july 6th highlights

"To accept everything He gives you. This is trust; don't ask why. We must know one thing: Everything that is given to us is given out of love."
-Sister Maria Viannney

Divine Mercy Shrine
The biggest highlight from July 6 was our trip to the Divine Mercy Shrine (where St. Faustina lived as a sister), and within that our tour guide Sister Maria Vianney. Her job was to show us around and teach us about Sister Faustina, but she ended up teaching and showing us so much more. Her wisdom and true happiness did not go unnoticed by our pilgrims. Several talked about her impact at the end of the day and everyone agreed. According to Pilgrim Rosie, "She was what I strive to be -- a true definition of femininity and an image of Mary."

JPII Center Church
Another amazing thing we did the 6th was tour the grounds where we are staying, including the Church at the center. The Church was overwhelmingly beautiful, and contained such things as a rock from Bethlehem and Nazareth, a picture from the Shroud of Turin, the robes JPII wore when he was shot, and so much more. Having such a stunning presence right next to where you are staying really keeps the focus on where our minds should be -- which is ultimately growing in our zeal for the faith.
Our group's priest, Father Gino de la Rama from the Archdiocese of Newark (we'll introduce him more, and how he even ended up being our chaplain for this trip, later) has been reminding us throughout the trip that we are not tourists, but pilgrims. So when we talk at the end of the day, he asks us not about the doughnuts (panczki!) we ate, or the beautiful architecture we've encountered, but asks: "How did you encounter Christ today?"

Seeing the ways my piers have encountered Christ has made me more passionate and excited for what will happen next.

​​-Maria, Pilgrim