A Birthday Trip to Remember

Now that the craziness of the weekend and Monday have passed, and I managed to get more than three consecutive hours of sleep last night, I was able to wake early enough to get this post started!

Saturday (April 2) Eli left with members of his old bowling league for state bowling. Although he hasn't been able to bowl since he began work at the ethanol plant, he is still sanctioned and was the obvious choice for a fill-in when someone else couldn't make it. He conveniently had the weekend off. I spent the day cleaning and baking (birthday cake, of course), reading stories to boys and packing up for our trip the next day.

Sunday (April 3) Aidan's 9th Birthday!

I woke at 4:45 am and started getting boys ready to go. We were heading to 9:00 am Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, Minnesota...a good two hour drive away. Afterward we planned to head to LaCrosse, Wisconsin to visit a shrine where the relics of the Passion of Christ were on display. My parents came with us, and met us at our house where Dad so kindly offered to drive the Suburban for me. Liam gets car sick on long trips, so someone who can man a bucket needs to be sitting in close proximity to the poor guy. Aidan and Gavin love going to "Far Away Church", and Gavin gets extremely excited as we near the Seminary and enter "The Forest of Cliffs". It never gets old for them.

Ian has been protesting sitting still and quiet at Mass for the last several months, so I spent most of my time in the back or in the basement of the chapel with him. Thankfully the big boys are comparatively well behaved, and had my parents to sit with! After Mass I mentioned to a friend that I had forgotten to pack my stroller for the long day ahead. She generously offered to loan us a stroller (thank you! I wouldn't have made it without!!!), which we picked up after Mass. We then met some other dear friends at Perkins for brunch? or lunch? before heading to the Shrine.

Ian immensely enjoyed his mammoth muffin. Aidan, the kind big birthday brother, shared some of the whipped cream from his "beary" pancakes for Ian's muffin. Aidan received a special treat from a friend at Perkins, a cookie sundae. He is still talking about that sundae.

The drive to LaCrosse was scenic, and we "flat-landers" all marveled at the "mountains", bluffs, and waterways that we passed. The boys love crossing the Mississippi River, and I got to test Aidan on the history we've been working on this year. He was able to tell us that the French missionary, Father Marquette, discovered the Mississippi River in an attempt to find a route to the Pacific Ocean, and named it the River of the Immaculate Conception. However, the Indians already called it the "Father of Waters", or the Algonquin "Misi-ziibi", which the French mispronounced "Messipi". Funny how many of our names are born of mistakes!

Lake Winona

The bluffs overlooking Winona

A barge on the Mississippi

Crossing the Mississippi

We finally entered the gates of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The first thing that greeted us was a view of the Mother of Good Counsel Votive Chapel, positioned at the base of a wooded hill.

Dad, Gavin, Mom, and Liam walking past the Votive Chapel.

Though overcast part of the time, it was a warm day, and we were all happy to stretch our legs. The boys posed in front of a statue of St. Juan Diego with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on his tilma, before heading into the Pilgrim Center. If you are unfamiliar with the miraculous events of Guadalupe, click here for the story.

A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe faces the Pilgrim Center.

"What if I fell over this rail, Grandma?"

"Well...it wouldn't be good!"

The entrance to the Pilgrim Center. Inside and to the right was Culine Mariana Cafe, to the left was Flores Mariae Gift Shop.

Inside the Pilgrim Center I first noticed the gorgeous chandeliers overhead. They gave the feeling of being in an old monastic setting. The gift shop had the same fixtures on a smaller scale, and some very beautiful displays.

On the left, a reproduction of the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which miraculously appeared on the tilma of St. Juan Diego, on the right.

An Easter tree, and a display of items related to the Passion.

We were then summoned from the gift shop to view the relics of the Passion in another room beside the gift shop. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a relic usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint (one who has been declared by the Catholic Church to have led a holy life and entered heaven upon death), and the instruments of Christ's Passion. These are 1st Class Relics. A 2nd Class Relic consists of something that was owned by a saint, or the instruments of torture that were used against a martyr. A 3rd Class Relic is anything that has been touched to a 1st or 2nd Class Relic. The purpose of relics is to venerate the person who gained sanctity by the grace of God, and in doing so we honor the good God works in poor souls. They also inspire us to be better people.

There were nine rare and holy relics on display, which can normally only be seen in collections in Rome and the Holy Land. The Apostolate for Holy Relics is touring the Unites States because this year was declared the Great Jubilee Year of Mercy by the Pope. God's Mercy is, of course, for all years, but in the Novus Ordo that particular Sunday was also "Divine Mercy Sunday" (Low Sunday traditionally). There were quite a few people there, I believe because of both this and the Relic display.

1. The first relic we were shown was a piece of stone from the table or room where the Last Supper was held. We were allowed to kiss the relic and to touch our sacramentals to the relic. Since Catholic wedding rings are sacramentals (blessed by a priest) I touched my ring to each relic, making it a 3rd class relic of the Passion. Though my scapular was falling apart (to my shame), I remembered to touch it to a couple relics as well. All the adults and children in our party did likewise, some with rosaries, medals, and holy cards. The relics were also touched to the babies. The children were very calm through the procession to view the relics. They seemed to get the solemnity of the moment. We were not allowed to take pictures of a relic as it was being venerated by a particular person.

2. This relic is a piece of the Column of Flagellation: the pillar that Christ was tied to as He was being beaten. To think Christ touched some of these items brings tears to my eyes, and I think made all of us feel much closer to Him.

3. This was a sliver from the actual Crown of Thorns. All the relics were fairly small, and the line needed to keep moving, so it was very difficult to get clear pictures. But on looking closely at the sliver, you could still see it had color. Many relics that consist of materials that should have long ago decomposed are often miraculously still intact.

4. This is an effigy of the Veil of Veronica (which was pressed to the Face of Jesus), which was touched to the original veil and stamped with the seal of the Vatican. The original veil does not travel.

5. This is a reproduction of an actual nail that was pounded through the hands and feet of Jesus. This nail was cast with shavings from the original nails used in the Crucifixion. On kissing the nail, I could smell the iron, and wondered if Our Blessed Mother smelled something similar on kissing the feet of her Beloved Son as He died.

6. Both of these photos (above and below) are of the slivers of the True Cross of Christ. The slivers are the lines that make up the small, dark cross in the center of the white cross. The gold of the reliquary in which they rest depicts images from the Crucifixion. For a story of how some of these relics, including the True Cross, were found, click here.

7. This relic was a piece of fabric that was used to cover the Shroud of Turin, which is the burial cloth of Jesus.

8. Both of these photos show the relics of the original 12 Apostles minus Judas Iscariot, plus Saints Paul and Barnabas: a piece of bone from each Apostle. As listed: St. Peter (the first Pope), St. Thomas (the doubter), St. Barnabas (originally a Cypriot Jew, later a disciple of Christ and accompanied St. Paul on missionary journeys), St. Matthias (who took the place of Judas Iscariot, the betrayer), St. Jude Thaddeus (son of James), St. John (the "one whom Jesus loved" and James' brother, who is listed twice in the reliquary), St. Andrew (brother of Simon Peter), St. Philip, St. Simon, St. Bartholomew, St. Paul (the Apostle of the Gentiles, who was called by the Resurrected Christ), St. Matthew (the tax collector), St. James the Lesser, and St. James the Greater.

9. On viewing the photos when we got home, I was disappointed to see I had missed getting a picture of the relic of St. Longinus (the soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance). It was larger than most the other relics...it was a piece of his skull bone.

After leaving the room where the relics were displayed we regrouped before heading out of the Pilgrim Center, and started out on the Meditation Trail toward the Votive Candle Chapel.

Up we go!

The inside of the Mother of Good Counsel Votive Candle Chapel was beautiful! In the very center was a pyramid of votive candles, and the walls were lined with stained glass windows depicting different images of the Blessed Virgin.  

The largest window was appropriately of Our Lady of Good Counsel

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and Our Lady of Fatima

And Our Lady of Lourdes, my special Patroness! St. Bernadette of Lourdes is my confirmation patroness.

This is looking down on the Pilgrim Center as we ascended the hill. The boys were very vocal about their concern about falling over the railing and dying. My Dad explained to them they would have to try pretty hard to get themselves in that predicament.

A view of the Memorial to the Unborn from the path below.

The views were spectacular!

St. Joseph the Workman devotional area. It was at this point I realized my phone (the camera of which I was using) had only 10% battery life remaining, and I wouldn't be able to take many more pictures!

My Dad pointing something out to Aidan in the woods.

We made it to the Shrine Church! To the right is Blessed John Duns Scotus Friary. I stepped inside the church, which was just gorgeous...but around this time we discovered that no one knew where Liam was. I ran back outside, where my Dad had found him playing in the rocks by the Friary. Good grief. And so I completely forgot to get pictures of the inside.

Juan Diego showing the Bishop his tilma full of roses and the image of Our Lady.

The Friary

Our Lady, Patroness of the Unborn, facing the Memorial of the Unborn. She is cradling three babies in her arms. Three unborn babies. It touched on something that is very near and dear to my heart.

The Memorial to the Unborn

And finally the Way of the Cross, where my phone battery got so low I could take no more photos. We made it through the Stations before realizing it was 3:30 pm already, and we all had long drives home. We never made it through the Rosary Walk, but decided it would make a great trip a little later this year.

When we got home we had supper, and then waited for Eli to get home to finish celebrating Aidan's 9th birthday.

He got a prompted 3-year journal, and a set of Lego Classics. Gavin looks thrilled about the journal idea...I know what he will not be getting in the next few years! Aidan has been keeping up with it though, and I think it will help his creative writing.

This was Dad's idea...and Mom is not at all sure about this. I've hidden it for now until he can go somewhere remote with adult supervision to practice with it.

Aidan got to light the candle on his own birthday cake this year. He was pretty excited!

He also got some great gifts from his grandparents...handheld Yahtzee and Crossword games, a book of boy heroes stories, new sandals and T-shirt, and in a combined effort, enough money to sent him to a boys summer camp this summer. Of course, he also received his beloved typewriter. Even Snoopy needed one to write his novel.

Thank you to everyone that helped make Aidan's day special! Here's to another great year!