Le Tour de Paris

No, not particularly...

I've never really had a desire to go to Paris. I know numerous people who would love to be here. But me? No, not particularly. After hopping from one country to another during spring break, I really wanted to go back to Rome. A sense of security and stability sounded really nice at the beginning of last week. Also, I had this preconceived notion of Paris being too over-the-top for me, too materialistic.

Of course, life (or God, in this case) always has a surprise just around the corner. In other words:

"We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." 

-Romans 8:36

I started off the activities of the week just going through the motions. I always regret this kind of thing in retrospect. My spring break crew of two an I had arrived late to the Rome group dinner, so I was tired and hungry but also worn out from the anxiety of running late...after all, we didn't want to miss out on a free dinner in Paris! I admit that I wasn't very lively at the mini-reunion. I went straight to our director and asked him if we could still eat with everyone and he pointed me to our table. As I passed the large tables and joyful faces, it took all I had in me to avoid the temptation to run straight for the food. I'm not the type who likes hugs, so I was subtle in my reunion embraces. The best example I can offer is that a friend reached out her hand to me, exclaiming my name, and I just gave her a hand hug because I had exceeded my hug limit for that day.*

Notre Dame

But before I get too carried away with just this kick-start of the trip, keep that image in mind as I uncover the truth that was hanging over me all week.

Notre Dame Cathedral. 

Eiffel Tower.

Sainte-Chapelle.

Manufacture Gobelins (aka: a real  tapestry/weaving factory...like the "olden days").

Louvre Museum (aka: home of the world-famous Mona Lisa...among so many great works of art).

These main sights of Paris are most definitely worth seeing. Though of course, I refused to give my body enough sleep due to the modern crisis of attachment to the internet. And as we all know, when you're tired, the brain doesn't function as well as when you're rested. Thus, I walked around these beautiful landmarks in a zombie-like state. 

Sainte-Chapelle

The irony of it all is that I was fully aware of the state of my consciousness. I kept telling Mo that I wish I could appreciate the excursions, but instead all I wanted was to go back to our hotel and "veg-out" (as my Romie roomie calls it) all day.

But, vuala! Alas! It was on Friday, as I walked through the Claude Monet exhibit in a museum for class, I was revived by the breath of fresh air of Monet's paintings. I had forgotten that I learned about him in high school, and I loved how he portrays the nature that he observed first-hand. This simple exhibit was all I needed to have a renewed excitement about being in Paris. Once I found out that there was an official Monet museum, I made plans with a few friends to visit his collection on the weekend.

My favorite: Water Lily Pond, by Claude Monet

And it has only gone uphill since then. I've been telling everyone that seeing Claude Monet's paintings gave me a new hope for my time in Paris because his appreciation for beauty in nature is something that I can relate to. It's almost better than the "ideal beauty" that is portrayed in the perfect bodies and perfect architecture that I've seen in every other church (Rome, Paris, and the like). Monet is the kind of artist I aspire to be, simply because the beauty of God found in nature is what I love to paint myself!

In addition, I found out where the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal and the Shrine of St. Vincent de Paul were - so of course we had to visit these holy places, too! But maybe that's another post for another day.

Au revoir!

Moral of the story: I've finally found something to love about Paris, even if it goes against the grain. As cheesy as it is, if you search long and hard enough, there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel...





Lord, guide me by your loving hand!




*My hug limit, by the way, is probably no more than three per day...but I'm always willing to adjust to the circumstances. :)

Siena, Italy - Week Six

There are times when I visit a Catholic Church and I think, “Catholics are kind of weird…” Our visit to Siena was one of those times.

Shrine where St. Catherine's
head is kept

When St. Catherine of Siena died, somebody somewhere thought it was a good idea to separate her body from her head, and when Mo, X, and I went to Siena, we were privileged to see her incorruptible head! For reasons only known to God, there are instances where a saint’s body or part of it, decomposes at a slower rate than usual. Although this is a miracle, it is still a little strange. Nonetheless, we were blessed with the opportunity to pray in front of the head of this amazing and radical saint. We knelt at the spot where Jesus appeared to her and proposed with a wedding ring that was only seen by her.

Picture of the poster of the Miracle

Siena held another surprise in store for us: a Eucharistic Miracle! In the mid-1700s, a thief had stolen a tabernacle from the local church. The people of Siena came together and prayed for the preservation of the consecrated Hosts. Their prayers were stronger than they knew because these Hosts have been preserved for over 300 years! They have had several scientific tests performed – they placed unconsecrated bread next to these Hosts and the bread dissolved after 10 years. But not the Hosts! And we got to kneel three feet away from this miracle! I got to see it with my very own eyes!! It made me kneel in awe and wonder how one could lack faith in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

Holy God, we praise Thy name; Lord of all, we bow before Thee! Give us faith to trust in You.

A Weekend in Assisi

*Disclaimer: I tried to keep this short and sweet, but I just have to share our abundant graces, and although they are sweet, it's definitely not short!

"If I were to meet a priest and an angel, I should salute the priest before I saluted the angel. The latter is the friend of God; but the priest holds His place. St. Teresa kissed the ground where a priest had passed. When you see a priest, you should say, 'There is he who made me a child of God, and opened Heaven to me by holy Baptism; he who purified me after I had sinned; who gives nourishment to my soul.' At the sight of a church tower, you may say, 'What is there in that place?' 'The Body of Our Lord.' 'Why is He there?' 'Because a priest has been there, and has said holy Mass."

-St. John Vianney, patron saint of priests

These men that God calls for His Church really are a gift. A priest is a man who has made the decision to live the life of Christ in its fullest sense. You see, after high school I had chosen to live a life devoted to Christ, as His bride. This was and is very beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but the priest is called to live a life for God’s children – and through Ordination, their soul has been changed so that they receive the graces to do this! I could go on and on about the greatness of the priesthood, but this is really just supposed to be a segway into the wonderful weekend I had in Assisi…

We visited Assisi at the beginning of February: Week 5.

As per usual, I traveled in a pack of three. Originally, it would have been just my friend & travel buddy Mo and I. We begged others to come with us, and Lo gave in – and we’re glad she did! Mo’s priest-cousin (Fr. C) is a very dear friend of my family and he had been planning to come to Rome; he was able to plan his trip during our stay abroad, so it worked perfectly that we would all spend a weekend in Assisi.

The beauty of our trip was the fact that Fr. C and his friend Fr. J let us crash their party, which in reality was their retreat weekend. Us ladies arrived in Assisi on Thursday night iand Fr. C was waiting at the train station so that he could show us the way to the Bridgettine convent we were staying at. From the very beginning, we were treated with such dignity, it filled us with so much joy we didn’t know how to respond other than by soaking it in!

St. Clare of Assisi & St. Rita of Cascia

On Friday morning, all five of us walked down to the Basilica where St. Francis’ tomb is and celebrated Mass together. This was very meaningful for me as St. Francis is the founder of one of the most popular Religious Orders, the Franciscans. I begged him for his intercession, asking him to pray for me as I continue to discover what the Lord is calling me to do with my life.

Fr. J was the primary celebrant for that Mass, and he has definitely made his way onto the list of priests I pray for. He’s a great man – at first he may seem stoic and intimidating with his height looming over you, but once you get to know him he is a teddy bear! I’m sure he would laugh at me calling him this, but it’s true and we love him for it. Fr. C is one of the most funniest and enjoyable of priests I know. His laugh is contagious and whenever you’re with him, it feels like you’re the most important thing in the world at that moment.

Father teaching us about the castles
& royalty of Assisi on the way to the
Hermitage

These were the priests that the Lord gave to us that weekend. They took care of us physically, mentally, and spiritually. After Mass at the tomb, we ladies separated from the priests so that they could retreat until the afternoon, and we wandered around the Basilica and took in the beauty of Assisi. After lunch with Fr. C, he took us on a hike to the hermitage where St. Francis led his brothers on 40-day-long yearly retreats. This hike to the hermitage was the most intense and challenging hike I have been on in my life. It was literally uphill the whole way – on steep, rocky ground! But through our deep inhales, we managed to hold a great conversation with Father and I was able to ask him the burning theological questions that had been on my mind for weeks. We had a great conversation about the dignity of the human person, the importance of protection against the Devil, and how to survive our semester studying abroad. Once we got to the hermitage, we prayerfully made our way through the grounds made holy by the steps and prayers of Holy Father Francis.

The next day found us at the town right below Assisi, where there lies a huge church that holds the original church that Francis built. We had Mass in one of the side chapels and then we broke off again from the priests to make our way to the church where St. Clare’s tomb is. St. Clare was the first female follower of St. Francis and she also lived a radical life for Christ. That night, Fr. J heard our Confessions and then it was his turn to take us out for dinner. Here was yet another chance to talk about the “real talk” (as we like to call it) that we rarely have time to engage in with priests. To talk more about the dignity we have as daughters of God was really refreshing for our souls. Every night in Assisi, Mo, Lo and I sat on our beds and expressed the overflowing joy we experienced from spending time with these great priests!

Mo kept reminding us that Fr. C once said something like, “When the Lord is pursuing you, you experience joy abundantly.” How true this is!

Overall, the weekend was full of prayer, laughter, nature, beauty, love, joy, and friendship. I couldn't have asked for anything more!

“O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests…Thy priests who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me, or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way…O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.”

The Plan

There's this thing called "reflection frostbite" - it's when your life is packed with amazing events and you feel overwhelmed about all of the ways you want to reflect (such as writing in a journal, updating a blog post, messaging/emailing friends and family)...so overwhelmed that you end up doing nothing at all. So you're in this frozen state, wondering what to do with your life, all the while thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.

This is my dilemma. And I don't think that "reflection frostbite" is really a word, because I made it up. But I think it should be a term in our regular vocabulary because it's definitely a reality! I haven't caught up my personal journal for about two weeks now, and my last blog post is leaving the interwebs up in the with loose ends (Week Four Part One, anybody?? There's got to be somebody asking, "What happened to Part Two?!"). So I've made a decision. I'm going to try my best to post when I can, but it won't be the kind of updates that I wish they could have been.

I had this burst of inspiration to write during our stay in the youth hostel in Lisbon, Portugal. We're at the close of our first three days of Spring Break. I'm with two other amazing women, and we just came from Fatima, where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in 1917. While my first stay in Assisi made the top of my "favorite places" list, Fatima has definitely been the most meaningful. While we were walking around, I remembered how my Great Grandma Hauser had a strong devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. In that instant, I felt her joy radiating from Heaven. I knew that she was looking down on us and smiling, because I'm sure she would have wanted to be there with me. 

It's the little things that make all the difference.

May Our Lady of Fatima show you the way to true joy!

"My God: I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I beg Your pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You."

ROMA: Week Four, Nettuno [UPDATE:] & Cascia

“Yes, for the love of Jesus, I pardon him, and I want him to come with me to paradise. May God forgive him because I already have.” 

These words came from a dying twelve-year-old girl in Nettuno, Italy on July 6th, 1902. More than one hundered years later found me kneeling in the very same room where St. Maria Goretti voiced her forgiveness of the man who stabbed her 14 times after she refused to give in to his sexual advances. Praying with these words from my Catholic Shrines guidebook made me reflect on the role of forgiveness in my own life. How can one not be moved by such a phrase from this daughter of God in the moments of her last breath?

Nettuno was the kick start to one of the best parts of the Rome Program: Travel Weekends.  We’re allowed to use these free travel weekends to explore more of Rome, Italy, or Europe (if we feel so inclined). Once we arrived, we found our way to the Basilica of Our Lady of Graces and Saint Maria Goretti and along the way rejoiced in the Mediterranean Sea. Majority decision was that we would make a stop on the beach after we visit the tomb of our saint. As we walked down the steps in the Basilica, I had a flashback to the pure awe I had when we celebrated our first Mass in Rome at the tomb of St. Philip Niri. St. Maria Goretti definitely lived up to my expectations! In front of her wax-covered fragile body (enclosed in a glass tomb), I reflected on her life – one lived with the purest of hearts – and I begged for her intercession for my perseverance in chastity. I dedicated her as patron of my friends and family that may struggle with this virtue, and I asked the Lord to help me forgive those who have hurt me. Maria forgave her murderer; surely – through the grace of God – I can forgive those who kill me in my heart.

Our primary reason for this hour-long trip was, of course, was to see the body of Maria Goretti. And if there is one thing I’ve learned about the Communion of Saints, it’s that when pilgrims have a strong desire to visit these models of holiness, they put in a good word for us to the Man Upstairs. You will hear me refer back to this truth multiple times!

After our adventures at the beach, we looked for a place to eat. It wasn't until our train ride back to Rome that we realized it was Friday…you see, on the Rome Campus, we try to abstain from meat on Friday for the intention of our priests and seminarians at the Pontifical North American College (referred to as, "the NAC"). And so, we were about to shake our heads in shame when we realized that we hadn’t eaten meat after all! One of my travel buddies immediately said it was thanks to the intercession of Maria Goretti. There is no doubt that the saints help us to strive for holiness, even with little things such as these.

And now, I must confess that I am not actually writing this at the end of Week Four, as intended from the beginning. In the posts following, I will be sharing the greatest gifts the Lord has given to me during my stay in Italy over the past weeks. A large part of these gifts is what He has provided for my friends and I when we travel to honor the lives of those who lived solely for Him.

So, I pray:

Lord, thank you for the gift of hope You provide through the lives of the saints!


Thanks for reading! Look forward to "Part Two: Cascia, Italy"!

***UPDATE:

I would be kicking myself if I ended my posts from Rome and left out one of the best saint friends I've made! We found out about St. Rita of Cascia from the awesome Catholic Shrines of Western Europe book. How can you resist visiting a saint who's a wife, mother, widow, Augustinian nun, stigmatist, and now incorruptible saint of impossible cases?! We knew close to nothing about this woman and she has since become our patron saint for our semester abroad.

Our first encounter of the power of her intercession was when we wanted to switch buses in the town between Rome and Cascia. We barely missed the only bus heading from Terni to Cascia, and a man with little to no English was able to stop the bus and help us get tickets. Ever since then, she has answered our prayers! In my Assisi post, I talk about the hike from Assisi to St. Francis' hermitage. As we were hiking, it started to sprinkle and so we said a quick prayer to St. Rita...I kid you not - as soon as we finished the prayer, the skies cleared up and the rain stopped!

St. Rita: usually portrayed with a
scar from the thorn in her forehead
& cradling a Crucifix

Rewind to the Sunday before our weekend in Assisi and Mo, Lo & I were trying to find a priest who could translate the Pope's Sunday Angelus for us. We walked into a random church on our way to St. Peter's Square and saw a statue of St. Rita. We said a quick prayer, walked out of the church and saw a group of Polish priests heading the same way! Sure enough, one priest translated Papa Francesco's words from Italian to Polish, and another priest translated from Polish to English for us. Coincidence? Maybe, but probably not because I don't believe in coincidences when it comes down to the Lord and His saints!

These are just a teeny snippet of what St. Rita's helped us accomplish all to help us delight in the Lord!

And so, I strongly advise you to take up St. Rita as your patron. Just ask for her help every once and a while - and I always like to say, "but only if it's the Lord's will...which I hope it is!" ;)

St. Rita, pray for us!

ROMA: Week Three, dichotomy of obligatory classes and the beauty of freedom

Disclaimer: It is extremely difficult to talk about all the fantabulous things that happen within a week. Mix this difficulty with the fact that I tend to write more when I'm tired and you'll get what we have here... 

dichotomy: a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.

There are words that have left my mouth that demonstrate this dichotomy in my life: "I wish I could be in Rome without having to be a student."
Being a student kind of interferes with my desire to explore Rome...but I have to remember that I am here because I am a student. So without further a due, here are the blessings of the week:


We made it to our first General Audience, where every week Pope Francis greets the public with a special talk or reflection and then offers a blessing for all present and any religious articles they brought. Blessing#1: All 50 of the Rosaries I made have now been blessed by the Pope. Blessing#2: I was four feet away from Pope Francis. Four feet away. In the moment, I physically could not enjoy the moment. My body was congested, aching, and tired from waking up at 5:30 to get such a great spot. But thank God for the gift of retrospect so that I can realize that I am extremely grateful for this chance of a lifetime!

Friday: what may have been an unintentional gift of the Rome Program to us students turned out to be one of the best rewards I've received: the gift of free time. After class, we were free to go out for lunch and whatsoever. A random group of us did exactly that. We played "Simon Says" and each person took turns choosing which direction to turn. Whilst wandering about along the Tiber River, we stumbled across a beautiful church and a spectacular view overlooking the city. Blessing#3: I hope to value every moment of free time, especially when I don't have to sit cooped-up in a classroom!

Saturday, "Girl's Day": We separated from the boys in our group and spent the day in Orvieto, Italy. "Beautiful" cannot fully describe this small town in its entirety. At the top of the hill sits a tall Gothic Church in which holds a tiny cloth with the blood from a Eucharistic miracle. As I prayed in front of this marvelous mystery - how does a piece of bread bleed drops of blood unless it is not simply a piece of bread but the Body and Blood of Christ? - I wondered how anybody could see this miracle and refuse to believe in our Lord and Savior. Blessing#4: The gift of a renewed faith.














To finish off the week, I spent most of Sunday with a close friend of the group and Blessing#5 is that I was able to enjoy her company and soak in the peacefulness of being in the Eternal City.

Blessing#6: This past week was the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade and in the States men & women, boys & girls marched for life in Washington, D. C. I wish I were there, but because I was here, I prayed for all of the unborn. I prayed for all women & men affected by abortion. I thanked God for the gift of life - because our life IS a gift!

**The following is the rant I wanted to begin this post with, but I recognize that the Lord gives us more blessings that we can recognize, even a midst the struggle.

The excitement of a thing is only great and extra-spectacular until you learn it is time to buckle down (or up) before the car crashes into the brick wall of reality. As intense as this sounds, week three was not tragic; there were no accidents within my group, especially no cars running into walls. This week we had our Faith & Justice lectures from 8 a.m. to noon. This means 4+ hours of our professor carrying on in his long, winding tangents-like-wells that make you want to build a bridge to climb over them and carry on into St. Peter's Square or one of the many Piazza's in Rome. So one of the lessons that I learned this week is that it is extremely difficult to pay attention to a typical lecture when Roma is calling your name. The depths of my soul were literally pining to venture out into the city. And I am convinced that my body retaliated by weakening its immune system and thus I became sick earlier in the week. It could also quite possibly be my lack of sleep, but that's besides the point.

Lord, thank You for making the struggle seem small compared to Your blessings.

#TruthAboutChristianity

There are close to few times in my life that I find an intense quote worth sharing via Facebook and the like. Now that I am getting more attached to the blogging world, I have this desire to ease my way in by sharing this mind-blowing statement of truth The Epistle To Diognetus. Resist the urge to ask me the background information on this letter because I have absolutely no clue...I'm hoping my questions can be answered in our Faith & Justice course tomorrow morning, the class for which this reading was assigned.
With further a due:

Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind by either country, speech, or customs; the fact is, they nowhere settle in cities of their own; they use no peculiar language; they cultivate no eccentric mode of life. Certainly, this creed of theirs is no discovery due to some fancy or speculation of inquisitive men...They take part in everything as citizens and put up with everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their home, and every home a foreign land. They marry like all others and beget children; but they do not expose their offspring....They find themselves in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They spend their days on earth, but hold citizenship in heaven. They \obey the established laws, but in their private lives they rise above the laws. They love all men, but are persecuted by all. They are unknown, yet are condemned; they are put to death, but it is life that they receive. They are poor, and enrich many; destitute of everything, they abound in everything. They are dishonored, and in their dishonor find their glory. They are calumniated, and are vindicated. They are reviled, and they bless; they are insulted and render honor. Doing good, they are penalized as evildoers; when penalized, they rejoice because they are quickened into life. The Jews make war on them as foreigners; the Greeks persecute them; and those who hate them are at a loss to explain their hatred. In a word: what the soul is in the body, that the Christians are in the world.

God love you and Mary protect you!

Lord, let me live the truth of these words.