Medjugorje

This weekend, I traveled to Medjugorje in Bosnia. We left on Thursday evening at 6pm and rode on a bus for 14 hrs, getting to Medjugorje at 8am Friday morning.

For those that don't know, Mary the Mother of God has been appearing to 6 people in Medjugorje for over 25 years. The first time was on June 24, 1981. She has been giving messages to them ever since and it has become a place of pilgrimage for millions. Of course, the Church can make no official saying on the apparitions since they are still going on. Once they end, the Church can investigate their credibility. However, Pope John Paul II said, "If I weren't pope, I would be in Medjugorje already!" and "Medjugorje is a great center of spirituality."

I couldn't agree with him more.

I wasn't sure what I wanted out of this weekend. Friday morning around 6, I woke up and watched the sunrise as we approached Medjugorje. I started to reflect on why I was even going on this pilgrimage. What reasons did I have for believing that Our Lady was appearing to Bosnian kids (who are now adults) and that people see the sun spin? If anything, I most likely would not even be one of the people who get to see the sun spin.

When we arrived at our hotel, I could immediately feel something different. Medjugorje is by far the most reverent, holy place that I have ever been in. The silence was beautiful, and though there were many people and busy shops, I haven't met nicer people in Europe. Everyone was a stranger but all were respectful, not just of each other but of the city itself. It's almost indescribable. It felt like everyone was in a constant state of prayer, and most people were. Most of us students have talked about it and we all felt as if we were walking around in a sort of stupor where we were just overcome by the holiness of this place.

On Friday, we drove to Croatia and heard Fr. Jozo Zovko speak on Medjugorje. He was the priest of the main parish in Medjugorje when the apparitions began. This was still during communist rule, so they imprisoned Fr. Jozo and tortured him until he said that the children were lying and that the apparitions weren't true. However, he had never found anything wrong and in fact believed them himself, so he suffered torture every day for 18 months. Psychiatrists and doctors were brought in to test the kids, and they were told to say that the kids were insane or lying. Not one of the doctors ever found anything wrong. Fr. Jozo gave a great talk about the conversions of our hearts and those of the world, calling us to be open to Our Lady's message in our own lives and to witness to family and friends. After his talk, we drove back to Medjugorje and saw a statue of the Risen Christ, shown above. The amazing thing about it is that human tears miraculously run from the knee. This I can actually attest to because I saw it and felt it. I rubbed my hand in it. It was amazing to just see it come out of nowhere.

The next morning, we hiked up Appartion Hill, the hill where Mary appears to them. We prayed a rosary on the way up, offering it for the conversions of our families, and when we got to the apparition site, I looked up at a crucifix with the sun shining behind it and thought about how awesome it would be to see the sun spin. I didn't see it spin of course, and after spending time in prayer we all went back down the mountain for Mass, which was also offered for the conversions of our families. When Mass ended, we ate lunch and met the buses again to go to a castle. It was built by a couple who had a MAJOR conversion because of Our Lady's messages in Medjugorje, and they have a beautiful chapel and statue of Mary holding Jesus after they took him down from the cross. The guy told us his conversion story and afterwards we hiked up Cross Mountain. This is a mountain about three times higher than Apparition Hill with the Stations of the Cross going up. At the top there is a 20 ft. white cross made out of cement that the villagers built. Inside is a piece of the actual cross of Jesus!

When we got to the top, we spent some time in prayer. I was getting ready to go back down the mountain with my sisters, but I wanted to take one last picture. It had turned overcast and windy on our way up, but the sun had just come out again. As I looked up to get a picture of the cross with the sun behind it, I just started staring at the sun. I could just look at it. I tried to call my sisters and ask if they could stare at the sun too, but they were far away. I just kept looking and ran up the rocks closer to the cross again. Finally the clouds covered it again and I never got my picture, but I almost started laughing at the power, awesomeness, and humor of God. I saw the sun spin in Medjugorje, but not until I had already been overcome with everything else I had learned. I had a great spiritual conversion and have grown so much closer to Christ that seeing the sun spin actually did not matter that much. That's why I wanted to laugh. I realized that Medjugorje is not about the miracles, but rather our own individual conversion towards a greater love for Christ.



I GIVE YOU THE WEAPON AGAINST YOUR GOLIATH. HERE ARE YOUR LITTLE STONES:

1. Pray the Rosary
2. Eucharist
3. Holy Bible
4. Fasting
5. Monthly confession

Accomplishments

My current accomplishments in the last 3 1/2 weeks:

- Made it to Austria!
- Hiked to a ruined castle in the Danube River Valley
- Bought a cell phone and actually got money on it
- Read 3 chapters of The Selfhood of the Human Person, and actually understood it
- Made music ministry
- Have gone to Mass almost every day
- Got an A on my first German test
- Successfully received money from my account
- Hiked two mountains (and didn't die)
- Said "My name is Emma" in German, to an Austrian named Herrman
Herrman: " **something indistinguishable in German** "
Me: "My name is Emma."
Herrman: "Herrman."
Me: "No, Emma."
Herrman: "Ja, Herrman!"
Me: "Emma!"
- Got lost in Vienna and still made it back to the buses in time
- Maneuvered Salzburg and Munich much more successfully than Vienna
- Played guitar with Fr. Brad
- Slipped down the hill behind the Kartause and cut my leg
- Ran on railroad tracks
- Figured out Skype
- Correctly translated Prof. Cassidy's Scottish accent into normal english
- Learned 5 new guitar songs in the last week
- Drew a picture of the Kartause for Art Appreciation
- Read an encyclical on Christian marriage
- GOT MISTAKEN FOR EUROPEANS IN SALZBURG

I'm leaving for Medjugorje in 27 minutes!

Salzburg & Munich

Last weekend, we traveled to Salzburg, Austria, and Munich, Germany. We left Friday morning at 8:00am and arrived at our hostel in Salzburg around 11. We took a tour of the city for a couple hours and then ate lunch at the Sternbrau, a cute restaurant that had indoor and outdoor seating. After lunch, we had free time for the rest of the night, so we just walked around the city, looked in the little shops and ate ice cream :). Around 6 or so, we started to make our way to the Augustiner for dinner, "the happenin' place" according to Fr. Brad. It was outside of the actual city, so we took pictures on our way with Salzburg as the background (shown here).

The Augustiner used to be an old monastery (started by St. Augustine I'm assuming), and apparently they brewed beer. Therefore, the Augustiner is still known for it's beer, and there's a whole traditional process that you go through to get it. You have to get a ticket after you choose either .5L or 1L, get your mug, go to the fountain and wash it out, then take it to a guy who checks your ticket and fills it with awesome tasting beer! The best part is that this place is huge, and there are food windows everywhere. You can get almost anything you want, from burgers and pizza, to fish and ribs. The seating is outside, but it is still within the monastery. It's more of a courtyard I guess. We were there for a couple hours, then we headed towards this castle that sits above Salzburg.

We were told that you could hike up there to the castle, so that's what we tried to do...Unfortunately, we got up there but the doors to get closer up to the castle were closed. Instead we just looked out over all of Salzburg at night, enjoying the scenery, quietness, and beauty. Some churches and buildings were lit up from lights on the ground and it was absolutely amazing. The weather was perfect too, and it was a great ending to a great day! We got back to the hostel after stopping by some fountains and cafes, and hung out a little bit, prayed together, then went to sleep.

The next morning, Saturday, the buses left at 9 for Munich, Germany. Munich is definitely bigger than Salzburg, but still great. We had Mass in the cathedral that Pope Benedict XVI used to hold Mass at when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. It's not considered one of the most beautiful cathedrals though because it was apparently destroyed in World War II. However, I still thought it was pretty, there just weren't as many pieces of artwork and decorations. For lunch, we went to the Hofbrauhaus, Munich's equivalent of the Augustiner. This place was known also for it's beer, but unfortunately you couldn't get anything but 1L size, unless you wanted a weiss bier. To solve my problem, I just got the 1L Hofbrau Original anyways and didn't drink it all :). I figured if it was going to my only time in Munich at the Hofbrauhaus which is known for beer, I should get their original. For food we had brotwurst and pretzels mmmmm. Afterwards, we got more ice cream and had hot chocolate at a small coffee shop. My friend Chris and I were on the hunt for aviator sunglasses all day and never found any until evening right before dinner. We both bought a pair, then went to McDonald's for dinner haha. Everyone was craving cheeseburgers, and apparently so was the rest of our school. Inside, we found at least 20 other Franciscan students, and even Fr. Brad! We ate with him then got back on the buses to return to Salzburg.

When we got back to our hostel, it was only about 8:00pm, so we left again and went to a little stand and bought more brotwurst and water. The next morning, we had Mass with the Bishop. Apparently, it was a really big deal because it seemed that the whole city was going to this Mass. They had an actual orchestra playing the music and everything was in German (obviously). Some people didn't even seem to be there for the Mass, but rather for the music. We had a couple hours free time after Mass, so we got hot chocolate and coffee again before leaving.

Salzburg is by far the most beautiful city I've ever been in, and so far it is my favorite place in Austria. I'm really excited for parent's weekend when we get to go back!

Hiking in Gaming

Sunday afternoon, my friend Danny decided he wanted to go on a hike up one of the mountains in Gaming. I didn't really want to read for school and I had time to waste, so I went with him. We were hoping for a nice, quiet (preferably grassy) area at the top of the mountain where we could do our homework and hang out.

After packing our backpacks with water, food, and homework, we started hiking up the mountain directly behind the Kartause. It was absolutely beautiful, especially when we looked over all of Gaming.

As we started hiking, we were slightly confused by the German signs along the trail. We're pretty sure that they were telling us how many meters we had gone up the trail...or maybe it was how much left we had to go...

Either way, we just kept hiking, enjoyed the cool air under all the trees, and met an old German lady who was hiking back down with her dog and cane. Sadly, we never found our grassy area at the top, and we were forced to go back down the mountain on a trail that split into four different directions. It's a good thing there was another German sign telling us where all the trails went. There happened to be the word "Gaming" and an arrow that pointed in the general direction of one particular trail, so we took that one. Considering we had no idea what side of the mountain we were on, or in what general direction Gaming was, we just followed the trail knowing that it at least led us back down the mountain.

The trail led us (literally) straight into train tracks...and not ALL the way down the mountain. We were basically on the hill right above some anonymous buildings with no clear way to get down to the actual road. Once we finally did get down, we realized that we were on the OPPOSITE of the mountain from the Kartause, and within a few minutes realized we weren't even in Gaming. It was about a ten minute walk until we reached the outskirts and from there we were finally in familiar surroundings!

And the best part is that it was still light outside and we made it back in time for dinner :D.

Vienna

Firstly, here are some pictures from St. Polten, the monastery in Gottweig, and the Danube Valley.

This last weekend, our school traveled to Vienna. It was beautiful! We were blessed with a bright, sunny day, warm weather, and Mass to start the day. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the church we were in, but it Franciscan. Apparently, Franciscan churches are very common in Europe.

After Mass, we started our tour of Vienna, making our way to the restaurant where we ate lunch. They gave us a buffet in the downstairs room that was reserved just for our school. I ordered a Radler to go with my meal because the school pays for our first drink, and I remembered that was the beer Kristin ordered when the other Smits family went to Germany haha. It was pretty good and the meal was awesome! I filled my plate with random meats, pastas, breads, and desserts that I had no idea what they were. Yum :).

The tour continued after lunch, but my group decided we didn't want to go on it. Instead, we walked around Vienna by ourselves and mingled with the Austrians, trying to look the least American possible. We went into a few shops and just relaxed. After a few hours, we went to a small coffee shop called Aida - we were told Viennese coffee is one of the best. It was very good and very relaxing. Then we walked around St. Stephen's Cathedral and looked at the amazing art and sculptures inside.

We ran into a group of guys from Franciscan inside, and they told us they were going to "the summer house" and invited us along. We thought they were referring to a place which we quickly visited earlier, so we agreed to go along. It turns out they meant the summer house of the Hapsburgs, former rulers of Austria, which just so happened to be on the other side of Vienna. Fortunately for the group of guys, they were all wearing tennis shoes. Unfortunately for us, we were mostly girls and wearing sandals or flats. It took at least an hour and a half to get there and by then our feet were killing us. The guys barely even talked to us or waited for us to catch up...long story short, we ended up ditching them and just tried to find our way back to the buses. We got lost in the side streets of Vienna, spending the next hour and a half getting back. The upside? We probably saw most of Vienna that way haha and we had some really good conversations during the long period of time. The downside? Once we found the buses, the group of guys that we originally followed to the summer house was sitting there, relaxing and hanging out, as if they hadn't just walked across Vienna and back. We were only slightly bitter.

But in the end, the trip was amazing! My feet were swollen and I didn't squish my feet back into those shoes for two days, but I figure it's always a good experience getting lost in a country you've never been in and knowing only how to say "hello" and "thank you" in their language.