Where should we go today? The Weekend Edition!

How 'bout Craig Springs, in the Virginia Highlands?


What, you've never heard of this humble spot? Back in 2004 I wrote an article for the NCRegister about our annual pilgrimage to the Virginia Highlands ... we came when we lived in NC, we came when we lived in SC, we came when we lived in Austria, we came when we lived in CO. And, now that we're only 5 hours away ... we can come EVERY year!

We, a large group of Catholics, have come for the last 33 years to this Christian Camp in the itty-bitty mountain town of Craig Springs. Traditionally, this pilgrimage is held on Father's Day weekend as we embraced the family ... that's the point, to build the family up, to pray for all families, and to help all families.

Fr. John, the "mastermind" behind the pilgrimage, read out the purpose of the pilgrimage (quoted from the 30th section of the historic Human Vitae):

To Bishops
30. And now as We come to the end of this encyclical letter, We turn Our mind to you, reverently and lovingly, beloved and venerable brothers in the episcopate, with whom We share more closely the care of the spiritual good of the People of God. For We invite all of you, We implore you, to give a lead to your priests who assist you in the sacred ministry, and to the faithful of your dioceses, and to devote yourselves with all zeal and without delay to safeguarding the holiness of marriage, in order to guide married life to its full human and Christian perfection. Consider this mission as one of your most urgent responsibilities at the present time. As you well know, it calls for concerted pastoral action in every field of human diligence, economic, cultural and social. If simultaneous progress is made in these various fields, then the intimate life of parents and children in the family will be rendered not only more tolerable, but easier and more joyful. And life together in human society will be enriched with fraternal charity and made more stable with true peace when God's design which He conceived for the world is faithfully followed.

The purpose in a nutshell: to build up the family ... which builds up the Church ... which makes the world better for one and all.

The accommodations are not luxurious (after all, this is a pilgrimage!) ... but are always memorable.The time is well-spent with family and new and old friends.

We come to play -- playing a BIG multi-generational/gender softball game

... or swimming in the REALLY cold pool (filled from the run-off of the mountain spring)

... to rest and nurture each other and our families

... and throughout it all, we celebrate our faith and our Church by receiving the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation and the gift of prayer and meditation ... We just got back ... there's tons of laundry ... but the work getting ready, getting there and coming back are so well-worth it! The weekend is a blessing and a grace-filled time for us all ... we can't wait to go back next year .... wanna come?

Feast Day: Our Lady of Lourdes

This is one of those feast days that really means alot to me and mine!

Dh and I met at Our Lady of Lourdes School in North Carolina -- we were both teaching and it was the wedding of science (him) and technology (me). The middle schoolers thought it was SOOOO romantic. [Don't tell anyone, but so did I!]

After we got married, we took our (then) four children to Europe for pilgrimage during the 2000 Jubilee Year. We made a special trip to Lourdes ... to see the Grotto, join in the celebration of a few Masses (Brikhead got to read the English-language petitions at the big Mass), attend the candle-light ceremony and rosary (Kotch got to read the English-language decade of the rosary) and receive the Sacrament of Confession. It was a most memorable trip -- not least of which was being dunked in the miraculous waters (including String Bean who was just three-months old!). We were also lucky enough to visit French-Basque region where my great-grandparents were born (Oloron-Ste-Marie, just above Lourdes; and Arles-sur-Tech, closer to the Med).

The next year, when we were moving to Europe, we again pilgrimaged to Lourdes, staying in the same lovely hospitality house run by the L'Emanuelle community, and again participating in much of the spiritual activities of the Shrine.

Millions of people visit this Shrine each year -- and they're not all Catholics, either. This is an amazing site where all come to seek the intercessions of Our Lady, the Blessed Mother. Here, Pope John Paul the Great came to pray before the Shrine. I like this picture as it gives a great idea of the magnificence of the natural grotto ... a place of peace and hope ... a place of faith!

Me and mine owe so much to Our Lady, particularly under this particular name. We continue to invoke the intercessory powers of Our Lady of Lourdes ... and she is a powerful ally. So, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is a big deal around here.

We were able to attend Mass this morning at dh's high school, but unfortunately won't be eating together as a family tonight due to various commitments on Wednesday nights (which I wish I could change, but no such luck.) I did go ahead and make one of our favorite French desserts, Clafouti (French Cherry Dessert), which I've made every year since our first pilgrimage to Lourdes!

String Bean and I MIGHT leave some for the others .... or not ....

Here's the recipe:

Clafouti -- French Cherry Dessert
(from A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz)

Preheat oven to 350.

Ingredients:
3 cups cherries (either fresh, frozen or canned/drained)
1 cup flour
Pinch of salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups milk
1 tbls vanilla
2 tbls butter
Powdered sugar

Place butter in a 9-inch square or 9/10 inch round pan. Place in pre-heated oven and allow to melt – swirl melted butter around pan to “grease”.

Thaw/drain cherries and set aside.

Mix the flour and salt. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each. Beat in the sugar. Gradually add the milk and vanilla (yes, one tablespoon!), stirring until the batter is very smooth.

Put about 1/4-inch layer of batter (almost one cup) in the pan and bake for 5 minutes or until lightly set. Remove the pan and spread the cherries over the surface, covering (pouring gently) with the remaining batter. Return and bake for 70 minutes or until puffed and brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

You can also use any fruit … apples, peaches, pear … using 3-3-1/2 cups of peeled, sliced fruit ... but we love cherries!

Christmas: on the fourth day of Christmas ...

... my true love gave to me a family pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. This is an absolutely perfect place to go on the Feast of the Holy Family ... especially with your family in tow! We haven't been since we moved to Virginia in June (and hadn't been up to the Shrine since our Right to Life march in 2001), so this truly was a special event!
A stained glass window of the Shrine. This is downstairs on the Crypt-level in the cafeteria (where a very reasonable lunch may be obtained if you should have some kids -- or an adult or two -- that are starving!)

Here's a photo-essay that can say so much better what we saw today!Here are the three little ones in front of the Our Lady of Pompeii Shrine.Here's the chair Pope Benedict XVI used when he came in April ... since String Bean did her Catholic History project on the Papal Visit, this chair is especially cool to see in "real life". Notice, too, the memorial plaques that line the wall behind the Papal Chair. Here is a family memorial plaque purchased by my Great-Aunt (a Sister of Mercy who worked for years in the hospital in Chicago) for her parents and their progeny (so that includes us too!). One of the many Nativity scenes set up throughout the Bascilica. Even though the Magi are there a few days early, the scenes are still well-worth a moment or two of meditation.
Being Polish (and having seen the original in Chestochowa with BamBam when he was 3 months old), this particular Polish-American chapel holds a great pull for me and mine.
Our Lady, Queen of Peace is a beautiful, peace-filled chapel just outside the Crypt Church. Since "peace" will be our theme this year, you may see this particular image moved to our banner!
Our Lady of Ireland Chapel is different than I would have expected -- the statue is not of Our Lady of Knock ... but is so graceful and beautiful it really needs to be seen to give justice to. Here is the "nail on iron" Celtic-style cross placed behind the Pieta-style Madonna and it really is beautiful.This is the 9th Century poem (prayer really) that is carved on one of the walls of the Our Lady of Ireland Chapel. I'm so excited that the picture is clear enough to transcribe this beautiful prayer!
Our Lady of Altotting, a Bavarian-German image of Mary, has a lovely place of honor just off the main altar. Pope Benedict, when he visited in April, prayed at this particular shrine (he was born 5 km from the original and this was placed/dedicated here at the Bascilica on his birthday just before he was elected Pope!).
Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most-visited of the chapels in the Bascilica. And the beauty is only superseded by the fact that Our Lady, under her title of "Our Lady of Guadalupe", is the patroness of the Americas (and I've dedicated my latest writing venture to this dear image).
Here is one side of the chapel wall leading to the OLof Guadalupe image above. This side is of the Pacific and South American pilgrims (including Aztecs who converted and Latin American saints). The opposite wall is a mosaic of North American and Old World pilgrims with images including St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Francis Xavier Cabrini.

Here is the Shrine (and the stormy sky) as we left this afternoon. This Bascilica that every American Catholic (if not every Catholic) should really try and see in person. The mosaics ... the craftsmanship and devotion that went into each and every work of art in this patronal chruch ... really needs to be seen to be understood.

We may make another trip up there this week (while dh is still off!).

Feast Day: Our Lady of Knock

Today is one of my favorite Marian apparition feast days -- the apparition of Mary, St. Joseph, St. John and the Lamb of God in a small village in Ireland. The Feast of Our Lady of Knock, patroness of Ireland.

The time is 1879 Ireland ... an Ireland decimated by the potato famine and subjugation which led to the ex-patriation of many Irish. The small agrarian economy of Knock was as depressed as her townspeople. It was a rainy, blustery evening and folks were coming home ... the village Church was being locked for the evening.

Suddenly, a bright glow appeared and the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph and St. John appeared to the passersby ... with the Lamb of God on an altar, surrounded by angels. The silent apparition remained for almost two hours, while the 15 or so villagers stood and prayed the rosary.

This apparition gave hope to those villagers, to all of Ireland. God was letting all of Ireland know that she was not forgotten or forsaken ... despair had no place on the Emerald Isle.

Today, this apparition still gives hope in a world that has gone so far astray. A shrine was built that needs to be seen to be believed. It is beautiful! Bam-Bam (ok, he was only four months old so he probably doesn't really remember) and I were fortunate to feel that hope when we went to Ireland in 2003 on pilgrimage, joining the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who visit Knock each year.

A pilgrimage I will never forget!

PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF KNOCK, IRELAND

(Eleventh Century Irish Litany of Mary)

Great Mary,

Greatest of Marys,

Greatest of Women,

Mother of Eternal Glory,

Mother of the Golden Light,

Honor of the Sky,

Temple of the Divinity,

Fountain of the Gardens,

Serence as the Moon,

Bright as the Sun,

Garden Enclosed,

Temple of the Living God,

Light of Nazareth,

Beauty of the World,

Queen of Life,

Ladder of Heaven,

Mother of God.

Pray for us.

Amen!

Our Lady of LaSalette

In the Jubilee Year of 2000, we were fortunate to be able to take the children on pilgrimage to shrines and Catholic sites all over France and Italy (culminating in seeing John Paul the Great in audience). My husband and I have a special devotion to Our Lady, and incorporated many Marian shrines in our planning of this momentous trip.

Of all the shrines and places we went -- including Lourdes and Lisieux -- no place had more impact on me then the small French Alpine village of LaSalette near Grenoble. The place is hard country -- mountainous and rocky, perfect for sheep, goats and shepherds. And, a Marian shrine that will live in my memory.

The story of this not-so famous Marian apparition, begins on September 19, 1846. Two young shepherds, Maximin Giraud (11) and Melanie Mathieu (15), had fallen asleep on that drowsy day and awoke to see a woman sitting on a rock, head in our hands, weeping.
She stood and said

Come near, my children, do not be afraid. I am here to tell you great news.

The beautiful Lady was tall. She was all light. She was dressed like the women of that region: a long dress, long apron tied at the waist, a shawl crossed and knotted in the back. On her head she wore a peasant bonnet. There were roses in a crown around her head, around her shawl and her shoes. Light shimmered like a fiery diadem on her forehead. A chain seemed to weigh heavily on her shoulders. A finer link-chain held a brilliant crucifix on her breast, with a hammer on one side and tongs on the other. (as described at the official site of the Missionaries and Sisters of Our Lady of LaSalette

Imagine, the Blessed Mother WEEPING! She, who held back her tears when Jesus was left in Jerusalem. She, who held back her tears when Jesus met her on his way to Golgotha. She, who held back her tears when her Son died on the Cross. This is the woman who was seen WEEPING in front of two children.

Her message was one of Divine Mercy and a plea for a change of heart by the French. They were no longer attending Mass on Sundays. They were no longer keeping the Lord's Day special. They were no longer venerating the Lord's name, but instead were blaspheming whenever anything bad happened -- crop failures or just plain bad luck.

Here are the words she spoke:

If my people do not obey, I shall be compelled to loose the arm of my Son. It is so heavy that I can no longer restrain it.

How long have I suffered for you!

Here was her simple, yet serious request of the children:

If my people are converted, the stones will become mounds of wheat and it will be found that the potatoes have been self-sown. Do you say your prayers well, my children?

The children answered with one voice: "Not too well, Madame, hardly at all".

Ah! my children, it is very important to do so, at night and in the morning. When you don't have time, at least say an "Our Father" and a "Hail Mary"; and when you can, say more.

Only a few rather elderly women go to Mass in the summer. Everyone else works every Sunday all summer long. And in winter, when they don't know what else to do, they go to Mass only to scoff at religion. During Lent, they go to the butcher shop like dogs.

In 1851 the Bishop of Grenoble, France, after a lengthy investigation, proclaimed the apparition of La Salette "bears within itself all the characteristics of truth."

This site had such an impression on me -- the lovely, graceful image of Our Blessed Mother weeping into her hands with her elbows resting on her knees. How sad she must have been! How racked with grief for the mistakes of the French. How little she asked of the French people -- attend Mass, keep the Lord's day holy, venerate her Son, and pray.

How little she asks of all of us.

Consecration to Our Lady of La Salette

Most holy Mother, Our Lady of La Salette, who for love of me shed such bitter tears in your merciful apparition, look down with kindness upon me, as I consecrate myself to you without reserve. From this day, my glory shall be to know that I am your child. May I so live as to dry your tears and console your afflicted heart. Beloved Mother, to you and to your blessed charge and sacred keeping and into the bosom of your mercy, for this day and for every day, and for the hour of my death I commend myself, body and soul, every hope and every joy, every trouble and every sorrow, my life and my life's end. O dearest Mother, enlighten by understanding, direct my steps, console me by your maternal protection, so that exempt from all error, sheltered from every danger of sin, I may, with ardor and invincible courage, walk in the paths traced out for me by you and your Son.
Amen.