ROAD TRIP!!!

This past weekend, we had a four day weekend because Thursday was the Italian equivalent of 4th of July so I took advantage of the 4 days and got out of Rome.  I ended up renting a car with 4 other guys and having an absolutely awesome weekend.  While everybody and their mother was terrified at the thought of driving through Italy, there were no issues at all and it was smooth sailing the whole time.  Being one of the tallest and probably the best at Italian in the group, I ended up as the navigator for the whole trip, which was fun.  When we made our way to the airport to pick up our car and they showed us which car was ours, we were pretty psyched.  That was because we had BRAND NEW Volkswagen Golf, which was just great.  It had 12 kilometers on the odometer and we were the first people to actually drive it.  So after leaving the airport, our first stop was Lanciano, home of the biggest Eucharistic miracle of all time, so let me tell you the story.  A priest from the 700s was having a very hard time believing that the Eucharist was actually the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  As Catholics, we believe that Jesus is there.  Like really there.  While it may look like bread, after the priest says "This is my body... This is my blood," it is Jesus Christ.  The very substance of the bread and wine, while looking like bread and wine, is changed into Jesus.  And the priest, doubting this, received an incredible grace that day some 1300 years ago.  When he said "This is my body," the host literally turned into human heart tissue.  Let me say that again.  The bread became a piece of heart tissue.  And the wine turned into human blood.  Like actual blood.  It was bread and wine.  Then it became heart tissue and blood.  There is no way to possibly scientifically explain that.  But it happened.  Oh, and you can still see it.  So that is what we did.  Being able to pray with the physical body of Christ was incredible.  It made me realize that I need to continue to grow in my own belief in the True Presence of Christ.  So being able to sit and pray there was just amazing.  Here is a picture of the flesh and blood that is over 1300 years old.  Lanciano was just incredible, but we couldn't stay long because we had to get to our hotel in Mattinata.

Heart Tissue on Top
Droplets of blood in bottom glass

Our drive to Mattinata was incredibly beautiful and when we finally got to our hotel, we could not believe our eyes.  Beautifully situated in a valley surrounded by mountains an overlooking the sea, it was probably the most beautiful view I have ever had from a room I stayed in.  It was just an incredible place and it was super cheap, so really, you could not get any better than where we stayed.  It was just marvelous.

View from my room 

Max Behna, Mike Steffes, Vince Fernandez, Justin Wiltse, and I

The next day, we went and visited 2 great pilgrimage sites, San Giovanni Rotunda and Monte San'Angelo.  San Giovanni Rotunda is the home of Padre Pio, the great 20th century saint who is one of the biggest miracle workers the Church has ever known.  While I wish I had time to share more about him, I think the 2 things I want to mention are Padre Pio's ability to bilocate and the gift of the stigmata.  First, bilocation.  Becasue of his sanctity, Padre Pio was known to appear in two places at once.  That's pretty incredible if I don't say so myself.  There are multiple stories of him appearing to people and then when they met him later, they realize that the little Italian Capuchin friar that they saw was actually him.  He used this gift to protect his town from US bombings in WWII and to visit priests in concentration camps during the war.  So while still being in this little Italian town, he would appear to pilots in planes or to priests in Nazi Germany.  The second gift, the stigmata, is just incredible.  Padre Pio, on his body, visibly bore the 5 wounds of Christ for over 50 years.  So his hands, feet and side were almost always bleeding because he was so conformed to Christ crucified, He gave Pio the grace to suffer with him.  So while this is a rare gift, it shows Pio's amazing sanctity and union with Christ.  In San Giovanni Rotunda, we were able to pray at his tomb, see a lot of his "stuff" and just experience the city that he made into the place it is today.  The area is absolutely amazing and I really enjoyed it there.  Going into the trip, I didn't know a whole lot about Padre Pio, but now he definitely has a special place in my heart.  I think that we are going to be good friends.  I have a lot to learn from him about how to be a good and holy priest.

Padre Pio's confessional!

Padre Pio's Mass supplies

After San Giovanni Rotunda, we went to Monte San'Angelo, home of the Cave of St. Michael.  St. Michael the Archangel appeared in this cave during the 400s, and ever since then, it has been a place of devotion for thousands of pilgrims.  So being there was very cool because St. Michael is an awesome saint.  He WANTS to help you defeat evil in life.  Every single image of him has him crushing Satan, and if you ask him, he will help protect you and your family.  Spiritual warfare is a real thing, but we know that as long as we stay close to God and ask for the intercession of the saints and angels, we have nothing to fear.  So it was cool being able to pray in a cave and ask for his intercession.

A Church!  In a cave!  With St. Michael!  

The last thing I want to say about the tip was how incredibly beautiful the land was.  The mountains, the valleys, the sea.  It was just amazing.  As we were driving on the narrow mountain roads with lots of curves and switchbacks, we were stopping to get out and take pictures all of the time.  And we were only able to experience such beauty because we had the car and could drive through the mountains on our own.  It was so cool.  Most people in Rome tend to stick with the West Coast of Italy, but going to the East Coast was such a treat and it was a really great break from the city.  Now, it is back to the grind of school, but we have some exciting things ahead, so I will keep you posted.  Again, thanks for reading and your support in prayer.  Know that I am praying for all of you.

Our car for the weekend with some of the beauty behind us!

Sts. Padre Pio and Michael - Pray for us!
    

Rest In Peace Fr. McDonald

Today, I heard news that my former pastor, Fr. McDonald, or Fr. Mac as he was known, passed away.  After over 50 years of priestly service, the Lord has called him home.  Fr. Mac was a great role model for me, especially during my time in seminary.  It was always a joy to go visit him in the nursing home and he always took great interest in me, which was definitely something that I appreciated.  Fr. Mac was a good and holy priest and I am grateful to God for putting him in my life.

Please pray for the repose of his soul and all the holy souls in purgatory.  They need our prayers because while they know they are going to get to Heaven, they still have to be purified of their sins.  So through our prayers, we can help bring people to Heaven, their ultimate goal.  We can play a role in their salvation.  What an incredible opportunity.  So let us all pray for the soul of Fr. McDonald and thank the Lord for all of the great things that He did for us through the priesthood of Fr. McDonald.

Prayer for the repose of the soul of a priest
 
O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant, Francis McDonald, to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ, according to the Order of Melchizedek  giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice, to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar, and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own Holy Name. We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults, admitting him speedily into Thy Holy Presence, there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labors. This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Roma Game!

This Sunday, I went with 9 other people from my house to Stadio Olimpico to watch some Roma football.  I am a big football fan and I was very much looking forward to going to a game sometime during the semester.  And let me tell you, the experience was incredible.  It was truly a great taste of Roman life and I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.  Paying only 17 euro for tickets, we sat right behind the goal about 23 rows up.  And while the angle wasn't the best, we were right in the heart of the more tame cheering section.  The south side of the stadium is the crazy part, but we were on the north side, where the dedicated, passionate, but not violent, fans sit.  And it was great.  We got there about 10 minutes before the game and the fans were already cheering, clapping, and waving their flags.  There was so much passion from the fans, you could tell that football is more than just a sport in Italy.  But easily the highlight of the pregame ritual of singing the Roma song.  While I wish that I knew the song before going to the game, I have listened to this quite a few times since the game.  Every single person in that stadium knew it and it is one of the greatest football traditions out there.

When the game started, it was just awesome.  We were playing Pescara, which is the worst team in the league.  Because they suck so much, there were only like 20 Pescara fans there, but they had their own section pretty close to us.  And with them being close to us, I received an answer to a question I was kind of wondering about.  Is "the finger" a real thing here?  Or is that just America?  And let me tell you, it is alive and well in Italy.  Pescara shockingly scored first, so they whole stadium was a bit on edge.  But throughout the course of the game I noticed many differences between European sports fans and American sports fans.  First off, in the stadium, there is no PA noise or music during the game.  It is just the fans and the game, which I really enjoyed.  And because there is constant action, we were never bored.  There are no timeouts, commercial breaks, or anything.  Also, you don't boo in Italy, you whistle/hiss.  It's kinda strange, but hey, that's what they do.  Also, every single person in the stadium is invested in the game.  I was sitting by some kids and they were going nuts.  They were following everything, calling fouls for the ref, and knew every single player.  In the second half, Roma tied it at 1, so the whole second half, we were on the edge of our seats.  But the highlight of the 2nd half was when Michael Bradley went in.  He is the only American on the team, and the kids next to me definitely knew by this point that I was American.  It was hilarious.  And anytime he would do something, we would get excited.  As time was winding down, Roma kept on getting decent shots on goal, but nothing was going in.  So after 90 minutes, the game ended in a tie.  Which is basically the worst thing possible.  With a loss, you can be angry.  But with a tie, it's like "meh."  Considering Pescara had not beaten, or even tied, anyone for the last 14 games, it was a bad day to be Roma.  But overall, I had a great time.  I was so happy that I went to the game at this point in the semester because I understand Italian culture more now then when I got here in February.  And to put it simply, everything made sense.  Everything that I had experienced walking through the streets, talking to random Romans, eating in restaurants, it was all summarized here during the game.  It was just a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed my time.  This was definitely one of the non-religious highlights of the semester and it was awesome to be able to experience the beautiful game in Rome first hand. 

Singing the Roma Song

Curva Sud, home of the diehard fans.  Notice the smoke bombs....  And the flags never stopped waving

Pescara fans.  And they had triple the security up there later during the game

#4 - The American, Bradley!  When he kicked the ball, I'm pretty sure I heard the word "freedom"

        

Relics: What Up With That?

As I have mentioned many times, one of the coolest things about living in Rome is the many relics of saints that can be found all over the city.  Living in Rome, the saints become very real because you are walking the same streets, praying in the same churches, seeing the same art, and experiencing the same grandeur of Rome that they experienced centuries ago.  So knowing where apostles prayed, where saints celebrated Mass, where Popes walked, you can see that sanctity is possible.  We can live heroic lives of virtue.  We can pursue holiness with all that we have.  So by knowing the saints, we ourselves can model their lives and become holier men and women.  With this post, I hope to do two things: Show you some awesome relics and try to explain the theology behind them.  Because when you think about it, just having a saint's body or body parts out for people to see sounds pretty weird.  And for Americans, this concept is super foreign because of the relative "youth" of our country.  We haven't had the history with the Catholic Church that Europe has, so we don't have as many canonized saints, and therefore, nowhere near as relics.  So first, I will share with you some of my favorite relics that I could get decent pictures of, and then I will try to explain why we even have relics in the first place.

Our first saint we see is St. Robert Bellarmine, a great Jesuit Cardinal from the 1600s.  He was an important figure in the Counter-Reformation, combating the Protestants and solidifying the Catholic theology that the Protestants had problems with.  Did he change the theology?  Absolutely not.  The Church cannot change Her teachings.  But it can be better explained or applied to more specific circumstances.  And that is what St. Robert Bellarmine did.  He is buried in the Church of St. Ignatius along with St. Aloysius Gonzaga.  Here is his body, still dressed in the cardinal red.  His remains are in a bronze cast of his body, so don't be too freaked out by that.

The next relic I have a picture of is St. Charles Borromeo's heart.  That's right, his heart.  And the fact that it is still around and visible is miraculous in itself.  The rest of his body is up in Milan, so I haven't seen that.  But St. Charles Borromeo was also an important cardinal during the Counter-Reformation and was one of the most important cardinals who helped formulate the rubrics of what Catholic Churches should look like.  While most of those instructions have been thrown out in America for more "modern and welcoming" spaces, that is neither here nor there.  St. Charles Borromeo is the patron saint of seminarians, and I am a seminarian, so that is pretty neat.  But ya, the heart is in the middle of the glass sphere behind the bars, so if you click on the picture, you should be able to see it.  

Our next saint, or saints, are two apostles, James the Lesser and Phillip.  That's right, apostles.  And these are just two apostles that were easy for me to get to here in Rome.  There are quite a few around here.  So when you think of the apostles, what do you think about?  Personally, I think "Wow, these guys hung out with JESUS AND MARY!!!"  If that isn't cool, I am not sure what is.  These two men were among the Twelve that  saw Jesus perform His miracles.  They received the Eucharist at the Last Supper.  They received the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  Our Church wasn't just made up by some dude in the 1600s, it is founded on real people.  And they gave it all, shedding their blood for Christ.  And these real people are buried about 5 minutes from where I go to school every day.  Here I am, just a few feet from their tombs.  How incredible is that?  

Now we are getting to some of my favorite relics in Rome.  Not that the others aren't cool, these are more personal or even more mind blowing.  Here, we have the arm of St. Francis Xavier.  Francis Xavier is the patron saint of the Diocese of Joliet, so obviously, I have a special devotion to him.  He was a Jesuit who was sent on mission to convert the people of Asia.  He was incredibly zealous and truly wanted to spread the Good News of Christ to a continent that had never heard of Jesus before.  And through prayer and dedication to his mission, he baptized around 100,000 people.  Baptizing a person, you need to pour water over the head of the person, and Whoa! look at that, we have the arm that he did that with.  The hand is incorrupt, which means that even though he has been dead for centuries, the flesh has not decayed.  Again, pretty neat.  Actually just today, we had Mass at this altar with Bishop Siegel and Fr. Matt Pratscher.  After Mass, I helped clean up and could have given Francis Xavier a high five.  I didn't, but I wanted to.......   

Now this is probably my favorite relic, the head of my favorite saint, St. John the Baptist.  And there is a bit of controversy with this one, because multiple churches around the world claim to have the head of John the Baptist.  But since I found this one, I believe that this is the true head of the Forerunner of the Messiah.  Take a moment and think about what John the Baptist did, and then realize that this skull did that.  So ya, it was from this skull that the first time ever were muttered the words "Behold the Lamb of God."  That's right, the words you hear every time you go to Mass can be traced to the mouth seen in this picture.  Kind of mind blowing.  And this skull helped baptize Jesus Christ   Ya, that's pretty neat.  Oh, and don't forget that John was beheaded for preaching repentance to King Herod, acting as the first martyr for Christ, giving himself completely to the mission the Lord gave him.  So this head was chopped off all for the greater glory of God.  And here it is, in Rome         

The last relic I have to show you is a foot.  And you're probably thinking "O, it's going to be the foot of Jesus or something? I mean, these just keep on getting better, so the next step up would be Jesus, or at least Mary."  But that assumption would be wrong because Jesus and Mary both have their bodies in Heaven because of the Ascension and the Assumption respectively.  But it is a person who knew Jesus and Mary.  That is because this is the foot of Mary Magdalene.  And you're like "OK, what's so cool about that ?"  If we look at the Gospels, we realize that Mary Magdalene was the first one to enter the empty tomb. So this was the very first foot to enter the tomb of the Risen Lord.  So just sit and ponder that one for a while.  This foot experienced the emptiness of the tomb.  This foot crossed the line from death into new life.  And again, it is here in Rome.  Don't ask me how, but here it is.  And it is just incredible.  It is in a silver mold, so that is not actually her foot visible, it is inside that.      

So we have these relics, so what?  Why should you care about these things?   Is this just the Church being creepy?  I hope not.  Hopefully I can explain the reasoning behind it, in a couple different ways.  The first is more philosophical, and the second is more theological.  First, philosophy.  As Catholics, we believe that we are both body and soul composites.  That means our identity, our very being, is made up of both our body and our soul, together as one.  And it is very dangerous to believe otherwise.  If you think that we are just bodies with no souls, then it follows that we are not rational beings. We cannot reason at any level higher than any animal out there, like a squirrel in your backyard.  And if you think that we are just souls trapped in our bad bodies, then any bodily pleasure would be sinful.  But our bodies are gifts from God, so why would He give us bodies if He knew that it would only lead us to sin?  So both of these options are absurd, meaning that we must be composites of both body and soul.  And as human persons who have bodies and souls, when a person is holy and grows close to God, not only does his soul grow in union with God, but so does his body.  Our bodies were sanctified by Christ when He took on flesh.  They are holy things.  And this is why we venerate the bodies of saints.  Their bodies are holy things.  Even after death, we still believe that they are holy and deserve to be honored because of their heroic lives.  And it is through these relics that the Lord transmits grace to the faithful.  Because when you think about it, when you are around a really holy person, you can feel it right?  There is something special about going to Mass with a holy priest, meeting awesome sisters, or seeing a devout married couple.  They radiate Christ's love in a way that is very hard to describe.  But it is through these saint relics that we can receive the grace needed to live holy lives and ask for the saints intercession in our lives.  So when we grow in holiness, both our body and our soul grows in holiness.  And it is because of this growth in holiness that we can venerate the relics of saints.  

The more theological reasoning behind relics focuses on the Resurrection of the Body.  You say that you believe in the Resurrection of the Body every Sunday during the creed, but do we actually know what that means?  When Christ comes again at the end of time, we believe that everyone will get their bodies back.  We will come into fleshly existence again.  And according to St. Thomas Aquinas, these bodies will be awesome.  We will be youthful, our bodies won't hinder our movement at all, and any physical imperfection will be gone.  And this will be the time of the final judgement, when Christ will separate the "sheep from the goats" for all of eternity.  So the sheep get to go to Heaven for all eternity, and the goats will be suffering down in Hell.  God, who is love, is also justice, so this is something that we need to keep on mind throughout our lives.  Just because we are "nice people" doesn't really mean a whole lot in the course of things.  We need to follow Christ with everything that we have.  And relics shows that the saints whom we venerate, the bodies that we see, these are the men and women who are in Heaven and will be there for all of eternity.  It is like "This guy made it.  I can do that too."  Their bodies, during the Resurrection of the Dead, will be welcomed into the gates of Paradise for all of eternity.  So we venerate their bodies becasue we know where they are going at the end of time, and that place is Heaven. 

So that is my piece on relics.  I know that it was a bit long, but hopefully you enjoyed it.  And I am sure that there are a lot more questions out there about this kind of stuff, so feel free to ask me anything.  I will definitely try my hardest to answer anything you may have.  

All you holy men and women - Pray for us!              

5000 Hits!

Well folks, today we celebrate a historic event in "From Roselle to Rome" history.  That's right, we hit 5000 page views.  And to celebrate, we have a brief press conference with the mind behind all of this, the one and only Jim Olofson.

Jim: Welcome to this press conference.  It is a great joy to celebrate this historic day with all of you.  It is hard to believe that we've made it this far, but together, we have done it.  So first off I want to thank all of you for reading the blog and sharing it with your family and friends.  It's been great hearing all of the positive feedback from everyone.  None of this would be possible without all of you.  So thanks.  Well, I think that I will open it up for some questions now.  I see we have the finest in online Catholic press here with us today.  Let's start with Rocco.  
Rocco Palmo: Jim, thank you.  Did you ever anticipate this kind of success with "From Roselle to Rome"?  Or are you as surprised as I am?
Jim: Thanks Rocco, great to see you.  Well I knew that I wouldn't ever have anything like your blog, but I do think that it helps when your parish puts the blog in the bulletin.  So am I super surprised?  A little.  But it has been a lot of fun, so I think we've just got to keep on going.  Next question, Fr. Barron.
Fr. Barron: Thanks Jim.  I look forward to having you at Mundelein in a few years.  Can you describe what it takes to keep up a blog like this?
Jim: Fr. Barron, I cannot wait to get to Mundelein either.  And it does take a bit of work, but I thoroughly enjoy it.  Trying to actually put into words what I have been experiencing, especially with the conclave and everything, it can be tough.  They also keep us rather busy over here, so that is why most things are posted during the weekends.  But I have enjoyed blogging because it makes me remember what I've done and take time to save those memories for the future.  So ya, it has been a bit time consuming, but it is all good.  Ah yes, Lino Rulli.
Lino Rulli: Thanks Jim.  I'm a big fan.  I've got to ask, what is next for you?  Where do you go from 5000 hits?
Jim: Wow Lino, thanks.  I'm looking forward to your next book, by the way.  And truthfully, I think that the answer is that I've just gotta keep doing what I do.  While the semester is winding  down, I project at least a few more blog posts, and subsequent hits, before I leave the continent and head home.  But we will have to wait and see how things go.  And as I mentioned earlier, this day of celebration isn't necessarily about me, but more about the followers.  So if they want me to get to 6000, 7000, or 1000000, it's all in their hands. ButI'm going to keep on doing what I'm good at. Ummmmm, Dad?
Carl Olofson: Shouldn't you be studying right now Jim?
Jim: This press conference is over.  Thank you to all and have a great day.


And to celebrate, I will leave you with 2 of my favorite Catholic Memes.  Enjoy and thanks for your support and prayers!  

      

Guten Tag Ryan!

Contrary to some speculation in the comments, Ryan did in fact accompany us on our trip to Austria and Germany.  But I have to admit that Ryan never made it out of Austria.  He was just having way too much fun re-enacting scenes from the Sound of Music in Salzburg that he never got on the train to Munich.  He just loved skipping through the fields singing to himself.  So hopefully, he will find his way back to Rome someday soon.  We will have to just wait and see.  Anyways, we do know what Ryan did the first half of the week, so here we go.

Ryan, just outside of Votivkirche in Vienna, was seen with an angry bear with some bedazzled armor out hunting.  We are not quite sure what the bear was doing or why Mike is seemingly risking his life to get Ryan so close to this angry bear, but we have photographic evidence that this truly happened.  I think it must stem from Ryan's general love of all things bedazzled.

In Salzburg, I was able to bring Ryan over to one of my favorite animals, the unicorn.  Why they remember this animal that was late for the departure of Noah's Ark still baffles me, but again, Ryan just wanted to be with the unicorn, so of course we had to take a picture.

And lastly, Ryan was able to meet one of the greatest musicians of all time, Mr. Mozart himself.  Here Peter, Mike, and Ryan bask in this prodigy's presence and hope to gain some of his musical skills.  Ryan wanted to play his trombone for Mozart, but alas, it just didn't fit in his bag.  Maybe next time Ryan will get to perform for him.     

We will have to wait and see where Ryan goes next!

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe - Ruega por nosotros!    

Vienna and Salzburg

Here is the trip in the order that it occurred.  So you will only need to scroll down through the next 3 posts to read about Spring Break!

Our trip started Easter Monday, when Peter, Mike, and I hopped on the train and headed to the airport.  Getting through security with just enough time, we hopped on our plane to Vienna.  And upon our arrival, we noticed a few immediate differences   First, it was quite a bit colder than Rome.  The whole week we had weather that was around 40 degrees (Fahrenheit of course).  We even had some snow in Austria, but it was nothing as bad as the group of seminarians who were in Poland.  They got quite a bit of snow, so I am happy I wasn't there.  Anyways, we also immediately noticed how clean and efficient everything was.  It was so great being in a country where order, timeliness, and cleanliness are priorities.  I loved it.  Our first stop was Karlskirche, a church dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo.  (A shout-out here has to go to my dad, Carl!)  The church was absolutely beautiful and the highlight was easily going up to the top of the dome.  Inside the church, they built an elevator to bring you straight up in the dome.  It freaked me out to be up in the middle of a dome, but the view from the top was absolutely beautiful.  Here are some pictures of the church.

Karlskirche

Altar in Karlskirche

 After Karlskirche and checking into our hotel, we went to find Stephansdom, the Cathedral in Vienna.  The Church, dedicated to St. Stephen  the first martyr, was absolutely huge and gorgeous.  It is the seat of Cardinal Schönborn, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Vienna.  His name was thrown around during the conclave, so he is a pretty big deal.  We never saw him, but we were sure looking.  The next morning, We went to Mass there, so no pictures of the inside.  I just can't take pictures if I'm praying at Mass.  Way to distracting.

Stephansdom

That night, we continued to explore churches and  went to the church where all of the Hapsburg emperors were buried.  While I do not know a ton about the Austrian empire, it was still cool to see the tombs of all of the rulers.  I did, though, leave with a greater desire to be buried underground when I die.  It is just kind of weird to have a basement full of fancy metal caskets.... Anyways, that night we had our first Austrian meal, one that would be repeated for me many a time.  I had a Wiener Schnitzel, french fries, and a beer.  And it was awesome.  Wiener Schnitzel is super tasty, and let me tell you, the Austrians and Germans know how to brew some good beer.  And at that dinner, we were introduced to one treat that would also make many return visits on our trip, Apple Strudel.  Talk about tasty goodness.  They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, and we were trying our best to live up to that.  So we had apple strudel quite a bit, but it was so good, so how can you help it?   

The next morning, before we left, we stopped at Votivkirche, which was a Church built in thanksgiving for the Austrian Emperor not being killed during an attempted assassination   And this church, as all of them are, was beautiful.  All of these churches are huge and awesome, and if they were in America, they would be massive pilgrimage sights.  But in Vienna, they are just normal parishes.  The highlight of that church was a side chapel in the church dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.  And if you didn't know, I absolutely love Our Lady of Guadalupe, but she is not seen very often in Europe.  She is a lot more popular in America and I very much miss seeing her frequently.  But in this church, they have an absolutely beautiful altar dedicated to her, with the image of her and an awesome stained glass window.  My favorite part was on the altar cloth, it said "Danke Maria von Guadalupe" (Thank you, Mary of Guadalupe)  

Votivkirche (Car ad on cleaning scaffolding, it is not usually there)

Viva Guadalupe!

After Vienna, we hopped on the train to Salzburg, a beautiful city in the mountains, the birthplace of Mozart, and home to the classic movie, Sound of Music.  While my mom and my sisters are huge Sound of Music fans, I cannot claim the same affection.  But it was still a great city to explore.  It was cloudy and cold, but that definitely did not dampen our spirits.  Again, we saw a lot of absolutely gorgeous churches, one of which even included the tomb of St. Rupert, the patron of Austria.  While we know nothing about him, he became one of our patrons on the trip.  So it was a pretty great day in Salzburg, seeing a lot of churches and looking at the mountains the whole time.  We enjoyed two awesome meals, one Austrian and one Greek.  The Greek was close to our hotel and we were tired, but it turned out to be one of the best meals we had that week.  The next morning, we went to tour the Salzburg castle that was situated on the top of the hill overlooking the city.  It was super cool to be inside such a historic building and to know that this castle was used as a fortress for hundreds of years to defend the city against invasions by the Protestants and the Muslims.  Without the castle, the city of Salzburg would not the be the same city it is today.  And after the castle and buying some pretzels, we hopped on the train and headed to Munich.        

Garden where some Sound of music stuff was filmed. You can see the castle in the background

River running through town with the mountains.  Beautiful.

Salzburg Cathedral

Altar inside of Cathedral
They have 5 organs in here!  Wow!

View from the Castle we toured!  The big church in the foreground is the Cathedral

     

Munich and Lich

After Salzburg, we arrived in Munich.  And there is a lot to see in Munich, but we truthfully didn't get to a whole lot.  When we arrived, we got lost for the first and only time during our trip.  So we took a quick 30 minute train detour to see a nice lake, but if that was the worst thing that happened during our week, we know that it was a good week.  The Lord was definitely helping us out throughout the week, and again, the only response is gratitude.  After finding our hotel, we went back into town and visited the Cathedral.  While it was mostly bombed out in the war, it is still one of the biggest things to see in Munich.  And inside, it was rather disappointing because it was whitewashed and rather modern.  One of the most important things we have as Catholics is our churches, because God dwells in our Church.  We don't just go there to pray and read the Bible.  HE IS THERE.  In the Eucharist.  And that is why we need nice churches, because it is the house of God.  Anyways, I can rant on that for a while, but I won't.  The church, even though it was not very visually pleasing, was the former cathedral of one Cardinal Ratzinger, AKA Pope Emeritus Benedict!  So that was pretty neat.  After the cathedral, we went to the Hofbrauhaus to meet our good friend Sebastian for dinner.  Sebastian, a German seminarian I met kind of randomly here in Rome, is an awesome guy and we ended spending 4 hours at the famous beer house, just hanging out with him.  The beer here comes in liters, which is a lot of beer for one sitting.  Sebastian, because he is German, had 2, which blew my mind.  I stuck with one and was quite content.  The next day, we went to an absolutely beautiful church for Mass and they had an impromptu Eucharistic procession after Mass.  So that was pretty neat.  But again, because it was Mass, no inside pictures for you.  And after Munich, it was on to Lich!

Main platz in Munich

The two towers of the Cathedral

That is a liter of beer!  With Sebastian and Peter!

After Munich, we hopped on the train, and after several transfers, made our way to Giessen, where my cousins would pick us up and drive us to Lich.  Lich is a small town in Germany where my Grandma, my dad's mom, was born and raised.  I still have family over there, so I was very much looking forward to visiting them.  My last time there was in 4th grade, so while the memories aren't the brightest, they are still there, and it was great to be back.  My cousins really took care of us and I could not be more grateful.  They were incredible hosts and really showed us a good time.  It was awesome to be with them, especially with my Aunt Marie.  I know her the best of them all, so being able to spend some time with her was great.  She hasn't been in the best health recently, so it was good to be able to just sit and chat with her a bit.  My grandma is heading to Lich in a couple weeks, so she was very excited to talk about that.  With my cousins, one of the highlights was seeing the church in Wetzlar, the town next to Lich.  It was beautiful and some amazing art inside.  I loved the Pieta, which was at least 700 years old.  That was just incredible.  It was kind of strange that the church was shared between the Catholics and Protestants, but there was still quite a bit of Catholic art, so it still made for a beautiful church.  We also climbed to the top of a very historic clock tower in Lich, which was cool.  While the pigeons inside kind of freaked me out, it was a lot of fun.  We were forced to wear hard hats and hair nets, which I thought was rather unnecessary   That is, of course, until I bashed my head on a beam coming down.  Thank God for helmets, or else I would have been concussed.  And one of the best things about Lich was Licher, the hometown beer.  Licher is brewed right downtown and my cousins drink it like it's water.  And now that I was there and not a 4th grader, I was able to enjoy some Licher.  And even though I may be genetically pre-disposed to it, I loved Licher.  It was just super good.  My cousin Philip collects the bottle caps and turns them in for prizes, so we got quite a bit of Licher gear from him.  It was just great.  Being able to be with my family was awesome, and like I said, I could not thank them enough for their generosity.  But on Saturday morning, we left Lich and took the train to Cologne and Xanten!  

Church in Wetzlar

The Pieta

Hard hats!

Panoramic View!

The Licher Brewery!

Cologne and Xanten

After Lich, we took the train to Xanten, a town in northern Germany where Mike knows a priest.  On the way, though, we made a brief stop in Cologne, a town with one of the most famous Gothic Churches in the world.  Cologne was the home of World Youth Day in 2005, and it was just after Benedict was elected Pope that he went to Germany to celebrate with millions of youth.  And it is super cool that Pope Francis will be going back to South America in July to celebrate World Youth Day 2013 in Rio.  Anyways, we did 2 things in Cologne, we saw the cathedral and got some lunch.  The cathedral is absolutely enormous and beautiful.  There were a lot of tourists there, and I could easily see why.  It is just a massive structure and a beautiful piece of architectural genius.  And really cool thing was that in the back of the sanctuary, there was a large gold box that I initially thought was the tabernacle.  But then I saw a small Eucharistic chapel, so I knew that it wasn't a tabernacle.  Then I picked up a pamphlet, and I read what was in there.  It was the BONES OF THE THREE WISE MEN!  That's ridiculously cool.  The three men who first adored Jesus Christ, the God-child.  And do I question the authenticity of the relics?  Not at all.  Do I wonder how we, as Catholics, acquired them?  Ya, I am have no idea how to answer that one.  But the church was awesome.  Lunch was great as well.  Argentinian Steak House.  We don't really get much meat in Italy, so that was a treat.                

Cologne Cathedral

Inside of Cathedral 

 After a few hours in Cologne, we headed to Xanten.  It is not the most famous town in Germany, but we truly stumbled upon a hidden gem.  Like I said, Mike's cousin knows the priest in Xanten and his generosity was incredible.  Fr. Klaus had no idea who we were, but he put us up for the night, gave us a personal tour of the church, took us out for dinner, and was just a great host.  Again, we were so blessed.  And Xanten is probably one of the most historic Catholic towns in Germany.  The church is "the most beautiful church between Cologne and the North Sea," which sounded really impressive.  And the church was awesome.  St. Victor, a Roman soldier martyr, was killed and buried there, along with Blessed Karl Leisner, a priest killed in the Nazi concentration camp.  We didn't really know how big of a deal he was until we told our chaplain  Fr. Carola.  He said that his sister, prays for us everyday.  Now that's pretty neat.  A saint's sister prays for us everyday.  Wow.  The church also had an incredible museum, with some amazing religious artifacts, including a chasuble worn by St. Bernard, as he preached a Crusade.  That's pretty awesome.  So ya, it was a more relaxed day, but it was just an incredible church and being with Fr. Klaus was great.  We even got to serve Mass on Sunday, which was kind of tough, because it was in German and we couldn't communicate with the other servers.  But we got through it.

After Xanten, we flew back to Rome.  Overall, it was just a great trip.  I absolutely loved what we saw, the company was great, and it was basically problem free.  We couldn't ask for anything better.  I grew in my love for beer and German food, and it was just an awesome time.  Now, I am back to the grind in Rome, but as expected, Rome is Rome, so I can not even try to complain.  It is just an incredible blessing to be here.  So again, I hope you enjoy the long post, and thanks for reading!  God Bless!    

Victordom, or the Church of St. Victor

Interior of the Church

View from the cloister

Fr. Klaus!

Back in Rome!

Well we made it back to Rome.  After a very fun week, it is nice to be back.  I will post more details about the trip sometime in the coming days, but we had a great time traveling through Austria and Germany.  Our stops included Vienna and Salzburg in Austria and Munich, Lich, Cologne, and Xanten in Germany.  We had an absolutely wonderful trip and it was smooth sailing all of the way through.  The Lord really blessed us and we had such a great time.  So as I said, look for something in the coming days with quite a few pictures from the trip.

Sts. Rupert and Victor - Pray for Us!