Home again, home again, jiggity jog...

Wow, what a week!  So much for a nice, quiet, summer!  It's been a fun one, though.  Last week, I had the privilege of chaperoning for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest Girl's Youth Camp in Wisconsin.  It was wonderful - and exhausting.
I went into this experience entirely unsure of what to expect.  Also, I might add, everything my siblings told me to expect was wrong.  I was told (by my siblings) that chaperones got to sleep in the house.  Not true.  I was also told that the mothers and legal-age chaperones got wine after hours.  Also not true.  Actually, the disappointment of the truth in these matters was greatly lessoned by the fact that the chaperones were allowed to use the indoor bathrooms, unlike the poor campers who had to use porta-pottys.  Ah, the simple things in life!
As I said, it was a wonderful week.  Things were a little different this year, or so I understand.  The group of 90 girls was divided into 8 teams, and each team had its own chaperone.  I got the green team, which was pretty much an awesome group of girls.  My biggest regret is that I wasn't able to get to know them all better, as we were very busy with things like olympics and silly olympics and talks, and drying out our tents.
Yes, we got rained on Monday night and Tuesday morning.  Actually, it was more like poured on.  I don't think there was a single dry tent in the place.  I was lucky - only my blankets got wet.  Many girls had there bags soaked, as well as sleeping bags and pillows.  I didn't hear any complaints, though - other than those tempered with laughter.  A couple of wonderful volunteers spend the day Tuesday drying everyone's things out, enabling dry beds by Tuesday night.
Activities of the week included Olympics, with competitions like a soccer relay and tug of war (green won the tug of war!) Silly Olympics, with a sack race,  horseback riding, and a cooking contest.  I did get to help with the cooking contest, and had a blast.  Iron Chef, here I come!  My team, as I said before, was awesome.  We didn't win the cooking contest, but everyone made a good effort.  Next time we'll get it!
The best part of the week was the talks.  Everyday we had Mass in the morning, with a homily, and there was a formation talk after breakfast.  We were constantly reminded of the dignity and importance of women, and how much we can teach the world.  We are all called to be mothers, sometimes spiritually, sometimes physically.
One of the talks was on Our Lady of Guadeloupe.  There is so much symbolism in the image that I never knew about!  For example, did you know that the color of her veil was a color reserved for the Emperor, under pain of death?  Or that the angel below her was one of the Aztec gods?  I would go over all of it, but I think it may be better kept for another blog post :)
One of the greatest gifts of the week, I hope received by all, was the gift of good, true, friendships.  I made new friends, got to see some "old" friends (who I met last month at the Sursum Corda camp,) and was blessed to be able to reconnect with a very old friend, whom I had not seen in about six years.  I made some young friends, and some older friends, and the best part is knowing that these are people who will pray for me, (and who I will pray for,) and who I will hopefully meet again - if not here, than in heaven.
This is a prayer that one of my fellow chaperones shared:

Morning Prayer

Grant, O Lord, that none may love Thee less this day because of me;

That never one word or act of mine may turn one soul from Thee;

And ever daring yet one more grace would I implore: 

That many souls this day, because of me, may love Thee more. Amen

Sursum Corda young Adults Camp - Part Two

Holy Hill.

The second part of our journey was a trip to The Shrine of Our Lady, Help of Christians on Holy Hill, about a half-hour north east of Milwaukee.  I have wanted to return to Holy Hill since my last visit, about nine years ago.  I was with a church group, and didn’t have half the time I would have liked, then.  This trip we STILL didn’t have enough time, but I think we got to see much more than before.  

  If you ever get the chance to visit Holy Hill, jump at it.  It is gorgeous.  There is so much natural beauty in the area, and the craftsmanship throughout the Shrine is so beautiful, I cannot describe it.  It lifts the mind to God and to Heaven.  We cannot imagine the splendors of heaven in our ordinary surroundings.  In these extraordinary surroundings, we see enough of a glimmer of that splendor to realize just how amazing it must be.  I could do a full post on each section of the shrine, but there are other things I want to get to, as far as the weekend goes.  Perhaps another time.  For now, here are the highlights.

 I love the statues in the St. Therese chapel.  They are done in white, with gold trim, and the detail is magnificent on each.  Note the mirroring pieces of marble on the high alter, with the (I think) inlayed mosaic flowers.  There were so many mosaics EVERYWHERE we went!  It was so neat to see the detail in them!

  After the St. Therese chapel, we climbed the 170-some stairs to the tower.  Talk about a long way up!  The view was definitely worth it, but I admit I was shaking by the time we got back down again.  Who needs roller coasters with a thrill like that?

    Our next stop was the main church.  What little breath I had left after our climb was taken away by the beauty of it.  The mosaic above the high alter is unbelievable, and strips of marble radiate from it like heavenly rays.

  This technique is mirrored in the side chapel, where Our Lady, Help of Christians is being crowned.  It is in this chapel that I light my candles.  

  

We were only able to see one of the Stations of the Cross, due to our limited time.  I hope I will be able to go back someday soon to make the full half-mile journey.  

  Our last stop was the Lourdes Grotto.  Of the three grottos we saw, this was the largest.  Holy water runs down the face of the rock and into a pool, and there are spigots on each side to fill holy water bottles.  

  This is just a small part of Holy Hill (we took over 200 pictures!)  Everyone says to come back in the fall, when the leaves are changing.  I recommend allowing far more than two or three hours to really enjoy it - and be sure to bring your camera!   

Sursum Corda Young Adults Camp - Part One

Yes, I survived the weekend - even the driving.  It was glorious.  We even had perfect weather.
Between my sister and I, we took LOTS of pictures - 1161, to be exact.  Of course, not all of them turned out, but I'm sure I can find a few to post ;).

Our journey started with a trip to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, just outside of Green Bay, WI.  It is the site of a Marian apparition in 1859, which has been recently approved by the Church - the only approved site in the United States.

Mary asked Adele to teach the children "their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments." Adele started a school and a chapel. 

  The candles were in the crypt below the chapel, built on the site of the apparitions.

There was also this beautiful pieta statue.  If you look closely, you can see crutches in the background, from those who have had favors granted.











As promised, I lit a candle for my family, friends, and readers.

We happened to be visiting on the feast day of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, making these statues in the main chapel even more meaningful...and a bit of a surprise!

The main alter has a beautiful statue of Mary and the Child Jesus.  On one side of the chapel there is a display with a statue given to Sr. Adele for processions (and still used today!) and two reliquaries.  One (center) contains wood from the trees Mary appeared on, and the other (right) a piece of the Blessed Virgin's veil.

Outside, they have a field with the Stations of the Cross in the center, and the mysteries of the rosary around the outside.  I really liked the way they did the rosary.  There were five banners, and on one side would be the first mysteries (for example,) and the other side had the fifth, so it didn't matter which side you started on.  Between the mysteries there were a couple of shrines and benches to stop and pray, such as this small grotto.

Another beautiful little spot was this Fatima shrine.  The statues are just gorgeous!

So concludes the first stop on our journey.  We had to drive a few hours south to our hotel, and we did a little shopping for some lavender lotion.  The mosquitos were very healthy - and hungry - in Wisconsin!  I also bought some awesome sandals :)