Medjugorje

Border patrol

By far, one of my favorite trips I have taken while living here in Austria. Hopping on the bus, I left not really having any expectations or reasons for going (except for my mom’s sake really). Fourteen hours and three border stops later, my group and I had arrived in Medj! Immediately we were greeted by our host Nancy, who gave us each hugs and kisses as if we were her own
children. We then settled into the castle (that’s right—we lived in a castle during our stay), ate some amazing bread (they fast on Wednesdays and Fridays), then left quick to hear a visionary’s talk. After the talk, we gathered for our ascent of Apparition Hill. On the way up we prayed a rosary, mingling with the rosaries being prayed around us in Italian, Croatian, and more—incredibly beautiful.

The part of the castle where my dorm was located

The loft inside the castle

Afterwards, we had some down time to relax and reflect. It wasn’t much, because soon I was sitting in the back of a van with Nancy and a few of the other volunteers, as we headed off to international mass and adoration. The mass was outside, with it being said in the native language, and me having a tiny radio to listen to the English translation. The best was communion. We all got up and lined ourselves down the aisles; the priests celebrating the mass then came to us to give communion, taking the time to come to each person individually.

After mass and adoration, there was dinner at 9 pm (more bread!), then off to bed.

Day two was just as packed as the first. We got off to an early start, but first taking time to have an amazing feast of a breakfast (can you tell I really liked the food there?). We made our way to Mount Krizevac. Katherine’s mom, who was with us for the pilgrimage, assured us it would be easier than the climb we had done the day before—false; definitely not any easier. Though as we climbed the hill, praying the Stations of the Cross (which, by the way fun fact: the only other replica of these stations are back on campus at FUS)with a small number from our group (we got separated), I could not help but feel incredibly at peace. The top was the most rewarding, being that there was an enormous concrete cross there. The locals had constructed it years before the apparitions had even begun. As well, there is a piece of the true cross inside.

On the way down Regina and I helped an old Italian couple. They didn’t speak any English, so, seeing as how our Italian was limited to “bonjurno” and “gratis”, communication was limited (though at one point the elderly man I was leading began to lead me—too precious!). I could honestly keep on with all that had happened in Medjugorje, so maybe I’ll just make a short list for the rest; other high points of the pilgrimage included:

-Visiting the  Comunità Cenacolo (for more info, here is their website in the states: http://www.comunitacenacolo.org/ )

-The Miracle of the Jesus statue at Medj—the knee leaks tears (which we helped Amy to collect on her little cloths…all 20 of them)

-Outdoor adoration with the happy little local song at the end

-Confession with Father Kevin (at the hour when Mary appears to the visionaries even)…Had a good vocations talk with him and one of the best confessions ever as well

-Waking up at 4:30 am to climb apparition hill with Christina and Cecelia

John 16:33: “I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world."

Here it is! The moment you have all been waiting for--a tour of the Kartause! Or as we affectionately call it, our home.Let's start with the most important room in our house:

That's right, the bathroom folks. Fun fact, for the first month, one of our lights was burnt out, so it was super dark for awhile--I actually thought the walls were yellow. Got a new light, walked in the bathroom, and immediately "a whole new world" went through my head. Also, there is a lot of calcium in the water, so we have to scrub the shower every day...or at least we're supposed to.

Next we move to the bedroom. There are four of us that live in here,and right now it looks a little bit like a winter wonderland (since we recently cut out snow flakes and hung them from the ceiling with dental floss; we also stole the ficus from down the hall to use as a Christmas tree--just making use of our resources over here)

When you walk out into the hall, this is what you see. We live on third floor, in case you were wondering.

When you continue down the hall, you come upon this quaint little gathering place.

...then you continue on, and it leads to the stairs

look! stairs!

...that lead to second floor

After completing yet another set of stairs, you reach 1st floor; this is the way we take to get to all of our classes, as well is where all the guys live

Aaaand finally the last set of stairs! These lead you to ground floor.

Once you're outside, you come upon these huge doors. They lead to the courtyard (if you turn around), but this view is looking at where we just came from (ground floor)

Since I didn't take pictures of ground floor, we'll just move on to my next favorite place: the Mensa! Here is where all the wonders of wonders of food are served to us 4 days of the week.

"What's for dinner tonight? Pork? Oh really...maybe I'll make a sandwhich...."

The mensa

So this is a view of the courtyard once you leave the Mensa. The buildings in the middle aren't always there, it's just for the Christmas market being held here for the week.

...another view of the courtyard

The hallway leading to the audi-min, where we have Medieval History and our Nursing class

Same hallway, different direction. You could say that it leads to the audi-max, which is where we have Philosophy of the Human Person, and Ilsa has Christian Moral Principles.

When you go through the door in the picture above, you come to this hallway. It leads to the Kolbe room and 6ths track, which is where I have CMP and where the rest of the ladies are housed.

To be continued...