Skiing & Prague: The Blessings Continue

A blog post by Dan McNally, Spring 2011

Dear Parents, friends, & family, our semester continues at breakneck speed.

My week has been so full of grace and blessings, I can hardly contain myself! During the week we study hard and come closer through study, prayer, and fun together. All of this makes time move so quickly, I can barely keep track of what is going on anymore. Suddenly the week is through, and we're off on another adventure.

This weekend students had a few options provided by the school, both of which I took advantage. The first was a ski trip to the Hochkar ski resort about fifty minutes from Gaming in the Austrian Alps. We drove up through the mountains just to reach the lodge. Once there, looking up the slopes takes one's breath away. The mountain range surrounding the park cannot be compared to anything I've seen before. From the top of the highest ski lift, I literally snowboarded out of a cloud. My ears popped while I was on the ski lift. I could see for miles, and the whole distance was filled with blue, snow-covered behemoths. It was incredible. I will never forget the feeling of riding down into that valley. I even had a little goofy fun with a friend of mine. Nothing unsafe, fear not! My friend Greg and I penguin slid down the

steepest slope on our bellies, and it was probably the most fun I had all day. It was a safe, straight shot down, and we plummeted at speeds

I don't even want to imagine, but we survived, laughed, and were laughed at by the locals once we reached the bottom. It was a joy.

After a full day of very exhausting but unprecedented excitement for this semester, we hopped on the bus and headed back. Waiting for us was a warm and delicious dinner in the Mensa. Being that it was the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, we prayed a rosary in our adoration chapel and celebrated the Mass soon after our rosary. It also happened to be my birthday, and I can tell you, Jesus and His Mother are the best people you could ever hope to spend a birthday with, and our Lord gave me the gift of Himself in the Eucharist.

The next day, we were up bright and early for our bus ride to Prague!

After very little free time this week to research information on the city, very little sleep, and not knowing the language, I felt understandably lost at the start. We were fortunate to find many amazing sights, including the statue of the Infant of Prague. The city was full of beauty in its history, architecture, and European charm.

Our group even climbed up what was once a spy tower, with much of the old technology still in it. We stopped at one particular restaurant called the crème Caffe di Balcone, which I will always recommend. I spent lunch there with our group, and for little more than seven euro,I was served a three course meal including a hot lentil and sausage soup, grilled pork with a succulent green pepper sauce and some appetizing, flavorful potatoes, and a creamy, fluffy chocolate mousse.

This description may sound corny and exaggerative, but every word is true. It was one of the best meals I've had all semester and also one of the most affordable. I was so pleased with my meal that I returned for hot chocolate with another group who wanted dinner. Whenever I saw a group that I knew pass by, I would run outside to call them in. It was quite the experience. Night drew upon us quickly, and we loaded back onto our bus.

This morning, Mass was celebrated in honor of all married couples. The

Kartause families were invited to come forward for a blessing. Seeing the parents look at their children the way they did, and seeing this love reciprocated was so touching. I praised God for letting such love exist in the world. I thought of my own parents, and how much of a blessing they have been in my life, and on behalf of all the students, I want to thank you parents who are reading for your dedication to our education, to our happiness, and to our spiritual growth. We love you and appreciate all you do for us. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Now we prepare for another hard week of study, until we load the buses for Poland on Thursday night. Please keep us in your prayers, as this weekend will be very trying physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Of course, you will all be in mine. God bless you!

Peace in Christ,

Dan McNally

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