Marian Pilgrimage to Spain and France, May 2011

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE

VIRGIN MARY AND S. IGNATIUS

Sunday, May 15 – Saturday, May 28, 2011

LOS ANGELES/LOS ANGELES - $3699.00

( Airline taxes & Flamenco Show included)

Optional Insurance $271.00

Single room supplement $595.00

Sunday, May 15, 2011

DEPART LOS ANGELES

Our spiritual journey begins as we depart Los Angeles on AF69 at 6:45pm on our non-stop flight to Paris

Monday, May 16, 2011

PARIS/BARCELONA

Arrive Paris Airport at 2:15pm and connect with AF1948 departing Paris at 3:45pm, arriving Barcelona at 5:25pm. Upon arrival, you will be welcomed to Spain by your tour guide and driver. Transfer to the hotel.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

BARCELONA

We will spend all day in Barcelona visiting the Basilica of the Holy Family and later we will have a panoramic tour of Barcelona with its elegant tree-lined Ramblas and Plaza de Cataluna, historic buildings. We will have free time on our own to walk and enjoy the center of the city. Evening Flamenco Show.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

BARCELONA/MONTSERRAT

This morning we drive to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montserrat to visit the Monastery and see the Statue of Our Lady and the cave where tradition says the statue was found. We will spend some time at this beautiful sanctuary before returning back to our hotel.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

BARCELONA/ZARAGOZA

Today we depart Barcelona and drive towards Zaragoza to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar, the second most popular pilgrimage site in Spain. Visit the magnificent altar in the Basilica, built on the site where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the Apostle James. We see the Chapel of the Virgin, Assumption of the Virgin Mary marble statue and other numerous chapels and artworks inside the Basilica.

Friday, May 20, 2011

ZARAGOZA/JAVIER/LOYOLA

Depart Zaragoza in the morning and we drive to Javier, home of the Javier Castle where Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier was born. Afterwards we stop in Pamplona where St. Ignatius was wounded. On to Loyola in the Basque country, where we find the Sanctuary of Loyola as well as St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Family Castle.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

LOYOLA/LOURDES

Today after Mass at the Sanctuary we depart Loyola and enjoy the drive in the country side of Spain and later France. We arrive Lourdes in the afternoon. After dinner join pilgrims from around

the world in the nightly rosary and candlelight procession.

Sunday, May 22 –

Monday, May 23, 2011

LOURDES

During our stay in Lourdes, we visit the historical and spiritual sites associated with Bernadette, the visionary child of Lourdes. We will have a walking tour of the Shrine’s ground, the Basilica of St. Pius X, Boly Mill, the Soubirous family home, the Basilica of the Rosary and the miraculous spring and healing baths. There will be an afternoon tour to Bartres. We will spend time in prayer and meditation and join the nightly rosary and candlelight procession.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

LOURDES/LYON/LA SALETTE

Early morning transfer to Pau Airport to take our Air France flight to Lyon. Upon arrival at Lyon airport, we will be met by our bus driver and drive towards La Salette to visit the Marian shrine of

Our Lady of La Salette where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Melanie and Maximin in 1846.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

LA SALETTE/LYON

Today we depart La Salette and make our way back to Lyon. Lyon is listed as a World Heritage Site. Visit the beautiful Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere that sits upon a hill offering a wonderful panorama of the city.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

LYON/ARS/PARAY LE MONIAL

Our spiritual journey will continue as we visit Ars to see the Basilica where the incorrupt body of St. John Vianney lies..Then on to Paray Le Monial , home to the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Visit the chapel of the Visitation where Jesus exposed His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque during a number of apparitions. Return to Lyon.

Friday, May 27, 2011

LYON/ LE PUY EN VELAY

Today we continue our journey in France and call on Le Puy en Velay. The most striking attraction is the Cathedral of Notre-Dame du Puy. In this place many pilgrims start their walking journey to Santiago de Compostela. Each morning there is a blessing for any such pilgrims. Visit to the chapel of St. Michael. Return to Lyon.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

LYON/PARIS/LOS ANGELES

Transfer to Lyon Airport to take our Air France flights to Paris and then to Los Angeles. Arrive Los Angeles at 4:00pm

Itinerary is subject to change without notice.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 562 9247591

or email: frfercuenca@gmail.com

The Face of Christ by Claude Mellan

THis is an amazing engraving of Christ based on the story of the Sudarium of the Veronica.
Veronica , filled with compassion for the suffering of Jesus on the road to Calvary, wiped his sweating face with a cloth. An image of his features was miraculously transferred to the fabric. Mellan (1598-1688) has achieved something like a miracle of a different sort. In a single line and starting from the tip of Jesus' nose, Mellan has engraved the entire face, the folded veil, and the lettering below. The modulations in direction, from thick to thin, model the image in chiaroscuro (light and dark). Thus the shapes and volume of the engraving are achieved.
Mellan studied engraving for five years in Paris before travelling to Rome in 1624. He remained in Rome for twelve years, refining the Italian engraving style he found in the work of Francesco Villamena and Agostino Carracci. He learned to dispense with cross-hatching and model forms just by controlling the swelling and tapering of his lines.

How Old is your Church?

THIS IS A MOST INTERESTING QUESTION!!!

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WILL ASTOUND MANY OF YOU!

If you are a LUTHERAN, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk of the Catholic Church, IN THE YEAR 1517.

If you belong to the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII IN THE YEAR 1534, because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to re-marry.

If you are a PRESBYTERIAN, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland
IN THE YEAR 1560.

If you are a member of the CONGREGATIONALIST, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland IN THE YEAR 1582.

If you are a BAPTIST, you owe the tenets of your religion to your founder, John Smyth, who launched this denomination in the city of Amsterdam IN THE YEAR 1605.

If you are of the DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH, you recognize Michaelis Jones as your founder, because he originated your religion in New York IN THE YEAR 1628.

If you are a PROTESTANT EPISCOPALIAN, your religion was an offshoot of the Church Of England, and your offshoot was founded by Samuel Seabury in the American Colonies in the 17th Century.

If you are a METHODIST, your religion was launched by John and Charles Wesley in England IN THE YEAR 1744.

If you are a UNITARIAN, then Theophilus Lindley is the founder of your church, in London IN THE YEAR 1774.

If you are a MORMON (LATTER DAY SAINTS) your modern religion was started by Joseph Smith in Palmyra, New York, IN THE YEAR 1829.

If you worship with THE SALVATION ARMY, your sect began with Willian Booth in the city of London IN THE YEAR 1865.

If you are a CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, you recognize that your religion was begun by Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy IN THE YEAR 1879.

If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as "CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE", or "PENTECOSTAL GOSPEL", Or "HOLINESS CHURCH", or "PILGRIM HOLINESS CHURCH", or "JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES", Or any of the MULTIPLE THOUSANDS OF STOREFRONT CHURCHES, then your religion is one of the thousands of new sects founded by men WITHIN THE PAST 150 YEARS!

If you are a ROMAN CATHOLIC,
Then you know that your Church was founded IN THE YEAR 33
BY JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD,
AND IT IS STILL THE SAME CHURCH!!!

Holes in the fence

There was once a boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
On the first day the boy drove 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled.
He discovered that it was easier to hold his temper than to drive nails into a fence. Finally, a day came when he didn’t need the hammer and nails at all. Proudly, he went to tell his father. This time the father suggested that each day he kept his temper, the boy should pull out a nail from the fence.
The days passed, until eventually the boy was able to tell his father that at last all the nails were gone. The father took the boy by the hand and led him to the fence. “You have done well — but look at all the holes in the fence! It will never be the same again. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”

Anoche Cuando Dormia

Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que una fontana fluía
dentro de mi corazón.
Di, ¿por qué acequia escondida,
agua, vienes hasta mí,
manantial de nuestra vida
de donde nunca bebí?

Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que una colmena tenía
dentro de mi corazón;
y las doradas abejas
iban fabricando en él,
con las amarguras viejas,
blanca cera y dulce miel.

Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que un ardiente sol lucía
dentro de mi corazón.
Era ardiente porque daba
calores de rojo hogar,
y era sol porque alumbraba
y porque hacía llorar.

Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que era Dios lo que tenía
dentro de mi corazón.

Antonio Machado

Prayer for New Archbishop of Los Angeles

His Eminence Cardinal Roger M. Mahony is asking all Catholics to pray for the appointment of his successor as archbishop of Los Angeles. Here is the official prayer:

Lord God, you are our eternal and guide. In your mercy,
grant to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles a shepherd
who will walk in your ways and who watchful care will
bring us your blessing.

In your love for us, give us the joy of receiving a shepherd
who will be an example of goodness to your people and
who will fill our hearts and minds with the truth of the Gospel.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, you Son, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for-
ever and ever. AMEN.

The Dark Night

THE DARK NIGHT

Songs of the soul that rejoices in having reached the high state of perfection, which is union with God, by the path of spiritual negation.

One dark night,
fired with love's urgent longings
--ah, the sheer grace!--
I went out unseen,
my house being now all stilled.

In darkness, and secure,
by the secret ladder, disguised,
--ah, the sheer grace!--
in darkness and concealment,
my house being now all stilled.

On that glad night,
in secret, for no one saw me,
nor did I look at anything
with no other light or guide
than the one that burned in my heart.

This guided me
more surely than the light of noon
to where he was awaiting me
--him I knew so well--
there in a place where no one appeared.

O guiding night!
O night more lovely than the dawn!
O night that has united
the Lover with his beloved,
transforming the beloved in her Lover.

Upon my flowering breast,
which I kept wholly for him alone,
there he lay sleeping,
and I caressing him
there in a breeze from the fanning cedars.

When the breeze blew from the turret,
as I parted his hair,
it wounded my neck
with its gentle hand,
suspending all my senses.

I abandoned and forgot myself,
laying my face on my Beloved;
all things ceased; I went out from myself,
leaving my cares
forgotten among the lilies.

Cell Phone Etiquette Rules

Do we really need to talk about this? You’d think with over a decade of living with cell phones that we had already figured out by now how to be respectful toward others and how not be rude and unconcerned about the dignity of others. Sadly still today things at times seem to be getting worse. Here are some rules that we can practice during Lent, to exercise Christian Charity.

1. TURN OFF YOUR CELL phone when going to Church, a conference, a class, the library, the movies, a museum, a public performance, and please respect not only those carrying out the services and the performances, but also those attending, who do not appreciate the distractions, the noise and the selfishness of those who fail to turn their cell phones off. It is considered even ruder to answer the phone after having distracted everybody with your cell. Texting in Church is also considered disrespectful to God and to those who are praying around you.

2. When talking in public places, like restaurants, shopping malls, buses, planes, make sure you DO NOT SPEAK TOO LOUDLY, MODULATE YOUR VOICE. Please DO NOT CARRY OUT PRIVATE or INAPPROPRIATE CONVERSATIONS in public. Observe the 10-foot Proximity Rule: maintain a distance of at least 10-feet from the nearest person when talking on a cell phone.

3. If you are meeting with someone, please GIVE THAT PERSON YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION, and DO NOT RUDELY INTERRUPT THEM. If you get a call, do not answer it, you can press ignore it or let it roll to voicemail, you can always retrieve the message or return the call later, unless you know with certainty that it is REALLY important or you are actually expecting a call due to an emergency (in that case warn the other party that you may have to answer a call because you are expecting an urgent message). Have you ever carried out a really interesting conversation in which you were talking about something really important and meaningful to you only to be interrupted by the other person: “Sorry, have to get this!”? Some people have lost a potential job for answering their cells during an interview, some others have lost a date for being rude and making a bad first impression, and some others have lost potential contracts during business presentations due to their lack of courtesy.

4. DO NOT TEXT OR TALK WHILE DRIVING, this is not only rude, but you also endanger your life and the lives of others. Similarly DO NOT TEXT WHILE TALKING TO SOMEONE, please respect that person.

5. SPARE US FROM LOUD AND ANNOYING RINGTONES, I guess the word annoying says it all.

6. RESPECT CASHIERS, WAITERS, WAITRESSES, CLERKS, AND OTHER WORKERS, they are people too, and although they may not be your friends, they still deserve your respect. How many times have we seen people carrying out conversations on their cells while talking with the cashiers/clerks at fast food restaurants, stores, malls, banks, etc? That is simply rude.

7. APPLY YOURSELF THE GOLDEN RULE, do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. Being a Christian begins with small acts of charity and courtesy.

Blessings

Fr. Fernando, OMV J