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. 

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!

Shrimp cocktail, chocolate mousse & Our Lady of Fatima!

We've arrived and are well on our way.  Our flights went quickly for those of us who slept.  We had an awesome dinner--shrimp cocktail, chicken and mashed potatoes and chocolate mousse for dessert!  After arriving in Lisbon we waited for our other group from California to join us.  The Lisbon airport is not large, but we met Bishop Holley and many OTHER pilgrims.  Our poor pilgrims from California's flight was delayed so we had to cut our tour of Lisbon very short, to just the airport.  But were not too disappointed when we arrived in Santarem where a Eucharistic Miracle took place in 1247!

Fr. Schultz celebrated Mass for us in this amazing Church in this small town.  We'll have to tell you the story of the Eucharistic Miracle at a later time.

Today, Friday, we have spent the whole day in Fatima and what a gift it has been!!  This morning we toured the "Sanctuary" where the two large Shrines for Our Lady.  Our Lady appeared in this area in 1917.  After visiting the Church we traveled to the birthplaces of Francisco & Jacinta and then to Lucia's birthplace.  We also saw where the Angel of Peace appeared to the children in 1916 and where Our Lady appeared to the children in August of 1917, after their release from prison.

We celebrated Mass today in the chapel of our hotel which is run by the Dominican sisters.  What a beautiful gift to have a chapel in our hotel!

Now, we are off to the Rosary procession down at the Shrine and can't wait to see what tomorrow has for us.  Off to the Rosary procession...and on to Sevilla tomorrow!

You are all in our prayers, we have them in our backpacks.

Road trip!

Road trips are always fun, even more so when you know where you are going because the excitement can build prior to departure!  Here is a map of our journey.  We are looking forward to getting a pretty impressive tour of Portugal and Spain.  First stop--Lisbon!

Parish send-off for our pilgrims going to World Youth Day

All the pilgrims and their families attended the 9 AM Mass today, then we met to share a meal and go over some logistics. These are just a few of those teens who are going. I forgot to take a group photo - I guess I'll do that before we get on the plane!

Pray for us! I'm sure we'll all scrambling in the excitement to get everything together, but at least now we have our patriotic hats and bandanas!

I went to confession with Fr. Aitcheson yesterday. For my penance, he told me to make a pilgrimage to World Youth Day. I guess that means no whining or complaining for me - I have to do my penance well!

And here are some of our other happy, holy pilgrims:

A prayer for our pilgrims and those we will meet along the way

This prayer to the Archangel Raphael is quite fitting for us on our journey to Madrid!

O Raphael, lead us towards those we are waiting for, those who are waiting for us! Raphael, Angel of Happy Meetings, lead us by the hand towards those we are looking for! May all our movements, all their movements, be guided by your Light and transfigured by your Joy.

Angel Guide of Tobias, lay the request we now address to you at the feet of Him on whose unveiled Face you are privileged to gaze. Lonely and tired, crushed by the separations and sorrows of earth, we feel the need of calling to you and of pleading for the protection of your wings, so that we may not be as strangers in the Province of Joy, all ignorant of the concerns of our country.

Remember the weak, you who are strong--you whose home lies beyond the region of thunder, in a land that is always peaceful, always serene, and bright with the resplendent glory of God.

Amen.

10 days!!

This weekend we began collecting prayer petitions from our parish.  We placed a box outside the vestibule of the Church with slips of paper for those who wanted to add their own intentions to our prayer list.  We'll be carrying these petitions each day of our pilgrimage.  We'll take them to Our Lady of Fatima, carry them close when we visit the burial place of St. John of the Cross and visit the convents St. Teresa of Avila reformed.  They will be remembered in our prayers daily at Mass and during the Rosary.

There will be a send-off Mass for our pilgrims and families this Sunday at the 9:00 AM Mass.  Please join us in praying for safe travels.  All WYD pilgrims and their families will gather in the McGivney Room following the Mass for a pot-luck breakfast and some last minute goodies!