POLAND... A life-changing weekend in the footsteps of JPII

"Be Not Afraid" John Paul II's most infamous words.  After walking in his footsteps the pass several days, these words take on a new meaning in my life.  Our bus ride to Poland on Thursday night we watched Karol.  This is a movie portraying JP II's life before he was elected Pope.  It was an amazing movie and I highly recommend it.  This really started off the weekend with a bang.  We were taken back in time to see all that Poland has gone through since the initial invasion of the Nazis in World War II.  This was a great prep for the coming days but nothing really can prepare one's self for what laid ahead.
     At approximately 5:45 am friday morning our bus pulled into Czestochowa.  Some of us sprinted off the bus up to the church to watch the unveiling of the Black Madonna which happens every morning at 6 am.  The ceremony was gorgeous and I am glad that I ran up to see it.  We then head back to the busses to have breakfast.  After breakfast, one of the sisters gave the group a brief history of Czestochowa and the significance of the Black Madonna in Polish history.  At the shrine, pilgrims can make their way around the icon on their knees bringing their intentions to Madonna.  This was a very powerful experience and a blessing to follow so many other faithful people, who have been doing this for years, and I mean years the marble floor was worn away in spots.  It was truly amazing.  We also had Mass while we were there.  The Mass was absolutely perfect, the readings where just what I needed to here plus it was the feast of the stigmata of St. Francis!
      From Czestochowa, we headed to the toughest part of our journey in Poland, the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps.  No one can ever prepare to step foot on the ground where so many innocent souls lost their lives for no reason except for evil.  I have been reading and studying for most of my life about what happened in these camps and I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what happened there.  But being there really showed me how I don't have a good understanding and never will understand.  No matter how bad moments in my life have been nothing comes close to the hell on earth Auschwitz was.  Though at the same time when I felt so much despair for the fact that humans where able to do this to other humans, there was this sense of hope.  It was a sort of comfort to realize how many holy men and women had suffered in these camps and then on top of it to be able to see the cell where St. Maximilian Kolbe gave up his  life.  It gave me hope that I can get through what ever difficulties many come my way.  Right before we left the Birkenau camp, all the student on the trip gather around the end of the train tracks and prayed a Divine Mercy Chaplet, as we prayed our dreary day turned nice as the sun made its way out from behind the clouds.  It was beautiful!
      From Auschwitz, we headed from Krakow to our hotel.  That night I walked around the main square in Krakow and had some amazing hot chocolate.  It was basically like they took a bar of chocolate and melted it right in my cup.  They even had to give me a cup of water to drink with it because it was so thick!
      The next morning we had a walking tour of Krakow and then some free time within the city, where we needed to purchase lunch for ourselves.  The group I hung out with went and got pierogies.  I got potato and cottage cheese ones.  They were ok but we went back later for dinner and I got meat ones and they were much better.  In the afternoon we took a trip to the Divine Mercy Shrine.  It was beautiful! We arrive for the hour of mercy and were able to get to the chapel to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.  After the Chaplet we were lucky enough to have one of the sisters give us a talk about Divine Mercy and St. Faustina.  From the talk we hurried over to the Basilica to go to confession, if we wanted, and also to have Mass.  After Mass, we had a little time to explore and then it was time to get back on the bus to Krakow.  We then hung out in Krakow for the night.  That night included more hot chocolate this time, gingerbread hot chocolate which was basically Christmas in a cup!
     Sunday morning, we went to a latin Mass in the Catherdral in Krakow.  From there we had the opportunity to hang out some more in Krakow and also if we chose to go to Nova Huta.  Nova Huta was a comunist city right outside of Krakow that was created to be the workers city.  There was no religion allowed in this town and for over 15 years there was no church.  The people of the city revolted and placed a wooden cross in the town, the soviets killed many people over this cross.  It was mind blowing to be there and to see what a simple cross means to people who don't live in freedom.  If you have time I highly recommend looking up the history of Nova Huta.  Then in the afternoon we head to Wadowice, where Pope John Paul II grew up.  We were able to go to his church where he was an altar server and also we were able to get some Pope Cake, it is a pastry that is flaky on the top and bottom and filled with a cream.  It was John Paul II favorite dessert as a kid.    From there we got back on the bus and head back to Gaming.  It was an Amazing and blessed weekend.  I am so happy that I was finally able to make it to Poland and I will alway remember my time spent there.

first full week of classes, hike to the waterfall, FOP, Masses said by two Bishops and a Cardinal, third European country visited and that is just one week!

Looking back on this past week, I still can't believe all that I have done.  The last time I posted we had just visited Vienna.  That seems like forever ago.  In the midst of this week, we had the local Bishop come and say Mass at the Kartause.  Also, this week, we experienced the "fun" of four day class weeks.  It is amazing how much we have to do in a class to make sure we get everything done.  I am really enjoying my classes especially my theology classes.  I have learned a lot already but I am starting to miss my sciences class, never thought I would ever say that...  I was able to make my first trip down to Urs, which was a lot of fun and I look forward to going back.  For those of you who don't know, Urs is the local bar in Gaming.  I also went for a hike to t mariezell he waterfall, I have pictures attached of our hike and there are more on my facebook.  It was absolutely gorgeous and worth the hour or so hike.  On friday, most people hiked to which is about a 6 to 7 hour hike.  I stayed back to get work done but I did take the bus to town and enjoyed the little town. We also had our first Festival of Praise and it was Eucharistic on friday night.  What a blessing it was to be back on prayer teams and also doing intercessory team for the first time. Saturday we got up early and onto the bus to Salzburg, Austria.  The city is beautiful.  I had a great time seeing the sites.  That night I went with some friends and Father Brad, who is one of our friars, to the Augistner, which is a famous brewery.  It was fun but I am not a fan of beer.  Then on sunday we went to the catherdral where the Cardinal said Mass.   This was our first taste of a truly culture Mass.  The Mass was said in German and there was an orchastra, and choir.  The music was beautiful!  We then headed to Munich, Germany.  In Munich, I was able to go to the church where Pope Benedict XVI was ordained Archbishop of Munich.  I also, went to some of the ruins of the Nazi Head quarters.  My friends and I ended our day in Munich by visiting the famous  Hofbrauhaus brewery.  I had a drunkle radlar.  Which is their drunkle beer mixed with lemonaide.  This tasted a lot better then just regular beer.  I also had some sort of meat, it seemed like pot roast or something along those line, and potatoes. After this it was time to go back to Salzburg.  This morning my friend, Rose, and I woke up at 5:15 to hike up near the Salzburg castle to watch the sunrise.  It was so gorgeous.  We left Salzburg later this morning and headed for Mondsee.  We had Mass in the church there. This church is famous for the wedding scene in the Sound of Music.  We hung out for the afternoon.  It is a cute little town, and has an amazing lake.  Overall, this first full week in Austria has been busy but really fun.  I am having a great time learning and living in the Austrian culture.  It is really interesting to learn about and experience  other European culture, since I have only been exposed to the Irish culture, which I still love and will never replace!  I am excited to see what the next week has in store.  We only have a two day weekend next weekend, so I am not sure if I will be traveling or staying back to hang out around the Gaming area.  Happy Labor day to all my fellow Americans!  Hope everyone is doing well.  Thanks for taking your time to read about all my adventures.  Until next time- Katie

Video of the Munich Glockenspiel

Video of the Waterfall

Salzburg, Austria

Mozart's House

Church where Pope Benedict was ordained Archbishop

The sun rising over Salzburg 

The Sunrises over Salzburg

 

The Church in Mondsee, where the Sound of Music was filmed

The Lake at Mondsee

Milka, Peach wine, and the Austrian Hills...can't get any better than this...or can it?

I have been in Austria for a whole week now and in some ways I feel like I have been here for ever and in other ways I feel like I just got here a second ago.  Although I was really sad to leave Ireland I am very glad I made the  decision to get on the plane. When we landed in Austria, it was so warm that I was ready to go back to Ireland to the cooler weather. Well, let me tell you it has cool off a lot in one week.  It has been a very busy week with classes starting up in full force and traveling around the area.  The second day we were here we went to the huge monestary in Melk and we also went to durstein where there is a castle that King Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned.  Then this past weekend we traveled to Vienna for a day and it was amazing.  The city is so clean and beautiful.  I know I will be going back at least one more time before I leave Austria!  While we were in Vienna we had Mass in this beautiful church and then had a walking tour of parts of Vienna.  Then we had lunch which was the famous wiener schnitzel and it was quite tasty.  Then after lunch and after changing my mind like a hundred times, I decided to go to the national treasury and boy am I glad I went.  I ended up in a group with one of my household sisters, Rose, and some other student as well as Fr. Brad, two of the sisters and a professor.  The national treasury is a collection of some of the Hofburg Family's treasures. The Hofburg's were the imperial family of the Austrian Empire as well as many other empires for centuries and therefore have an amazing collection of treasures, which include many holy relics due to the fact that they ruled over the Holy Roman Empire for some time.  Some of these relics included Veronica's shroud, the nail that was in Christ's right hand, and multiple pieces of the cross.  From here I have a busy schedule but I know that by giving my time to the Lord it will only be return a hundred fold.  I started my job today working for some of the sisters, and I am also involved in some different ministries including sacristans and FOP team.  Along with this SOL as a whole has been getting up and going to morning prayer and also saying evening prayer.  I have a holy hour on wednesday and I just know more great things are going to come from this semester.  Next weekend we head off to Salzburg and Munich, in a few weeks I will be going to the Passion Play and at the end of october I am going to Medj.  It has been such a blessed trip thus far and I can't wait to see how it all will play out.  Please pray for me and I will do the same for you.  Below are some pictures of the past week.  Please enjoy them! 

The Church in Melk

The Castle where King Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned (The view from the top was amazing)

A picture of Gaming (yeah this is the town I live in)

The Vienna Opera House

The nail that was in Christ's right hand

This is where I live

Family, Friends, and Ice cream could only equal IRELAND

 I left JFK on Monday August 9th, 2010 for the journey of a lifetime.  My first stop was Ireland, where I would have the oppurtunity to visit with both family and friends.  As I walked off the plane into dublin airport, I could not believe that the trip I had been planing for so long was finally happening.  I cruised my way through the airport, got my bags, headed for the luggage lockers, and walked out to find the bus I would be sitting on for a few more hours until I reached my destination.  I was very relieved to get off the bus in Derry and find my cousin and uncle waiting to take me to Donegal.  I spent the next four days or so up there visiting with my mom's side of the family and seeing some sites. I had the chance to go to a famine village and learn about how my ancestors were able to survive the years of the potato famine as well as finding out a bit of how my mom grew up.  I was also taken to two different friaries in Donegal both of which were absolutely beautiful and so very peaceful.  Another day I went to the mamore gap, the clonmany waterfall, and Malin Head.  But my favorite part about my time in Donegal was just visiting with family.  It was great to meet all of my cousins' children and to finally get a real chance to meet them all.  On top of it all I just loved looking out the windows at the beauty that is Donegal and the smell of turf fires in the air definitely adds to the setting. The few days I was there flew bye and before I knew it I was in Trim, County Meath, visiting my dad's sister and her family.  Again, I got to play with kids but this time there was only two that had to compete for my attention instead of actually I don't even know how many...  I was having a great time visiting but on the second full day I was there my uncle had an accident a work and ended up in the hospital with a fractured vertbrea.  While my family felt bad that they couldn't take me around site seeing I was very thankful that I could be there during this difficult time to help watch the little ones, so that they could figure out what was going on.  My stay in Trim quickly came to an end as we picked up my friends, Maddie and Marc, from the airport.  We stayed at my aunt and uncle's house one more night before we took off traveling, our first stop was to tour Trim castle.  Then that afternoon, with our backpacks strapped to our back we took off on a bus for Galway.  The first night there we walked around, ate at a pub and randomly ran into some Franciscan students on the road.  They invited us out for the night to meet up with other students and so we joined them that night.  The next day we took a tour bus out to the burren and the Cliffs of Moher and while this was my second  time visiting these places it was cool to see my friends enjoy their new surroundings.  It seemed as though we had just gotten to Galway when it was time to get on the bus again and head to Knock.  Again, I had been here before, but it doesn't matter how many times you go it is still an amazing experience.  Knock was so peacefully and we lucked out with a beautiful day, which also happened to be the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Knock.  We were able to go to Mass and say a rosary and get some lunch and Holy Water all before we climbed back onto yet another bus.  This trip was another long one as we approached our last destination in Ireland, Dublin.  On this bus trip I was able to have a glimpse of my father's home town, Roscommon.  This was really neat because I had not had the oppurtunity to get there on my trip and it was an unexpected surprise! When we arrive in Dublin, we meet up with my cousin and her boyfriend that evening and again on sunday after a long morning of trying to find a Catholic Church in Dublin, which we did end up finding and the church was gorgeous.  On sunday we went to the book of Kells and also went to a pub were we ate lunch and then watch the semi-final of the all- Ireland gaelic football match in which Cork beat Dublin.  Then we took a ride to the airport to pick up our bags so we would have them for our early morning flight the next day to Austria.  Looking back I still can't believe how fast those two weeks went.  I had such a great time and I want to say THANK YOU yet again to everyone especially my family that made the trip so memorable and enjoyable for me!  I can't wait to go back again hopefully sometime soon! I will hopefully be posting about my time thus far in Austria sometime soon.  I hope you enjoyed my quick glimpse into my two weeks in Ireland and enjoy the slide shows I have put together of Ireland.   Let me know what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OmebewerPA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP3XrSckANM