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No Place Like Home

jkirby — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:32:58 +0000

After being away for about ten months, I’m back home in South Carolina. It was a blessing to be in Rome and to complete my academic programs. And, it’s a great blessing to be home!

Please remember me and my priestly ministry in your prayers.

A special thanks to all those that made this trip happen

jkirby — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:04:56 +0000

The group wants to take this last post as a way of expressing our deep thanks and gratitude for being brought on this trip. We want to especially thank Fr. Kirby, Fr. LeBlanc, the shaporones, the benefactors, and our parents, all of which helped in making this trip a success. Not only did we deepen our faith as Catholics, Christians, and disciples of the Lord, but we made a deeper relationship with one another. This was no doubt the trip of a lifetime, a trip that we will never forget. We hope that later in life, if we ever feel as if we’re losing our relationship with Jesus, that we simply remind ourselves of how we felt looking at the bones of St. Peter, how we felt seeing the art in the Sistine Chapel, and how we felt praising the Lord late at night with one another, singing and shouting his name. By remembering this, we hope that we become one again through Christ. We hope and pray that we take our experience and strength of faith into our lives back in Aiken, that we do all we can to make a difference in the lives of people back home. This was the reason of our pilgrimage, not only to help us get an idea of the priesthood and become willing to accept it, but to be better Christians–to do all we possibly can to let our light shine every minute of the day, and to hopefully let others see this light and bring them closer to the One true God.

With non-ending thanks, God Bless!

Nick Adams, Matthew Ross, Patrick Judd, Will Victor, Aaron Kirby, Mark Tisler, Ian Demass, and Will Frei

Sunday, the last day of our pilgrimage

jkirby — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:45:36 +0000

Today, just like the day before, was very emotional. At 9:30 a.m., after breakfast, the group met with holocaust survivor. He told of the histoy of Auschwitz–how it was begun and who the first prisoners were. He then told of his story, of how we joined the Polish Resistance and was caught and brought to the concentration camp. The survivor recounted the horrors, murders, starvation, tests, and humiliation that went on during the camp’s years of operation. The story was truly moving, letting all realize how truly fortunate we are to be living in a country of freedom.

After this talk, the group had mass at the hotel’s chapel on the 3rd floor. It was our final mass as a group. We then packed our bags and headed to Warsaw. Once we arrived, we put our bags in the hotel and headed out for dinner. It was a great last day as pilgrims!

Saturday, day 8, krakow/auschwitz

jkirby — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:30:43 +0000

To start off the day, we went to the john paul museum. then father kirby told us storys about the history of the polish archbishops in warsaw and krakow. this story was interresting and awesome. next we headed by bus to auchwitz. we had a guided tour of auchwitz from a tall fun man named peter. he was very interesting and inspirational. auchwitz was indescribed by the means of the english language. in fact, words cannot describe the horrific events that took place on the grounds upon which we stood. we visited the cell of father kolbe which was completely mind blowing, and left us breathless. as i walked on the very gravel where kolbe chose to give his life, chills ran down my back, and i felt a rush of adrenaline from the heroism that remained imprinted in the air.

the ruins of the auschwitz gas chamber where hundreds of thousands were killed

for dinner we had probably the worst of the meals. but it was halarious all the same. imagine chicken pot pie in cold jello!!! hahaha!!

chicken pot pie jello

Krakow, Poland

jkirby — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:02:38 +0000

Today the pilgrims had an early morning. we had to be awake at 4:00 Rome time in order to catch another train to Krakow. The interior of the subway was covered in grafiti and looked like the inside of a Cold-War film. After yet another train ride, we arrived in the city of Krakow, Poland. The former capital of Poland was extremely interesting as we had a chance to explore the city’s enormous Market Square. After the chance to do a little shopping, we proceded to Wawel Castle for a tour of the armory, treasury, and grounds of the Castle. And after this, we went to the salt mines of Krakow. Once the tour of the mines was finished, we came back to the hotel for the longest night of sleep we have had yet during our pilgrimage.

Pope’s Audience

jkirby — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:42:33 +0000

We had the honor of attending the Holy Father’s audience. We had front row seats in special seating. Not a better view in the house.

We headed and had mass at Saint Andrew’s Catholic Church. This was the place where father Kolbe celebrated his first mass. it was very special for us. Father Kirby even got to celebratet the mas with us

After mass, we went to the Church of the Twelve Apostles, the Gregorian University, and Saint ignatius. We were able to pray at each of these locations. Then, we went to the grocery store in the train station to stack up on goodies for the train ride to Vienna. We made one last sprint to make the train and settled in for the night.

Thursday, Day Six of the Pilgrimage

jkirby — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:14:07 +0000

Unfortunately today, we are having trouble with the internet on the computer. We are unable to load some pictures of today’s adventures; though we weren’t allowed to take many with where we went. The group arrived in Vienna, the Capital of Austria, at around 8:45 a.m. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed out to view the Schonbrunn Royal Palace (summer home), a former emporer of Austria. We then got a tour of the official Schonbrunn Royal Palace of the city. At around 1:00 p.m., we went to St. Stephen’s Cathedral Square and went out on our own to find a local lunch place. The boys ordered the Original Weiner Schnichele (however you spell it). After, we toured numerous churches, including the Capuchin Church (where the emporers are buried). The group then visited the Little Sisters of the Lamb and had Mass with His Eminence. It was a wonderful, knowledgeable day!

Day Three

jkirby — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:16:31 +0000

Clementine Altar: closest altar to the bones of Saint Peter. The pilgrims celebrated a private Mass here early in the morning. This was an opportunity to truly be closer to Jesus Christ through the apostle Peter.

The Swiss Guard has been and still is the protector of the Pope since the turn of the 16th century. This modern security force is a blend of old tradition and modern technology. Their primary language is German and they are required to be a Swiss citizen, Catholic, male, and a member of the Swiss military.

The Sacred Heart Church, located in central Rome, is both a House of God and an awe-inspiring museum. It contains relics of souls who begged devout Catholics for prayers to help them pass through Purgatory. The pilgrims were able to have a few minutes of silent prayer in the church and then proceded on to dinner.

greetings from rome, day 2

jkirby — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:53:11 +0000

Hello aiken,

This is the boys from room awesomeness, broadcasting live from the fourth floor of hotel columbus, in the shadow of St. Peters Basilica.

Yesterday was amazing. We started off the day with a typical Italian breakfast, of bread and nuetella . then we went to the basilica for sunday mass. It was amazing, and in latin.

then, we went to castle of the angels, this picture is from the roof.

The boys of room awesome!

next, we went to a delicious lunch, “dejeuner”, at the reastaurante marcello.

following the scrumptuous meal of pasta, and veal, and other italian traditional dishes,

we headed back to st. peters for a tour and a scavenger hunt.

great use of lighting in ian’s photo of the high altar and canopy

We went to the pontifical north american college, and the us seminary in rome. it was amazing. they had a soccer field, and everyone played world cup. then, we prayed vesperswith the seminarians. we finished the night with another wonderful italian dinner.

along the way out of st. peters, we saws some swiss gaurds and took a picture with them.

a sweet snapshot with some swiss gaurds

Monday Church Jeopardy

jkirby — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:59:11 +0000

Oh, man, some of you were so close. Last week’s church was Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. A few wrote Santa Maria in Trastevere (which is in the Trastevere area, but is dedicated to Mary and not to St. Cecilia, who is the patron saint of music). The information for the second part should have been about St. Cecilia! Bravo to all the students who gave it a try, and bravissimo to all the students who answered correctly!

All right, this week:

Every cultural group has a “home church” in Rome. This week’s church (shown below) is the “American parish in Rome.” It offers Mass and Confessions in English. Have fun!