October 13 was the 100th Anniversary of Mary's Apparitions in Fatima.
To celebrate, Fe and I went to Caritas of Birmingham so we could pray in
The Bedroom of Apparitions where The Virgin Mother has appeared several
times to a visionary from Medjugorje.
Their property is large. The map shows all locations you can visit.
.
As well as their directional sign.
After attending the 8:00 morning prayer and talk from
The Friend of Medjugorje, we headed to the
Field of Apparitions by the loan pine tree
pictured in the center.
They have a statue honoring Mary.
They also have an altar they had used in the earlier days.
They had about 100-150 people in attendance.
Community members go to the Field everyday around 10:40 am to
pray 2 Mysteries of the Rosary. This coincides with Mary's Apparition
taking place daily in Medjugorje. When they are done praying, the steeple bells toll,
with peaceful music playing along with it. It gave me goosebumps.
From the Field, you get the view of the Cross atop Penitentiary Mountain,
which is a replica of the one on Cross Mountain in Medjugorje.
Next up was prayer time in the Bedroom of Apparitions.
We took our petitions along with other requested intentions and presented them.
The atmosphere was so peaceful.
This is the house.
Once finished with prayer, we were invited to enjoy bread and water.
I liked their centerpieces.
We had some time available to browse the gift shop. Lots of good materials.
So much merchandise was either given to us at half price, or free.
At 3:00, they stopped what they were doing so we could all
pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
(Bells toll throughout the day in which is a designated time of prayer.)
Later in the afternoon, we got a tour of the
Tabernacle of Our Lady's Messages.
This building is amazing.
This is the heart of their ministry, distributing Our Lady's Messages.
Most of the statues and religious art have come from Catholic Churches that have either closed, or remodeled and the items were no longer wanted or needed.
I forget who they said studied Scripture and made a replica of the Arc from the Old Testament.
They used this in their early days to carry the items needed for Mass to the Altar at the Field.
I can't imagine how heavy that must have been to carry.
The architecture contains Our Lady's Messages. Wow.
They were everywhere!
They even shared the story about how the stairwell had to be made bigger than they wanted.
Upset that it was wasted space, they had no choice but to follow code.
However, they later realized Our Lady's hand in their work when they acquired these
beautiful Stations of the Cross. They only fit in the stairwell!
You will definitely get your exercise walking the 3 flights of stairs while saying them.
They say it is the kids' favorite because they are just their height.
They poured a concrete wall to hide the semi trucks that come in for loading.
They wanted the wall to be special.
They put broken and discarded Sacramentals in the concrete while it was being poured.
For those that are unaware, any Sacramental that has been blessed is to be buried if it
can no longer be used.
Some of them are visible.
This is one of the most beautiful stained glass windows I have ever seen.
The story behind it was amazing. In a nutshell, an atheist did the work for
them, and once the job was complete, converted!
They showed us the schoolhouse. It was cute.
Lots of learning taking place there...and beyond anything you would
ever receive in Public or Private school.
Didn't get pictures of that though. I guess I was too intrigued by what I saw!
The next day, we returned for morning prayer, followed by the 2 Mysteries of the Rosary in the Field.
They had lunch for us (for a small fee) which was provided courtesy of their agrarian way of life.
We had pulled pork sandwiches which were yummy!!!
After lunch, we hiked up Penitentiary Mountain, saying the "Mary's Way" Stations of the Cross.
I was SO glad it was overcast! We started the hike at 1:30 pm.
For it being October, it was warm but bearable due to the cloud cover.
A nice view of "The Field" we have to cross through to access the trail head.
The mowed circular area they refer to as "Sacred Ground".
...through the cow pasture to the tree line.
...passing their hog pen and some barns
The front of the group is already waiting at the First Station
for the rest of us to catch up. There were probably 50 of us or so hiking.
The view of Caritas' property from the peak.
Writings to reflect upon.
I will admit that this experience was by far the most moving for me.
I was overwhelmed with emotion when I saw the Cross.
Took a picture of one of the Station Crosses on the descent.
Passed more live stock.
We have come to the end of our journey at 5:30.
I am the one in the back in the red shirt.
For more information on our experience, click this link.
I am directly behind the guy in the bright green shirt toward the back of the line. I have my sunglasses on.
We were also able to share dinner with them (again for a small fee):
Chicken, peppers, spinach salad, and roasted potatoes.
For dessert we had apple nut crisp cobbler with ice cream.
It was so good, I ate 2! YUMMY!!!
They had surprise entertainment for us as well.
The drummer happens to be the drummer for Keith Urban.
He was on the pilgrimage with his dad and brother. His dad evidently writes music for community events and the school children. They played a variety of songs including
Sweet Home Alabama.
It was a great way to end a wonderful day.
No comments:
Post a Comment