissi. At 11:30 we tour the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli and the Portiuncula. At 12:45 we arrive in Assissi and have lunch. At 4:45 we have Mass at Cathedral San Rufino and at 7:00 dinner.

Friday begins with Mass at Santa Chiara at 9:00. At 9:45 we begin a walking tour of Assissi whih covers San Rufino, Santa Chiara, and San Damiano. We have lunch at 12 and at 2 depart on our pilgrimage walk to the Hermitage of St. Francis.

On Saturday we depart on foot at 7:15 for the hermitage of St. Francis. At 8:00 we have Mass at the Basilica of St. Francis, Tomb of St. Francis. At 9 a.m. we have Part II of our tour of Assissi which covers the Basilica of St. Francis, Abbey of St. Peter, Santa Maria Maggiore, House of Bernard of Quintavale, San Francesco Piccolino, and Piazza Commune. At noon we have lunch and at 5 we have Mass at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.

On Sunday we have a 5 a.m. breakfast and depart at 6 a.m. for Gaming, arriving back at the Kartause around 8:30.

And yes, Assissi is the home of St. Clare, my patron, so yes, I am incredibly excited!!!!!!

So after Friday I won't have access to a computer for 10 days but after that I'm sure I'll have plenty to tell you all! So, if I don't talk to you before Friday, God Bless, I love you all, have a wonderful 10 days and say a prayer that we all have a wonderful pilgrimage!

Random Polish Stuff

So I have a whole bunch of random information about Poland that I'm going to share with you.

One of the crazy things about Poland is that many times throughout history the country of Poland has not existed on any map or anything. But the Polish people always maintained their culture and their love of their country and so, despite the best efforts of many different peoples, Poland has never ceased to exist. The first time Poland was wiped off the map was in the 1700's when the powers of Russia, Prussia, and Austria divided Poland amongst themselves.

In World War I the Poles were forced into the Russian, German, and Austrian armies and forced to fight each other.

On November 11, 1918 Poland once again became independent. Poland signed non-aggression pacts with both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany prior to World War II. However, on August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with each other and began to threaten Poland. On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland from the west and on September 17 the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east.

In 1944 Poland came under Soviet control and was once again wiped off the map.

In 1978 Karol Wojtyla, Cardinal fo Krakow, was elected Pope! Two years later strike leader Lech Walesa was elected as the head of Solidarity. The next year martial law was imposed by the Soviets and many of Solidarity's leaders, including Walesa, were imprisoned. But in 1983 martial law was lifted and finally, in 1990, Walesa was elected president of Poland!

One of the most important symbols of Poland is the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa.

According to tradition this image was painted by St. Luke, the evangelist, on a tabletop built by Jesus Himself. It was discovered by St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine and collector of Christian relics in the Holy Land. The icon was then enshrined in the imperial city of Constantinople, according to legend, where it remained for the next 500 years.

In 803, the painting is said to have been given as a wedding gift from the Byzantine emperor to a Greek princess, who married a Ruthenian nobleman. The image was then placed in the royal palace at Belz, where it remained for nearly 600 years.

The icon arrived in Poland in 1382 with a Polish army fleeing the Tartars, who had struck the image with an arrow.

Legend has it that during the looting of Belz, a mysterious cloud enveloped the chapel containing the image. A monastery was founded in Czestochowa to enshrine the icon in 1386, and soon King Jagiello (Ya-gee-ellow) built a cathedral around the chapel containing the icon.

However, the image soon came under attack once again. In 1430, Hussites (pre-Reformation reformers) attacked the monastery, slashed the Virgin's face with a sword, and left it desecrated in a puddle of blood and mud.

It is said that when the monks pulled the icon from the mud, a miraculous fountain appeared, which they used to clean the painting. The icon was repainted in Krakow, but both the arrow mark and the gashes from the sword were left and remain clearly visible today. In these wounds the Queen of Poland visibly bears the sufferings of the Polish people.

The miracle for which Our Lady of Czestochowa is most famous occurred in 1655, when Swedish troops were about to invade Czestochowa. A group of Polish soldiers prayed fervently before the icon for deliverance, and the enemy retreated. In 1656, King John Casimir declared Our Lady of Czestochowa "Queen of Poland" and made the city the spiritual capital of the nation.

The Virgin again came to the aid of her people in 1920, when the Soviet Russian Red Army gathered on the banks of the Vistula River, preparing to attack Warsaw. The citizens and soldiers fervently prayed to Our Lady of Czestochowa, and on September 15, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, she appeared in the clouds above Warsaw. The Russians were defeated in a series of battles later dubbed the "Miracle at the Vistula."

During Nazi occupation, Hitler prohibited pilgrimages to Czestochowa, but many still secretly made the journey. In 1945, after Poland was liberated, half a million pilgrims journeyed to Czestochowa to express their gratitude. On September 8, 1946, 1.5 million people gathered at the shrine to re-dedicate the entire nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. During the Cold War, Czestochowa was a center of anti-Communist resistance.

Pope John Paul II was a fervent devotee of the Virgin Mary and of her icon at Czestochowa. As pope, he made pilgrimages to pray before the image in 1979, 1983, 1991, and 1997. In 1991, he held the sixth World Youth Day at Czestochowa, which was attended by 350,000 young people from across Europe.

Pope Clement XI officially recognized the miraculous nature of the image in 1717 and in 1925 Pope Pius XI designated May 3 a feast day in her honor. Pope Benedict XVI visited the shrine on May 26, 2006.

POPELAND!

On Sunday Amy and I actually managed to wake up on time which was terribly exciting! We had breakfast and then got on the bus to head for Latin Mass at Wawel Cathedral! Umm, ALLELUIA!!! Angel choirs just sing at that phrase: Latin Mass at Wawel Cathedral! That is just incredibleness incarnate!

The way that Wawel Cathedral is set up is that there is an altar in the center of the Cathedral and then the main altar at the back of the Cathedral which is only used for special occasions like weddings and funerals and when there are important visitors. So the Mass we went to was celebrated at the center altar and we were actually sitting behind the altar which was kind of cool. Definitely a different perspective, almost like being backstage.

After Mass we had some photo adventures. We thought that the statue of Pope John Paul II in front of the Cathedral was THE statue - the statue that the Madonna of the Streets girls always take a picture in front of. So my beautiful household sister Chrissy ran around trying to round up all five of us and it wasn't working out to well so we ended up just taking a picture with three of us: me, Mandi, and Chrissy, with the idea that we would photoshop the other girls in.

Following this Sarah, Amy, Maude, Christa, and I went to a lovely cafe to warm up. The beauty of cafes in Europe is that they expect you to stay there for hours. You actually have to ask them to bring you the check! So we went into this lovely little cafe and looked at the menu and Sarah turned to me and pointed out the apple pie. So we split one. I ordered hot chocolate which was absolutely incredible. It reminded me of the homemade hot chocolate that my Aunt Cathy made once with whipped cream and cinnamon on top! And European hot chocolate is really thick and delicious and just warms the cockles of your heart! So we chilled in the cafe for awhile and had a rather hilarious experience when Maude suddenly pointed to the window and said "Look at the birds, fish, horses!" She had meant to refer to the horse drawn carriage that was passing but apparently mixed up her animals. We spent a good ten minutes laughing at this.

Following our lovely respite we headed to the open air market. I was terribly excited and with my love of Poland having increased tenfold since actually entering the country I was determined to get not only the JPII souvenire that I had been planning on but also some sort of souvenire to show my Polish pride. But I wanted something cultural, not just something like an I Heart Poland t-shirt. And there were these beautiful scarves but they were kinda pricey and there were beautiful vests but they were definitely out of my price range and then I found these beautiful little framed paintings of different places in Krakow! And they were the perfect price so I got one! And it's perfect cuz I've been going through an interior decorating phase lately so now I have a lovely little picture of Krakow to decorate my room with!

Once we finished our shopping we headed back to the hotel to get on the busses for Wadowice! Wadowice is JPII's hometown! So we got to Wadowice and I was kind of freaking out cuz I was in my Papa's hometown! We went first to the house where JPII grew up which is now a museum. Unfortunately it was closed for the day :-( But it was ok cuz we could see the outside and the little courtyard and it gave us more time in the Cathedral. So we then went to the Cathedral which is literally right across the street from his house. And right in front of the Cathedral was THE statue! Turns out the other one was similar but not the real one. And all five of us were there! So we got our wonderful brother Andy to take about 500 pictures of us with our Papa!

We then went inside and got to see the baptismal font where Pope John Paul II was baptized!!!! It was incredible!!! And we got to go right up to it and touch it and pray by it and touch our rosaries to it! And they also had framed the registration of his baptism and the most beautiful picture of him praying at his baptismal font as Pope! We were even lucky enough to come into the Cathedral as they were having Eucharistic Adoration! The whole experience was incredible! And there was a crucifix in the front entry and a picture of JPII leaning his head against the crucifix in prayer and I got to lean my head on the same spot and pray in the same spot! It was just incredible!

After spending quite some time in the Cathedral I headed across the street to the gift shop where I meant up with my wonderful sisters Mandi and Chrissy who had gotten me Pope Cake! The best way to describe Pope Cake is as a cream sandwich. It's a delicious dessert that Pope John Paul II loved! So it's tradition that when you go to Wadowice you eat Pope Cake! And it just so happens that the cafe where they sell Pope Cake was had a deal that day that if you bought four pope cakes you'd get the fifth free. So when Mandi and Chrissy went to get Pope Cake they realized, oh my gosh, there's five of us in MOS so we can get the two for us and the other three for the other girls. Which was wonderful because it gave me more time to spend in the gift shop!

In the gift shop I was seriously tempted to buy a JPII Generation t-shirt but they were out of my price range. I ended up getting a lovely framed picture of our Papa!

Mandi, Chrissy, Andy, and I then headed to a kebab shop for dinner. While on our way to the shop Mandi dubbed Wadowice Popeland and we began putting the word Pope in front of everything, like Pope-kebabs. It was kind of like in Horton Hears a Who when the mayor's secretary tells him he has to go to the dentist for his who-root canal and he responds that "You know putting who in front of everything doesn't make it hurt less! It just wastes time!" Except that putting Pope in front of everything just makes it even better! So then we devoured our kebabs and ran to get to the bus on time. I ate my delicious Pope Cake on the bus as we began our journey back to Gaming.

So that was the Poland trip - the most amazing three days of my life!

Poland Fun

First of all, I forgot a very exciting incident from Friday: While talking with Sr. Monica we were discussing Poland and I was saying how much I love Poland and she asked me if I was Polish. When I responded no she was shocked and stated that I look Polish! This totally made my day because I love Poland and I wish I was Polish and I have decided that I am adopting Poland as my fifth nationality!

Anyways, on Saturday I woke up to Amy going "CLARE! IT'S 8:15!" Which I knew meant we had overslept and so I replied "What? When? Where?" What I meant to ask was where are we supposed to be right now. However, in my drowsy state my brain had a bit of a hard time formulating the question. I finally discerned that at that moment we were supposed to be with our groups on a tour of Krakow. So we quickly got dressed and called Vince, one of the R.D.'s. He told us that they would be at Wawel Cathedral for a little while and we could try to catch up with them there. So we grabbed our map and headed out. It was cold and wet and of course Wawel Cathedral ended up being on top of a rather steep and slippery hill. So we ran around Krakow for a little while then marched up the hill and finally met up with the group inside the cathedral. I think I would've enjoyed the tour a little more if I hadn't been in such a state but it was still pretty sweet. The Cathedral was beautiful!!!! I've decided I'm gonna get married there :-) And right outside the Cathedral was a beautiful statue of JPII!

After visiting the Cathedral our tour guide took us past the building where Pope John Paul lived when he was a priest in Krakow and then to Papa's Window! When Pope John Paul visited Krakow after he had become Pope crowds would always gather outside the building where he was staying. And he would come to the window of his apartment and wave to them. And so now they have a picture in that window of JPII waving. And it's called Papa's Window!

We got to go into the courtyard of the building where Pope John Paul stayed when he visited Krakow and they had a beautiful display of pictures of him from throughout his life. In the center of the courtyard was another statue of him. They also had a "pope vending machine." This was a machine from which you could purchase coins with pictures of JPII on them.

We then stopped at the University of Krakow. Our tour guide told us that one room of the university is dedicated to a number of professors who were arrested by the Nazis. The university had been closed by the Nazis when they first invaded. But they then sent word to all the professors of the university that they wanted to meet with them to discuss re-opening the university. The Nazis wanted to wipe Poland off the face of the earth. They hated Polish culture and they especially hated Polish intellectuals. At this meeting the professors were beaten, rounded up, and sent to concentration camps.

The last stop on our tour was another beautiful Cathedral. At this Cathedral it is tradition that every hour on the hour a bugle is blown from the top of the tower. I kind of missed the full story on why they do this so I'll have to ask around and get back to you on that. But while explaining the tradition our guide said one of the greatest quotes I've ever heard in referring to the Poles: "We are not a practical people, we are a traditional people." I want to be Polish!

I then joined up with my beautiful household sister Mandi and some of her friends and we went to a lovely little restaurant for pierogies! Pierogies are delicious! I am going to find a recipe for them so I can have them whenever I want! And we just hung out at the restaurant and ate our pierogies and had a lovely time!

We then headed back to our hotel so that we could meet the busses in time to get to the Divine Mercy Shrine. However, we had a little time so we stopped at a little bakery by our hotel and got some lovely chocolate cake.

We then headed to the Shrine of Divine Mercy. Divine Mercy is really important to me and my family because my Grandma, who passed away 4 1/2 years ago, was very devoted to Divine Mercy and when she died God gave us the incredible blessing of knowing that she died on St. Faustina's 100th birthday. So I was pretty excited for this pilgrimage. We arrived at the shrine and headed to the old chapel. We arrived early and so we had some time to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament before saying the chaplet. In St. Faustina's visions Christ instructed that 3 o'clock p.m. was to be the hour of mercy because it is the time He died. And so the best time to say the chaplet is at 3 o'clock p.m. and of course they always say it at that time at the shrine. So 3 o'clock struck and we began the chaplet. The sisters made a point of welcoming the american pilgrims which just made me happy and then proceeded to say the chaplet . . . in POLISH!!!! Well, mostly in Polish, but they did two decades in english just for us which was so nice but I just loved hearing it in Polish - it's such a beautiful language and it's the language St. Faustina said it in!

After the chaplet we headed over to the conference room for a talk by the beautiful Sr. Gaudia. She told us two stories - one about a boy who was going to commit suicide. He was waiting by the train tracks when his friend came by and asked what he was doing. When the boy said he was waiting for the train so he could commit suicide his friend said I can't stop you from doing this but before you do will you do one thing for me? Go to that chapel down the road (the Divine Mercy chapel) and look at the image of Divine Mercy. Look into Christ's eyes for 30 seconds. And then you can do whatever you want. So the boy went to the chapel and looked into Christ's eyes and then went home. He never committed suicide. The second story she told us was about a young Polish girl who was going to study in America for a semester. And before she left she went to the shrine to pray. And when she told the Sisters where she was going they gave her a bunch of Divine Mercy holy cards to take with her. A month or two into the semester the girl was in a terrible car crash - the car she was driving in was hit by a truck. The doctors weren't even going to operate because there was nothing they could do. Half of her brain had been crushed. The girl's mother was called. Before she left for America she too went to the shrine to pray for her daughter and the Sisters gave her Divine Mercy holy cards as well. When the mother arrived she hung one of the images over her daughter's bed and prayed. As she was praying the girl moved her fingers. Her mother didn't know any english to call the doctors so she just screamed. The doctors came in and saw what was happening and began discussing among themselves what was going on. The mother was terribly upset because she couldn't understand the doctors and didn't know if her daughter was getting better or was dying. And in the midst of this a voice said "Don't be afraid mother, I will translate." The side of the girl's brain that was crushed was that which controls speech. The girl's brain is just as damaged today as it was when she was brought into the hospital but she can speak and perform other functions just as well as anyone.

Sister went on to tell us a story about St. Maximilian Kolbe. On the day he was brought into the concentration camp several prisoners were executed by hanging. As he saw their bodies hanging there he screamed out "Where is God?" And a prisoner nearby turned to him and said "He's hanging over there" pointing to the dead prisoners.

Finally, Sister told us about the visions of Our Lady that St. Faustina had had. In one of these visions Our Lady told her that she (the Blessed Mother) had brought Christ into the world and that Faustina was to prepare the world for His return. It was so much more beautiful the way Sister said it but that's the basic idea.

Sister then showed us some Holy cards of the image of Divine Mercy. She said she wanted us to take them but that there was a task that came with them. These images are not to keep but to give to someone who needs to put their trust in Jesus.

After Sister's talk we headed to the three gift shops which were all very crowded. We also didn't have a lot of time before Mass and then we heard that the shops might be closed after Mass. So, in the spirit of Jesus, I trust in you, I entrusted my souvenire buying to Jesus before heading off to Mass in the Basilica. Mass was beautiful! I was able to squeeze out a few happy tears after Communion! And right after Mass we were able to receive a blessing from a short, rotund, wonderful Polish priest! And you know how when priests sprinkle Holy Water they usually use the little silver thing or a small branch or something? This priest used a miniature broom! I thought it was kind of hysterical.

Now, this next part of my story relates to a souvenire I bought for my dad, so dad - you're not allowed to read this part! Following Mass we went to see if the gift shops were still open. One of them was. I knew I wanted to get my dad something from the Shrine but I already gave him a poster of the Divine Mercy image last Christmas so I didn't want to give him another image. So I really had no idea what to get my dad. So I said "Jesus, just show me what dad would really love!" And right as I walked into the shop there was a lovely little poster of the image with Pope John Paul II. And I loved it, but, everything is ridiculously cheap in Poland so I didn't want to get my dad just a little poster when I could get him something really nice. So Jesus was like No problem! And then I saw a beautiful placque with the Divine Mercy image and JPII! And as I was standing on line to purchase it I could just hear my dad coming home from work and telling me how all the ladies in the office just loved this image and said that I was so sweet to get that for him all the way from Poland! Hahaha So I'm pretty psyched to give it to him when I get home!

We then headed back to the busses and back to the hotel. Amy and Sarah and I decided to go out for pierogies for dinner cuz Sarah and Amy hadn't had them yet and I just couldn't say no to pierogies! So we went to a lovely little restaurant and ate boiled pierogies!

And that was basically it for Saturday!

The Blood of the Martyrs

Thursday night we headed for Poland! At 8 p.m. we started off. I was sitting with my friend Sarah. It was a nine hour ride so we started off saying a Rosary and then watched Shrek 2. We had a brief stop in the Czech Republic. Sarah and I took pictures there since it's the one time in our lives we're probably gonna be in the Czech Republic. Then we slept.

At 6:00 a.m. we arrived in Czestochowa. We stopped at a hotel for a lovely breakfast. Eggs, sausage, and some lovely little pastries. We then headed along the path to the Basilica of Our Lady of Czestochowa. It was only about a 10 minute walk up the path. The first thing we saw when we entered the Basilica was a little side altar right in the vestibule. Then when we entered the Church there was a beautiful side altar to St. Maximilian Kolbe. I prayed there for a few minutes. In the front of the Church there was a painting of a beautiful lady. I didn't know who it was but she was so beautiful she could've been Our Lady. Then there was another side altar with a replica of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. And next to that was another side altar with a statue of the Sacred Heart. It was so beautiful and Jesus had his arms out just drawing me close to Him.

I then went into the next room which led into the chapel with the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. She's so beautiful! I just wanted to run to her and kiss her wounds! We crawled on our knees around the altar until we were behind it and could, one at a time, rest our heads on the wall underneath where the image is and pray to Our Lady. I then kissed the wall and continued on. Right outside the chapel was a beautiful crucifix that really depicted Christ's suffering. I just wanted to kiss the wound in His side. I prayed there for several minutes. Then we had Mass in the chapel and Sarah and I got to sit right up by the altar. I don't even know how we got so lucky! And hanging up behind the altar, right next to the image is the sash Pope John Paul was wearing the day he was shot! It still has his blood on it! Mass was incredibly beautiful! I couldn't take my eyes off her, Our beautiful Lady! And when I received Him, oh my goodness, He gives me His Heart! His beautiful Sacred Heart! His whole Being!

There were beautiful votive offerings all along the walls. They were mostly rosaries and necklaces but also crutches. I just wanted to kiss all the votives.

There was also a treasury and a museum at the Basilica. We went to the treasury where they have the veil St. Therese wore for her first communion! Which is crazy because I've been reading her autobiography and I had just read about her first communion and how it was the happiest day of her life and she was crying and everyone thought it was because her mom was dead and couldn't be there but it was because she was so happy and how could she be unhappy when she was united with her mother and all of Heaven! And we weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum but God is so good to me that He's just imprinted the image of her veil in my mind so that it's even clearer than a picture! Then we went to the museum and there was the most beautiful painting I've ever seen of Pope John Paul! I wish they had had postcards of it since we weren't allowed to take pictures there either.

We then got on the busses to head to Auschwitz. I wasn't planning to go in because I have anxiety disorder and I knew I couldn't handle going in there. I had a fit of bravery while we were at Czestochowa and I thought maybe I should go in but I knew I couldn't. But I did wish that I could just see St. Maximilian Kolbe's cell. So we got to Auschwitz 1 and I sat with Sr. Monica in the reception area. And she said to me: "Now would you have any interest in just going to see Max's cell?" Meaning St. Maximilian Kolbe! And so we walked straight to his cell, I didn't have to see anything else! We said a rosary on the way. And we got there and it looked so anti-climactic but it wasn't! It was just a small, plain, unassuming cell. But it was the cell where he was left to die and where he sang and praised God even as he was being starved and where he died! And right next to his cell Sister showed me another starvation cell where the prisoners had carved into the concrete walls the most beautiful images of the crucifixion and the Sacred Heart WITH THEIR FINGERNAILS! It was so terribly beautiful!

Sister and I then went back to the reception area and just talked and it was so nice! And Sister just wanted to hear my life story which I loved cuz I love to talk about myself! Haha I should probably work on that. But we had a lovely talk and then it was time to head to Auschwitz-Birkenau about two minutes away.

We got to Birkenau and I wasn't sure what I should do so I just kind of followed everyone and the next thing I knew I was inside. And I was nervous but I was there so I just went with my household sister in her tour group and we saw one of the wooden barracks. It was originally built as a stable for 50 horses but then it was used as a barracks for 400 human beings. There was no insulation, the only heat was a small wood stove. Next to that barracks was another barracks which was used as a latrine. There had been no latrine at first but when the typhus broke out they had to build something so they came up with this poor excuse for one, basically a bunch of holes in the ground. surrounded by a couple wood walls and a ceiling. When the Nazis took over the town they had torn down many of the houses and used the wood to build the barracks. After the war, when the Poles came back to their town they tore down many of the barracks to rebuild their homes. So the chimneys are the only part of many of the barracks that are still standing. After the tour two of the girls in our group invited us to say a chaplet of divine mercy. We walked along the train tracks saying the chaplet. When we finished we saw another group kneeling in the snow around a little memorial of a couple of candles in the snow also praying the chaplet. So we knelt down and joined them for the last decade. Then as I knelt there after we had finished I thought about something my mom always used to tell me when I was little. She told me how whenever Pope John Paul would visit a country the first thing he would do when he arrived would be to kneel down and kiss the ground. As he got older it became harder and harder for him to kneel down. So one time, I believe it was in Cuba, he got off the plane and some children lifted up a bowl of dirt to him so he wouldn't have to struggle to reach it. On Thursday one of our professors told us that one of the Blesseds, a man from Poland, I can't remember his name, said that if you took a lump of Polish soil and squeezed it the blood of the martyrs would flow out. And so I knelt in the snow debating whether I would humble myself by kissing this earth. I finally swallowed my pride and knelt over, kissing the snow. As I leaned back I found myself terribly embarassed because the snow stuck to my lips. I quickly brushed it off and stood up. As I stood there, seeing others also leaning over to press their lips to the earth, I felt the most incredible sense of peace wash over me.

I have a lot less pictures from this trip than I thought I would. I've said for other trips that it almost wasn't worth taking pictures because a picture couldn't capture the reality. On this trip it wasn't even that it wasn't worth taking pictures it's that I could not take pictures - I was too busy being in awe. I can't really explain it but I just could not take pictures - it was too beautiful. I guess the best way to explain it is that I wasn't experiencing this with my eyes - I was experiencing it with my soul and a camera can't capture that.

After this we got on the busses and headed to our hotel in Krakow. Once we got to the hotel we just checked in, had a lovely dinner, and went to bed. Amy was good enough to tell me what they had experienced in Auschwitz 1 and so Jesus did not even deny me this - He allowed me to know what was experienced without having to go in myself. They had seen rooms filled with the hair of the prisoners and next to that rugs made from that hair. They had seen mountains of shoes and other belongings that were taken from the prisoners. And they had seen the gas chambers and the crematoriums. There's nothing I can say about that place that hasn't already been said but hearing it firsthand from Amy brought it home to me better than books can and let me feel that I had really experienced it.

That was the end of the excitement for Friday. To be continued . . .

POLAND!!!!!

Hey everyone!
I'm leaving for Poland at 8 o'clock tonight (which would be 2 p.m. your time)!!!!! I'm super excited!!! I have to go finish packing but please say a prayer for a safe and fruitful trip and I can't wait to tell you all about it!!!
God Bless!

Here's the Plan

Hello everyone!

Ok, so I didn't go to London after all. I kind of realized that it probably wasn't a good idea to go all the way to London via a couple trains, buses, and a plane all by myself. So I stayed here. But it's all good because I was able to get a handle on how the rest of the semester is probably gonna work out and start planning for future trips. So here's a basic overview of my plan for the rest of the semester:

Next weekend: School trip to Poland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekend after that (Feb. 20 & 21): I'm not sure yet, I was originally thinking Fatima but it turns out that's pretty expensive and time consuming, then I was thinking Wales but that's also pretty time consuming, so it looks like I'm gonna end up doing something in Germany although I do want to see if it would be possible to visit Garabandal, Spain (the site of a Marian apparition)

The week of the 22 I have mid-terms and then we will be heading off on our school trip to Rome and Assissi!!!!!

The weekend of March 13 & 14 my roommate and I and possibly one or two of our other friends are going to take the train down to Venice!

The week of March 15 is parents week!!!!!!!!! My mommy will be visiting and we will go to Vienna and Salzburg together!

We then have our ten day break during which I plan to spend a few days in Dublin, Ireland before doing my tour of France (Paris, Versailles, Domremy, Lisieux, and Lourdes)

After that we have two more weekends during which I plan to visit Spain and London.

So that's the plan. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

This Weekend

I am pleased to announce that I will definitely be going to London this weekend! Please say a prayer for me as this will be my first non-school trip. I know Jesus is holding me in His hand though! And I'm staying with nuns!

I will be leaving very early Friday morning and arriving in London at 10:50. On Friday I am planning to visit the Tower of London, Big Ben, and London Bridge. On Saturday I'm going to stop by Westminster Abbey, see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and then go to Portobello Road to do a little souvenir shopping. On Sunday morning I'll be flying back into Salzburg and taking the train from there back to Gaming.

What A Wonderful Night!

This evening my household, Madonna of the Streets, had a lovely joint Rosary with the Disciples household in the beautiful Byzantine chapel. (For those of you who don't know what households are they're basically Catholic sororities and fraternities. My household is dedicated to the New Evangelization as proclaimed by Pope John Paul II. Our patron saints are JPII, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Blessed Mother Theresa. When we're on campus we have commitments every week one of which is saying a Rosary together every Sunday.) Afterwards we went out into the courtyard, in the snow, at about 10:00 p.m. and sang our beautiful household song! Then several of the Disciples decided they were gonna go jump in the freezing cold creek which is across the street from the Kartause. Two of my crazy household sisters decided they were going to join in. Our friend Devon and I went along to watch and take pictures/video. It was kind of hilarious. It was a wonderful night and we've decided to do the Rosary together every Wednesday at 9 for the rest of the semester!