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I made it back to Ars, France (please see my other journal entry for my first visit), this time during the Jubilee Year (150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean Marie Vianney)! He will soon be declared by Pope Benedict to be patron saint of all priests, not just priests who are pastors. It may sound creepy but his heart will be brought to Rome sometime this year too.
My reason for returning to Ars was very specific. According to Church Law (Canon Law) a man to be ordained a deacon or priest must go on retreat for a total of five days sometime before his ordination. What better place I thought, to be in complete silence and prayer for five days than the countryside of France with the patron saint of priests on his 150th anniversary and during Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter Sunday, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus).
I wasn’t alone in silence though. A fellow deacon preparing for the priesthood made his retreat at the same time, Dishan from Melbourne, Australia. Two other Aussie seminarians , Frank from Melbourne and Gannon from Perth, came with us and stayed for Holy Week too but they weren’t on retreat.
It was a very blessed week of prayer and I thank all of you who prayed for me during this time. I received so many graces and a great peace in preparation for my future life of ministering in ‘persona Christi’ (in the Person of Christ).
We arrived early to get situated before starting our retreat and were able to participate in the Palm Sunday procession. It started from the point of encounter – the place where St. Jean Vianney on his way to Ars for the first time met a small shepherd boy and asked him for directions. He told the boy ‘since you’ve shown me the way to Ars, I’ll show you the way to heaven’.
Deacon (Dcn.) Dishan and I were on retreat from Monday of Holy week till Holy Saturday though we weren’t totally excluded from everything that took place. Dcn. Dishan has connections. He studies in Rome with a Deacon from Ars named Dcn. Philip who invited us to participate in the liturgies during the week (liturgy meaning public worship – i.e. Masses including, among others, the Chrism Mass with the Bishop of Ars and the priests of the diocese).
The French people can be funny and I want to recount a story that I hope illustrates this. I didn’t pack a lot of clothes for the trip, I don’t have much to begin with – look at all my pictures – I’m always wearing the same stuff. After a week I needed to wash clothes. In Rome we always wash our own and I thought that the seminary in Ars would at least have some machines I could use even if the seminarians didn’t wash their own clothing.
Come to find out…the French seminarians don’t wash their own clothing because as I was told by the very nice lady who administrates the seminary (here is the interesting part): the seminary has professional machines run by professional people. The machines cannot be used by anyone except the professionals. The doors are locked to everyone except the professionals.
That may sound harsh in written form but I found it humorous as she told me this. Little does she know that professional, French washing machines have little on the machines I use regularly in Rome.
The machines in Rome have cryptic symbols to be deciphered next to each button such as: a bunny rabbit, lightning bolt, racing flag and key. I am sure if she gave me one minute I could crack these professional, French machines…but it wouldn’t happen. She wouldn’t budge. I was not getting into that room.
So, she was kind enough to provide me with a small tub and some washing powder. I had my clothes hung up to dry all over my room.
After the wonderful time in Ars I split ways with the Aussies and traveled by myself to Barcelona, Spain. One of the three days in Barcelona was spent traveling to Montserrat, just outside of the city.
The name Montserrat means jagged mountain and I was pleasantly surprised of all that awaited me there besides the Benedictine Abbey in which St. Ignatius of Loyola was so moved, after a war injury and reading the lives of the saints, to throw his military sword aside giving his life to God.
I took a two-hour hike through the mountains and made my way to a little hermitage. The scenery, weather and little surprises I had along the way were breath taking. Most impressive were rock climbers on what seemed the most impossible faces.
While in Barcelona I made a mini tour of the very unique structures designed by the famous architect Antonio Gaudi, including the hugely famous Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) church. It is so large and intricate that it wasn’t completed during his life. In fact it is still under construction and not projected for completion until around 2028. They need every bit of the eleven euro per person entry price to contribute to its construction.
I also made my way to Guell park and Casa Batllo. I am not a fan of everything he did but I love how the buildings almost never have corners or straight lines. They seem to coincide with nature in this way with an additional positive outcome: structurally they are stronger than other designs and they are so with a lower cost.
Among the highlights of my trip to Barcelona was visiting one of the highest points in the city: Castell de Montjuic. It overlooks the sea and the city while being a castle…castles are always on my list of things to see.
This Easter break (two weeks off from classes) was great. I had a magnificent retreat and a pleasurable vacation. I would have liked to see more of Spain, particularly the places connected with St. Ignatius of Loyola, but maybe I’ll make it back some time in the future…even World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid.
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