Pilgrimages and Retreats...love it!

I found out that I will be able to write in this during the novitiate. :) Check back monthly. I could write more than once in a month, but I am writing in this monthly as a minimum.

April has been flying by fast. There have been so many things...we have been cleaning out our rooms, sewing numbers on our clothes for the laundry, and doing presentations and papers. We also each picked 3 names for the council to vote on, and learned how to pin our veils! We actually got to wear them for a few minutes yesterday for pictures, but those won't be up until after reception on June 13th.

Today, we went on a pilgrimage to Holy Hill. It was wonderful to go there. I had never heard of it before I moved to Wisconsin, but it's actually kind of a big deal. Even Pope Leo XIII knew about it and declared it a shrine. Now it is a Basilica. It was really cool to look at all the crutches people left behind next to the Marian Shrine after they has been miraculously healed.

I loved it there. There is an ambiance of joy and peacefulness there, and I just wanted to stay. I would love to go back to spend more time praying throughout the area, and going on a hike in the woods surrounding it. They also have an outdoor stations of the cross that I would love to do. If anyone is able to go, I saw a flyer for an awesome event happening there on Saturday, October 2, 2010. It is called St. John Bosco Youth Day 2010. Click here for more info. Fr. Stan Fortuna is going to be there, along with Lila Rose, Martin Doman, and Bishop William Callahan. The event is free, and if you want to get a boxed lunch, that is $7.00. I won't be able to go, but my blessings on anyone who can attend!

I am looking forward to finishing up this last week of school, but I am going to miss everyone at Silver Lake College! They are incredible people and I feel privileged and honored to know them. The college is a real gem. Saturday is May Crowning, and Marie gets to crown Mary! :) Then we will spend two weeks in Arizona at separate mission sites, and another two weeks on our home-visits. When we come back, we will have a weeklong retreat on living the evangelical councils and deepening our intimacy with God. Then reception is June 13th! It's a lot to look forward to!

Just to let you know, there will be a discernment retreat for young women at our community from May 21-23, 2010. Registration ends a week before the retreat. The retreats are all very wonderful and Holy Spirit filled....this one coming up especially because the theme is Pentecost. Find out more info here. And you can register here. Seriously, Marie and I loved these retreats so much!

Also, while you are browsing the internet if you would like, my community provides a free song download every month as well as blog entries about the going-ons of our community in the webpage Franciscanized World.

Just in case you were wondering I was not asked to advertise for these things. I am free to write about anything in my blog. I am sharing these things because they are awesome and I just wanted to share them with all of you.