A student reflection about Prague

Traveling, I thought, was no big deal. I was definitely excited to travel

around Europe and to do so with my peers, but the idea of trekking across

a country, wasn’t entirely new to me. Or so I thought. My family’s

version of travel is to have an end destination and a basic idea of how to

get there before we set out. We don’t have an itinerary for every moment

but simply general ideas. With this in mind, I thought traveling around

Europe would be fairly similar. To say the least, I have come to a

different conclusion after only the first week of independent travel.

Planning isn’t essential, but it is helpful. For example, I bought my

train ticket to Prague the night before we left. Had I planned it out

sooner, I could’ve gotten roundtrip on the bus from Vienna to Prague.

Since that didn’t happen, my traveling was a little less cut and dry. The

way to Prague was via train and the way back was a bus and train

combination. Getting the bus ticket back was a little more interesting

and since there was no other way to do it, I got my return ticket when I

was in Prague. I’ll just say that my faith in God was increased and I

came to realize how praying to the Communion of Saints helps take one’s

mind off all of the bad possibilities. Nevertheless, I was able to go to

Prague and return safely.

Prague was so wonderful, that I would do it all over simply to have that

experience again. At the Church of Our Lady Victorious (home of the

Infant of Prague), the group I traveled with was able to receive a

blessing from a Carmelite priest. Following the Mass in Czech we looked

around at the church. A friend and I went to the priest to ask him to

bless some of the articles we had purchased but before we could ask, he

said we could get the whole group together and he would bless us in the

chapel. The blessing we received was beautiful. He prayed that we

wouldn’t encounter any troubles in our travels and that we would increase

in devotion to the Holy Infant of Prague, among other things. At this

point, I was fairly certain that God would get me home that night. That

was one of the highlights of the day.

Gaming, thus far, has been a wonderful experience. I’ve heard people say

that if they went home today, they would be satisfied. As I thought about

that statement, I at first thought that it was extreme and that I wouldn’t

assert that. But then I realized that perhaps that should be my attitude.

It is all a gift and if the giving were to cease, I should be happy with

all I have received so far. If I had to return home today, I hope I would

be able to go with the attitude that all I have received is a blessing.

With that in mind, I have been so richly blessed with beautiful scenery,

friends, family, God’s love, and the experience of living, studying, and

praying in place of such depth.

Written by Trish Irvine, Spring 2010