Road Trip: Washington D.C. & the Basilica

Older Daughter was presenting at a conference in D.C., which meant Road Trip! for the other children and me since Husband was out of town. I approached this trip with dread, since the advice I'd heard about driving in the city (including from daughter's conference materials) went something like this:

***DON'T DRIVE IN DC!!!!!  IF YOU LOVE YOUR LIFE AND VALUE YOUR CAR, FIND ANOTHER WAY TO GET AROUND!!!!!***

That's good advice for people who have a choice, but some of us must drive in the city with a minivan that is reaaallly looooong. We dropped off Daughter at her upper-crust hotel and eventually made it to the *right* hotel, the one at which I'd actually made reservations for the rest of us (don't ask.)

Thank God for GPS.

I don't know how a tourist could possibly navigate that city without GPS, which made traveling around *relatively* painless. It probably would have been even more painless had we gotten a hotel along the metro line and had taken the train everywhere instead of having to drive to and park at Union Station twice so that we could take tours, only to be effectively abandoned by one of them, entailing a walk (albeit pleasant) from the Capitol back to Union Station, which is the location in which I've learned that Younger Daughter is really claustrophobic because she really hated it there and there were so many people, and because the bottom floor is a bunch of food-court-style places underground where people prepare food where there are no windows to look out not that I felt like it was a prison or anything or at least one huge t*e%r(r#o@r target.

Union Station 

Plus it's expensive to park there.

The only building we got to see fairly close up was the Capitol.  The building is immense and beautiful.  And locked up.  The steps were blocked off, and there were security people even under the large growth of bushes on the sides of the building. If I'd realized that the rest of our bus tour wasn't going to happen, we'd have stayed there and visited the museum.  As it was, we visited the gardens both around the building and in the park between the Capitol and Union Station.

Want to see the White House?  There are no tours because Sequestration and this is as close as you're going to get.  Sorry, suckers.

The area in front of the White House is the lawn where the Easter Egg Roll is held.  Or is that the Spring Holiday Egg Toss?  I know of a few things I'd like to see roll on that lawn. Mainly heads.

This is the view with the Capitol behind the camera: Washington Monument and National Mall and reflecting pool.

Panorama of the immense Capitol

Panorama of the side and rear of the Capitol.

Three days after dropping off Daughter, we picked her up, gave her a mini driving tour of the main sites (since she was busy with the *very successful* conference, she'd seen none of the city), then headed to the 9:00 a.m. Mass at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. 

The thought that kept occurring to me during our visit was, "Why didn't we come here first?" The place is stunning, and we could've spent the whole day there. I want to go back. 

View from the parking lot.

Front of the Basilica

One of the many chapels in the lower church dedicated to the different titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  I think this is Our Mother of Divine Providence.  The walls of the lower church (outside the chapels) were filled with memorials to individuals.

A view from inside the chapel mentioned above.

Pope Benedict sat in this chair when he visited the Basilica in 2008.  I miss him.

The museum in the lower church had many such items in it from various popes.

The chapel of Our Lady of Lebanon, patroness of the Maronite rite.

Explanatory plaque in the rear of the chapel.

St. Maron

Crypt church

Pipe organ in Crypt church

Chapel on the Gospel side of the crypt church

Crypt church altar

Mosaic of St. Cecilia

Chapels behind main altar of upper church

Chapels beside main altar of upper church

Closer-up picture of above chapels

Eucharistic chapel on Gospel side of upper church

One of the domes

Miraculous Medal chapel

Dome of Miraculous Medal chapel

One of many apparitions with which I'm unfamiliar - Our Lady of Brezje

Just because we wanted to stay there all day didn't mean we could, so we were off for a quick visit to Arlington National Cemetery to see the Tomb of the Unknowns.  Oldest Daughter urged me not to, since I was tired and we had to drive home, but she'd wanted to see this place for many years, so allons -y!

Solemn and beautiful

Tomb of the Unknowns

We were fortunate to see the Changing of the Guard, an unexpectedly moving experience.

Seven or so hours later, we arrived back safely at home.  God is good.

And I have next weekend off from The Job.  Where should we go? 

New Musical Terms

Husband has admonished me to clean out the 2500 emails in my inbox. In accomplishing this feat, I came across a list of New Musical Terms which I give to you for your enjoyment.

ALLREGRETTO: When you're 16 measures into the piece and realize you took too fast a tempo

ANGUS DEI: To play with a divinely beefy tone

A PATELLA: Accompanied by knee-slapping

APPOLOGGIATURA: A composition that you regret playing

APPROXIMATURA: A series of notes not intended by the composer, yet played with an "I meant to do that" attitude

APPROXIMENTO: A musical entrance that is somewhere in the vicinity of the correct pitch

DILL PICCOLINI: An exceedingly small wind instrument that plays only sour notes

FERMANTRA: A note held over and over and over and over and . . .

FIDDLER CRABS: Grumpy string players

FLUTE FLIES: Those tiny mosquitoes that bother musicians on outdoor gigs

FRUGALHORN: A sensible and inexpensive brass instrument

GAUL BLATTER: A French horn player

GREGORIAN CHAMP: The title bestowed upon the monk who can hold a note the longest

PLACEBO DOMINGO: A faux tenor

SPRITZICATO: An indication to string instruments to produce a bright and bubbly sound

TEMPO TANTRUM: What an elementary school orchestra is having when it's not following the conductor

A Holiday in Cincinnati

The children and I headed to Cincinnati a few months back in order to enjoy the last gasps of Winter Break before oldest daughter headed back to university.  We had a few places on our list: the Travelsmith Outlet, Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum, Joseph Beth Booksellers, and Old St. Mary Church.

Since we'd be in the area only one night, we decided to go to the cemetery after checking into the hotel.  Oldest daughter had learned about it from a few of her professors.  It is the second largest cemetery in the United States, and is impressive to drive through; I confess to worrying about getting lost.  Unfortunately, there's not a lot of the arboretum to see in January, so we'll have to schedule another visit during warmer weather. (The following are web pictures.)

According to google maps, our hotel was across the street from the complex that housed the outlet store.  What luck! After having dinner, we looked for the store but weren't successful. The GPS was leading us in circles.  After yet another web search we found.....that the outlet had closed in October.  Dagnabbit! We were hoping to snag some good deals for daughter's upcoming Study Abroad in Rome, but it was not to be. *sad face*

In the morning, after an entertaining stop at Jungle Jim's International Market we headed to Old St. Mary's Church, the oldest standing church in Cincinnati. The church is astonishingly beautiful, as I knew it would be from web photos.  We stayed longer than intended; indeed, time seemed to almost stop in this place.  Adoration was scheduled during our visit, an added bonus. Yes, I felt guilty about walking around during Adoration, but since the church is a tourist destination, I hoped Jesus (and the lone adorer) would understand. Thank heavens the children are all well-behaved. :)  This link has a 360 degree tour of the church. I took some shots of the church and a few side altars.

Our last stop was the independent bookstore, which was huge and wonderful.  Oldest daughter would have spent all day here had she been able.  We drove home, arriving safe and sound.  Thank you Jesus.

Habemus Papam!

February 11, 2013 was a lousy day.  My beloved Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would abdicate the throne of St. Peter.  I understood that he was guided by the Holy Spirit in this decision but felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach.  February 28 came and we witnessed the end of our Papa's reign.  And the tears came too easily.

Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aries was elected Supreme Pontiff yesterday and is now known as Pope Francis.  As he was introduced to us and stood before us on the balcony, I recalled the feeling of witnessing my newborn babies for the first time, and feeling the overwhelming, deep love for them.  The feeling was similar as I watched Pope Francis. What a gift he is for us!  Already the world is touched by his sweet, gentle nature.  (And the Usual Suspects are shocked *again* that the Pope is Catholic.)

 
Please pray for Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI every day.

Christmas 2012

Having once again survived Advent and the beginning of the Christmas season, Mary decided to post something fairly normal on her blog. :)

It was unfortunately necessary for the family to split up this year; Husband and three children went to his mom's house in order to take her to Christmas eve Mass. Eldest Daughter--registrational assistant, page turner, and merry-maker--stayed with me to assist at the Christmas eve services at The Job.

After playing for the first service, Daughter and I got a bite to eat then checked in at our hotel, where we received a coupon for the restaurant where we had just eaten.  (#Fail) We returned to the church where everything happened pretty much as it ought.  (Well, except for all the mistakes on that postlude. Really it's amazing it went as well as it did, since this brain-dead-after-11p.m.-organist was playing it at about 12:45 a.m.)  The choir members gave me lovely card with a very generous gift inside.  Several of them told me, with tears in their eyes, how much they appreciate me.  This is how you can tell it's a non-Catholic church. /sarcasm

Daughter and I arrived safely at the hotel, and attempted to sleep about an hour later.  Daughter managed to do so, but I got to listen to the 3 a.m. phone conversation on the other side of my wall.  No, he wasn't being loud; the walls were just that thin.

Daughter and I attended the 10 a.m. Mass at the local beautiful and reliably (for the most part) Catholic church. Mass was very nice; the priest delivered the best short-and-sweet Christmas sermon I'd ever heard.  I'd expected the Mass to last 1 1/2 hours, but it was over in 50 minutes.  The lowlight of the experience was that a little boy sitting in front of me, who was pushed into the communion line by his dad and who was obviously unchurched, received a host and had no idea what to do with it.  He held it cupped in his hands and took it back to the pew (yes, I was watching.)  When I returned to my seat, I leaned forward and told him he must consume it immediately or give it back to the priest. His dad told him to eat it, and the boy was very displeased.  Finally after much effort, the host was consumed.  I'm not convinced I did the right thing, but the boy was not to blame; his father was.  And I surely didn't want the host pocketed and taken home.

After stopping and saying hello to my parents, we continued on to the in-law's house where we enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner with extended family.  This was the first Christmas without my beloved father-in-law, and that made the whole experience more poignant.  He was sorely missed.

Husband announced that the previous weather watch had turned into a Winter Storm Warning, which put Mary on alert.  I could not stay for an extended time, and I could not return home in the middle of a storm driving a tiny car with tiny tires. The decision was made to return home that evening. So Daughter and I retrieved our bags and started the drive back. I was so tired, not having slept the night before, but we arrived home safely nearly three hours later, just in time for the Doctor Who Christmas Special.

Winter precipitation at home was minimal, but the rest of the family got enough snow to enjoy some Extreme Sledding.

And now, as in every year, we must recover from the Christmas flu. The vacation plans that I made will have to wait.

Hodie Christus Natus Est!

O magnum mysteriumet admirabile sacramentum,ut animalia viderent Dominum natumjacentem in praesepio.

O beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt

portare Dominum Jesum Christum.

Ave Maria, gratia plena: Dominus tecum.

O beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt

portare Dominum Jesum Christum.

Alleluia!

O great mystery
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord
lying in a manger!

O blessed is the Virgin, whose womb

was worthy to bear Christ the Lord.

Hail Mary, full of grace: the Lord is with you.

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb

was worthy to bear Christ the Lord.

Alleluia!

Anima Christi

This is my favorite prayer, which perfectly expresses my gratitude for receiving Our Lord's Body and Blood in Holy Communion and my awe at the Gift that has been given to us as Life for our souls.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from you.
From the wicked foe, defend me.
At the hour of my death, call me
and bid me come to you
That with your saints I may praise you
For ever and ever. Amen.

Thank you, Jesus.