ThereseMaria Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Ok, first to explain the title of the thread: I was in Paris for Easter (school trip), so my roomates and I were getting ready for Mass at Notre Dame. None of us had a lot of sleep, and we were talking about something, and my one roomate said "We have to church" instead of "We have to go to church". So apparently, the word church is now a verb :rotfl2: I guess this is kind of like my personal thread - I'm going to use it to describe my trip, but I'll probably use it for random things later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AugustineA Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 haha.. Do you even church bro? I want to go to France pretty badly. The Catholic culture, architecture, people, wine, countryside, food, language, foood, culturee(trad.girls)eee, cheesseeee... *dies* x.x Okay, continue your regular programming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereseMaria Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 The trip started on April 15, when we got on the plane. The next morning, we landed in London (Heathrow), and brought our luggage to the hotel. Then we went to the Tower of London, and we saw the crown jewels (I was taking pictures in line, and the line started moving, and one of the guards ran towards me, yelling at me to start moving... It was really scary :eek: ) After, we went for dinner, and went to the biggest toy store in London. On the 17th, we went to Windsor Castle (the Queen was there that day), then took a bus tour of London, during which we saw Big Ben, the Parliament, the Millenium Bridge (for any Harry Potter fans who might know what that is), the Canadian War Memorial (We started singing the Canadian national anthem, it was fun. We sang our national anthem a couple of times during the trip, and there were a couple stupid moments during those times.), and Buckingham Palace. After dinner we went to Picadilly Circus to do some shopping. On the 18th we hopped on the Eurostar to Paris, and went to the Louvre (I got a picture with the Mona Lisa!!!!) There was a mummy at the Louvre, and my group and I debated about whether some artifacts were Greek or Egyptian, they were actually Etruscan. Then we went and relaxed at the hotel. On the 19th, we did a bus tour of Paris, then went to Versailles. My camera died (as it did at Windsor Castle), but I got a couple of books from there, so it was all good. After dinner, we went to the Eiffel Tower, but we only went to the second floor because a) my teacher was having a panic attack, and b) i would have had a panic attack if i had to wait in a line with that many people. Honestly, the view was amazing, even from the second floor. And the Tower lit up while we were on it, which was cool. We could see one of the cathedrals we had visited that day, and even the Triumph Arch. On Easter Sunday, we went to Mass at Notre Dame (it was my first time ever recieving Communion on Easter Sunday, I can't even tell you how excited I was.) We got on the night train, and I got probably the best roomates ever. We ate a bunch of candy, and my roomates were being so hyper that the chaperone had to threaten to take away their candy if they made any more noises. So they ate all of their candy, then continued to make noises. Then we sang, and they talked about their boyfriends, and who they liked, and I looked out the window. Really early in the morning (somewhere between 1 and 3 oclock), everyone who had phones got messages saying "Welcome to Switzerland!!!" and the boys started freaking out and being loud, and so no one but me got any sleep (I slept through the whole episode). Apparently one of the boys started hallucinating, and freaked out because he thought he saw a monster in the forest. AND there was an ongoing bet about who could get a European girl's phone number first. Needless to say, it was really, really hilarious. In the morning (the 21st), we got off in Milan and hopped on a high speed train to Florence. We went on a tour, then went to the Duomo, and some of us (including me) climbed the dome. It was amazing, and we could see all of Florence! (Also, there was a Lindt chocolate store near the Duomo, and I may or may not have gone in.... In my defense, they had kinds of chocolate there that they don"t have in Canada, which was exciting for us all. Even some of the teachers went in. It was awesome.) After, we went back to the hotel, and my roomates and I got the nicest room in the hotel, which was awesome... On the 22nd, we took a bus ride to Assisi, where we got to see the Basilica of St. Francis, and we even got to go down into the lower chapel where St. Francis was laid to rest. I was freaking out about the fact that I was in the same town that Sts. Francis and Clare had lived once, so everyone else found that kind of funny. The tour of the Basilica was lead by a Franciscan priest, which was really cool. Afterwards, my teacher ended up telling him that I was discerning, and we talked for a bit. Then we took the bus to Rome, where we went to the Scala Santa. It was arguably the best thing I did on the trip (Communion on Easter Sunday comes first, but this was a REALLY close second.) If anyone ever gets the chance to climb the Scala Santa, do it. It's really cool. And insane, because as you are climbing them, you're just thinking "Wow, the Son of God climbed these stairs to be condemned to death, and His Blood is on them too..." I seriously need better words to describe this. Anyways. I ranted about that for the rest of the night. After that, we went to St. John Lateran Church, I think it was called...? After that, we went to the hotel for dinner, and hung out in our rooms. On the 23rd we went to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, and then went to the Musei Vaticani (I think that's how it's spelled), the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In the basilica, we saw the body of the late Pope John XXIII, and I think the tomb of the late Pope John Paul II. I know they are both being canonized this month, and I'm 99% sure it's next Sunday, but I don't know for sure. On the 24th, we got on the plane for a 13 hour flight home. So we covered London, Paris, Florence, Assisi and Rome on the trip, and amazing doesn't begin to describe the trip. I'm still trying to process it all, honestly. I miss Europe already, and I only just got back last night..................................... I hope to go back again someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereseMaria Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 haha.. Do you even church bro? I want to go to France pretty badly. The Catholic culture, architecture, people, wine, countryside, food, language, foood, culturee(trad.girls)eee, cheesseeee... *dies* x.x Okay, continue your regular programming. France was definitely cool, it was pretty packed! It has a lot of cool places to go, and the Louvre itself (not to mention all of the other spots) could take at least 3 days to go through! And it has a bunch of cool statues and stuff. I recommend Italy, honestly, it is so breathtakingly beautiful, I'm not even going to try to describe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartermia Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 John Paul II and John XXIII is getting canonized in like less then 2 days!!! :shock: :dance: And to popes are officiating the canonization!!! Historic moment in history! So happy since JPII is my confirmation saint!!!! :dance5: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereseMaria Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 John Paul II and John XXIII is getting canonized in like less then 2 days!!! :shock: :dance: And to popes are officiating the canonization!!! Historic moment in history! So happy since JPII is my confirmation saint!!!! :dance5: Seriously?! That soon?! That's so cool! And it would also explain why Rome was so packed full of people. Now I'm excited. My school is named after John Paul II, so this is a pretty big deal for us... But we're all wondering if they have to rename the school now.... It's so cool, to know that we will have two new saints!!!! YAY!!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartermia Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Yeah!!! Wow, I love your school! I want to go to a school named after JPII! My Confirmation sponsor and I were going to try to raise money to go to the Vatican to see JPII and John XXIII. It was a little far fetched... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereseMaria Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Yeah!!! Wow, I love your school! I want to go to a school named after JPII! My Confirmation sponsor and I were going to try to raise money to go to the Vatican to see JPII and John XXIII. It was a little far fetched... Haha the school is, uhm, interesting, to say the least...? And that would be a cool trip. We just saw JPII's tomb, but John XXIII's body was on display. The tour guide told us his body was incorrupt, but there are a bunch of people and articles saying it was just preserved really well, and it isn't mentioned as a miracle related to him, so I'm pretty confused about the whole thing...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartermia Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I don't know, it may have been preserved or mummified, but I really, REALLY don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaThoma Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Sounds so awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereseMaria Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Sounds so amesome! It was amazing, and seriously, I'm hating the English language for being so inadequate right now. (as I say this whole thing in English, as my friend pointed out.) And I thought I was over the jetlag. Apparently not. It is currently 2:49 in the morning for me, even though it's 6:49pm for everyone else. I think I'm gonna go sleep... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not The Philosopher Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Well we do practice the Churching of women, don't we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereseMaria Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Well we do practice the Churching of women, don't we? ... I'm sorry, I'm having a dumb moment, what do you mean by that.........??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereseMaria Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 ... I'm sorry, I'm having a dumb moment, what do you mean by that.........??? WAIT that's what that means. I've never heard about that tradition before, cool!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximillion Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Yes, I was going to mention churching of women. It is a practice that takes place after a woman has had a baby. from wiki: In Christian tradition the Churching of Women is the ceremony wherein a blessing is given to mothers after recovery from childbirth. The ceremony includes thanksgiving for the woman's survival of childbirth, and is performed even when the child is stillborn, or has died unbaptized. Although the ceremony itself contains no elements of ritual purification, it was related to Jewish practice as noted in Leviticus 12:2-8, where women were purified after giving birth. In light of the New Testament, the Christian ritual draws on the imagery and symbolism of thePurification of the Virgin Luke 2:22-40. Although some Christian traditions consider her to have borne Christ without incurring impurity, she went to the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses and thus accepted her own humanity, which is referred to in the words she used earlier 'my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour' [Luke 1v47] known as the Magnificat. At one time the rite was practiced in both the Eastern and the Western churches. The custom is first mentioned in the pseudo-Nicene Arabic canons. The religious ceremony has been largely discontinued in the West except amongst traditional Catholics, but it is still practiced in some of the Eastern Churches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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