Our last day in Madrid has been filled with mixed emotions. While we are beginning to miss home--the food, our beds and normal comforts, we also have grown to love Spain and the adventure it provides us each day. Today, Fr. Schultz celebrated Mass for us at our hotel, then we spent the early afternoon getting lunch, enjoying Plaza Mayor and buying last minute souveniors for our family and friends.
This afternoon we toured the Prado museum which hosted a special exhibit for WYD, ¨The Word made Image." Beautiful pieces were included in this collection, Velasquezś Crucifixtion, Fra Angelicoś ¨Annunciation¨ and a few from Carvaggio and El Greco. It was very impressive and gave us time to really reflect on all the beauty we have experienced over the past two weeks.
We´ve been talking about what has inspired us the most over the last day and many of us have mentioned the awesome universality of our Church. We´ve met people from all over the world, we don´t share their language, but we feel so connected to them because we share the one true faith.
We have also been inspired by the beauty of the Churches and use of art to help lead the faithful to a deeper understanding of mysteries of our faith.
We have made some neat friendships this past week in Madrid and have been touched by the generousity of our hosts who have cared for us in our times of need and shared more joyous occasions with us as well. One young volunteer has come out to visit us and spend the day with us the past two days. We are sure he is just as exhausted as we are, but his friendship has reminded us of the friendship that Christ desires with each one of us--one that is personal and authentic.
Now we sit and wait...for our bus that is, to take us to the airport! What a great adventure this has been--God has truly blessed us and we are so grateful to have been able to witness His love. We can´t wait to see you all very soon!!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
It's Monday morning and as we look back on this past weekend we see many blessings that God has showered upon us! We had to slow our pilgrimage down for the sake of our safety--the heat here in Madrid is quite intense. It has been close to 100 degrees each day this past week and with little places to rest during the hottest parts of the day the sun has drained many of our pilgrims.
For this reason we watched the Vigil and closing Mass on television. And, what a blessing it was! On Saturday night during the vigil there was a very heavy thunder storm that swept through, but God kept us very safe.
As we reflected on our Holy Father's homily and his idea that we do not come to Christ alone, he said, ¨Having faith means drawing support from the faith of your brothers and sisters, even as your own faith serves as a support for the faith of others. I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ and which led you to discover the beauty of his love.¨
We are beginning to re-discover the beauty of God's great love for us through the sacrifices of missing some of the WYD events we would have prefered to attend in person. But, we know that God is using and will continue to use the disappoint and sacrifices we have made for the good of His Church. And, we have become much more a family through this experience. We are caring for eachother and making sure each one knows they are important and loved by us. We are so pleased to be a part of St. Timothy's.
And, for those who were feeling up to it last night, they attended a futbol game in one of the largest stadiums in Madrid! What an experience to see! The game was an all-star game of sorts with former players from all different teams. It was a great match, Spain vs. the rest of the World with a final score of 1-2.
This afternoon, Fr. Schultz celebrated Mass for us and reminded us of the Queenship of Mary, our Mother and that she cares for us so deeply. Many of us renewed our great love and affection for Mary that we made just last week in our Marian consecration on the feast of her Assumption. What a gift it is to have Mass each day! This evening we are headed to Madrid's Cathedral. And, tomorrow we are headed to the Prado and then to the airport. What a great adventure this has been. We can't wait to share stories of our personal blessings with you upon our return.
For this reason we watched the Vigil and closing Mass on television. And, what a blessing it was! On Saturday night during the vigil there was a very heavy thunder storm that swept through, but God kept us very safe.
As we reflected on our Holy Father's homily and his idea that we do not come to Christ alone, he said, ¨Having faith means drawing support from the faith of your brothers and sisters, even as your own faith serves as a support for the faith of others. I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ and which led you to discover the beauty of his love.¨
We are beginning to re-discover the beauty of God's great love for us through the sacrifices of missing some of the WYD events we would have prefered to attend in person. But, we know that God is using and will continue to use the disappoint and sacrifices we have made for the good of His Church. And, we have become much more a family through this experience. We are caring for eachother and making sure each one knows they are important and loved by us. We are so pleased to be a part of St. Timothy's.
And, for those who were feeling up to it last night, they attended a futbol game in one of the largest stadiums in Madrid! What an experience to see! The game was an all-star game of sorts with former players from all different teams. It was a great match, Spain vs. the rest of the World with a final score of 1-2.
This afternoon, Fr. Schultz celebrated Mass for us and reminded us of the Queenship of Mary, our Mother and that she cares for us so deeply. Many of us renewed our great love and affection for Mary that we made just last week in our Marian consecration on the feast of her Assumption. What a gift it is to have Mass each day! This evening we are headed to Madrid's Cathedral. And, tomorrow we are headed to the Prado and then to the airport. What a great adventure this has been. We can't wait to share stories of our personal blessings with you upon our return.
Friday, August 19, 2011
What a wonderful World Youth Day week!
The last time we posted was on Monday from Grenada, and we've been in Madrid since Monday night. Each morning we've attended catechesis with other English speakers and celebrated Mass. Yesterday we met the group from our Diocese at the Madrid Arena for Mass. Bishop Burns from Juneau, Alaska was the main celebrant and preached a very moving homily about the peace Christ gives us in the Resurrection. It was great to see other priests from Arlington and meet up with other pilgrims we know from home. Gretchen Crowe, a writer from the Catholic Herald, interviewed some of our teens for the paper, so maybe we'll see some of quotes on the website for the Herald or in print next week!
Friday morning we saw the stations of the Via Crucis up close - many great works of art gathered from around Spain just for WYD. We returned to pray the stations with the Holy Father at 7:30, though we had to stake out a place on the street more than two hours in advance.
The teens have been having a lot of fun meeting others from all over the world. One the things everyone does is trade - hats, pins, flags - everything! Our US flag bandanas have been a popular trade, but by far the thing everyone wants is our "Team Jesus" t-shirts. We even met a spaniard in the street who told us, "My name is Jesus - you are my group!"
This week has truly been wonderful, and we've all experienced the Church in a new way. The Church truly is universal - all nations adore Him! The Church is ever young and continually being renewed by the Holy Spirit. As we've been riding the metro and walking the streets, seeing and hearing groups sing songs about the Lord from their own place, I've thought, what a gift it is that this city is full of such song and dynamism! Would that every city be so joyful in the Lord!
Today we'll celebrate Mass on our own, then make our way to the airfield where we'll spend the night and celebrate Mass with the Holy Father tomorrow. Please pray for us, as it is expected to be 98 degrees today and 102 tomorrow. We'll just have to find some shade and stay in it!
Friday morning we saw the stations of the Via Crucis up close - many great works of art gathered from around Spain just for WYD. We returned to pray the stations with the Holy Father at 7:30, though we had to stake out a place on the street more than two hours in advance.
The teens have been having a lot of fun meeting others from all over the world. One the things everyone does is trade - hats, pins, flags - everything! Our US flag bandanas have been a popular trade, but by far the thing everyone wants is our "Team Jesus" t-shirts. We even met a spaniard in the street who told us, "My name is Jesus - you are my group!"
This week has truly been wonderful, and we've all experienced the Church in a new way. The Church truly is universal - all nations adore Him! The Church is ever young and continually being renewed by the Holy Spirit. As we've been riding the metro and walking the streets, seeing and hearing groups sing songs about the Lord from their own place, I've thought, what a gift it is that this city is full of such song and dynamism! Would that every city be so joyful in the Lord!
Today we'll celebrate Mass on our own, then make our way to the airfield where we'll spend the night and celebrate Mass with the Holy Father tomorrow. Please pray for us, as it is expected to be 98 degrees today and 102 tomorrow. We'll just have to find some shade and stay in it!
Monday, August 15, 2011
Cordoba, Spain
Hello all, my name is Caroline and I am one of the pilgrims here in Spain. Because I brought my laptop I will be uploading pictures to the blog! Hope you enjoy :)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
These feet were made for walking!
Today we said good-bye to Sevilla, boarded the bus and headed to Cordoba, about a 2+ hour ride. We were all pleasantly surprised by Cordoba´s beauty. We continued our history lesson of Christianity spreading through Spain and saw a former mosque, La Mezquita, transformed in 1236 to a Catholic Cathedral. The Cathedral was closed when we arrived due to many French pilgrims holding a private Mass with their Bishop. We were not disappointed though, we had an amazing tour guide and a great group of pilgrims that convinced the guard that since we were wearing our ¨Team Jesus¨ t-shirts we wanted to go in the Cathedral to pray and would leave quickly. Bayleigh led the charge and we all followed suit quietly admiring the thousands of columns and beautiful architecture. We said our prayers at the altar of St. Michael the Archangel and continued on...
We then toured the streets of the Jewish district which was filled with narrow passages and beautiful flowered pots hanging from the walls. Grabbed an ice cream cone and got back on the bus to Granada!
In Granada we met our tour guide and headed to Alhambra, the red fortress that maintained muslim control of the region until King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella came to power. We walked and walked through the multiple palaces, servants quarters and gardens of this massive fortress. Meet some Lebanese pilgrims who were overjoyed to meet us! Then we walked through the center of the city back to our hotel. We celebrated Mass at our hotel tonight and are enjoying relaxing our feet after walking two cities! We are off to Toledo tomorrow and then to Madrid in the evening!! The excitement for World Youth day is building.
We then toured the streets of the Jewish district which was filled with narrow passages and beautiful flowered pots hanging from the walls. Grabbed an ice cream cone and got back on the bus to Granada!
In Granada we met our tour guide and headed to Alhambra, the red fortress that maintained muslim control of the region until King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella came to power. We walked and walked through the multiple palaces, servants quarters and gardens of this massive fortress. Meet some Lebanese pilgrims who were overjoyed to meet us! Then we walked through the center of the city back to our hotel. We celebrated Mass at our hotel tonight and are enjoying relaxing our feet after walking two cities! We are off to Toledo tomorrow and then to Madrid in the evening!! The excitement for World Youth day is building.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Sevilla!
This morning we were sad to say goodbye to Fatima, but excited to continue on our adventure into Spain. We spent half the day driving through southern Portugal to get to Sevilla--what a beautiful drive filled with sheep, cows, olive trees and beautiful low mountains.
We arrived in Sevilla late in the afternoon and raced to see the Cathedral of St. Mary where the feast of the Assumption (August 15th) is a major celebration with a full procession through the streets of Our Lady where she wears a crown that weighs 5 lbs of gold and 11,000 precious stones! It was very impressive! The Cathedral was formally a mosque that was converted to a Catholic Cathedral under Ferdinand III who is buried in the Cathedral along with Christopher Columbus and Columbus's son, Antonio.
After visiting the Cathedral we toured the former Jewish quarters filled with quaint streets--TINY streets--filled with shops and beautiful flowers in window boxes. It was a packed afternoon and we are heading to bed soon.
Here we are in the courtyard of the Royal Palace which overlooks the Catherdal!
And, one of us admiring the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima!
We arrived in Sevilla late in the afternoon and raced to see the Cathedral of St. Mary where the feast of the Assumption (August 15th) is a major celebration with a full procession through the streets of Our Lady where she wears a crown that weighs 5 lbs of gold and 11,000 precious stones! It was very impressive! The Cathedral was formally a mosque that was converted to a Catholic Cathedral under Ferdinand III who is buried in the Cathedral along with Christopher Columbus and Columbus's son, Antonio.
After visiting the Cathedral we toured the former Jewish quarters filled with quaint streets--TINY streets--filled with shops and beautiful flowers in window boxes. It was a packed afternoon and we are heading to bed soon.
Here we are in the courtyard of the Royal Palace which overlooks the Catherdal!
And, one of us admiring the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima!
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