Pilgrimage, installment one

May 26, 2014

Mary Busse

After all the girls were dropped off at Mater Redemptoris House, we had a quick orientation with the sisters and then a little free time before supper. I went downstairs with Mary, Emily, Teresa, and Theresa. We played ping pong, and it seemed we did more chasing of missed balls than hitting them! : ) We also played a crazy game of foosball. After supper we went for a walk outside and when we got back the aspirants showed us a video they were making about their life at MRH. After that, the plan was to get to sleep early ahead of a big day of traveling, but when we went downstairs where I and the other highschoolers were going to sleep on mattresses on the floor, we got started talking. We had such a good time getting to know each other and finding out how much we had in common that we didn’t turn off the lights until 10:00!

We woke up to Sr. Luka ringing the bell this morning at 6:00. Rise and Shine!. We packed up our sleeping bags and got ready for our day, then piled all of our luggage in a huge mound outside of the garage. (Don’t worry, it all fits in the minivans...) Before breakfast, we had Mass with the sisters in their beautiful chapel. They have a mini organ in the chapel, which sounded gorgeous. After Mass, the monsignor who said Mass for us gave us a blessing and we headed off to eat. When we were done with breakfast and cleanup, we loaded up the vans and hit the road!

 Greetings From The Introverted Silver Van!

 We arrived in Chicago at 2:30pm. Thanks to our handy dandy I-Pass, we zipped through the tollways of Chicago. While there we passed a guy in a Santa hat......with a styrofoam head on his dash board facing him!( he was in a blue Cavalier.)After Chicago, we got into Indiana, and there was nothing interesting. As we changed our clocks, we lost a whole hour.  Approximately at 5:15pm we crossed into Ohio. At 5:50 we were flagged down by an Ohio state trooper. While we awaited our sentence, we brainstormed possible causes for this mild excitement! Only to be told to move along.  We are an hour early, so we might stop for a picnic supper. Everything is awesome!!! 

Hi Carol. Hi Mom, love you. 

Typed by Teresa Piepmeier (our scribe)

The day was beautiful. As soon as we left Wisconsin, the weather cleared, the sun shone and traffic seemed to be avoiding all the roads we traveled. We ate our picnic supper and enjoyed the stunning beauty of the shores of Lake Erie. 

The Little Sisters of the Poor greeted us with kind hospitality. More later...

May 27, 2014

Hello and welcome to the second day of our nun run pilgrimage! Today our hosts are Hannah Konzen, Emily Felsheim, Teresa Piepmeir, and Mary Felsheim in the Winsome White van. Currently we are lost. Actually, we aren’t lost, we are momentarily misplaced... exploring a really interesting part of Detroit. We just left the Fr. Solanus Casey Shrine and Center. It was so amazing because we got to pray at his tomb and put our prayer requests, rosaries, and prayer cards on it. We toured the museum and saw Fr. Solanus’ violin, vestments, rosary, and sandals. We even met a friar and took a picture with him! The church interior was beautiful and we spent time praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament. This morning, we prayed with the Little Sisters of the Poor, watched a video about their founderess and community, took a tour of their Home, had an opportunity to talk with the sisters and ask them questions, took a rosary walk, visited with the residents, attended Holy Mass, and ate lunch with the sisters. Yes, it was a full morning, but it was lots of fun! 

Still May 27th, 

Hello, Silver Van here, Maggie Hackett, Mary Busse, Lexee Harbor, and Theresa Liebert.             

While our traveling companions were “momentarily misplaced”, Sister Mary David was enjoying the driving challenge. So much so, that we had enough time to stop and enjoy Lake Erie. We enjoyed a pleasant dinner of PB & J while the seagulls looked on enviously. After dinner we split up. Sister Mary David remained at the picnic table, while the rest of us chased seagulls and took the time to call home. At which time, the passengers of the “Winsome White Van” called to say that they were done exploring and would join us shortly. Praise God! We are now on our way to New York state and should arrive around 11:00. (Possibly 10:30 if Sister Mary David continues to drive so well) Everything is awesome. 

Sister M. Luka

And finally, we are found, and everyone is tucked in and headed for bed.

Everything in this pilgrimage really is awesome.

Pictures will be coming soon.

God bless you!!!