Marriage and Family
We awoke on a beautiful Saturday morning after our first nights’ sleep in Paris rested and ready to explore. Our first adventure was to climb the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral. When we awoke that morning (at a jet-lagged 4 am!), I had no idea that in a few hours, we’d be climbing the stairs of the famous scientist and future Saint, Servant of God Jerome Lejeune.
What can I say: Paris is magical like that.
I would like offer gratitude and love for all our priests, especially our parish priests, and I honor with deep sorrow the martyrdom of Fr. Jacques Hamel yesterday, on the feast of St. Joachim and Anne, in St. Étienne-du-Rouvray, in Normandy, France. This priest was described as grandfatherly, and he died on the feast of Jesus’ own grandfather and grandmother.
I’ve had the goal of traveling to France with my family to France for six years, since completing my doctorate. My dissertation featured St. Therese of Lisieux, and I wanted to take the trip as a way to celebrate its completion, to visit St. Therese’s sites, and to share my love of the country with my family.
So much about France sparks joy for me: its rich spiritual and cultural heritage, its lovely language, and its tasty food. Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary have appeared there, numerous saints have walked its soil, and the Catholic faithful have raised lacy cathedrals, sung sublime music, and lavished works of love and mercy in that country, creating an Catholic culture that has proved enduring. Continue reading “Why and How We Took Our Family to France”
We were packed and ready to go to Paris before midnight on the eve of our departure! This was a huge win for Nathan and I, as historically, we’ve been up well into the wee hours packing our family up for a trip. It’s quite possible that in the evenings leading up to departure I may have experienced massive anxiety symptoms, which I may have soothed by searching for and then giggling over Pride and Prejudice memes on the interwebs.
Fortunately, Nathan has a secret ninja skill: he is MasterPacker. Also, he just buckles right down to work and doesn’t scorn me if I fritter my time away by laughing myself to tears over P&P memes when I should be, for example, sealing our liquid toiletries in plastic baggies. Continue reading “Heading Off to France! Day 1: Vancouver to Paris”
Yesterday we visited the remains of the Abbey of Cluny, and Beata turned 5!
Cluny was the head of a network of a hundred monasteries in its heyday. We’ve visited several medieval sites by now, including Mont St. Michel, which had been an Abby also, and is once again! Yay for the Communauté de Jérusalem taking up residence and praying there recently! Also, we’ve seen several cathedrals and castles, as well as the Musée du Moyen Âge in Paris, which is housed in a former medieval abby (confusingly also named Cluny, not sure why) built on the ruins of Roman baths. (That is us with my grad school mentor’s wife and daughters, whom we bumped into in the gift shop at the Musée du Moyen Âge, followed by Notre Dame de Paris and Mont St. Michel)
This summer we traveled to France with our four daughters, ages 2, 4 turning 5, 10, and 12. I am carrying the prayer intentions many of you have entrusted to me in an envelope in my purse, which I bring to the shrines and sanctuaries we visit. I kneel or stand, pull it out and set it before the altar, statue, or relics, or simply hold it up, offering up prayer for all of you.
Continue reading “Our Frugal Dream Trip to France! The Adventure Begins…”
