Wonder Voyage 2010 Summer Blog

St. John’s twenty teenage pilgrims re-joined their families at Dulles Airport after a very successful eight day trip in France.  I heard most often the comment that now they really know each other; they’ve made new friends; they appreciate people they never really spoke to before.  I know that these bonds are going to attach them to the church throughout their time in high school, so this social dimension has a spiritual side.  Our pilgrimage had several other spiritual dimensions.  First there was the impact of the day we spent focused on the D-Day invasion and its fearsome costs.  The cemetery affected us all, and moved us away from our petty concerns.  Then there was the privilege of staying at the two monasteries, and hearing from two monks about the process by which they chose a life in religious community.  The tour of the church at the first abbey, and the beautiful Compline service at the second abbey, as well as praying with Father Martin, and hearing his simple, very moving words, was for me a great blessing of the trip.

We had two days of gorgeous weather there at the very corner of France, on the Breton coast, and we made the most of it, traveling to a secluded cove for an afternoon of swimming and exploration, and making our way to the town of Huelgoat, at the edge of a national park, where we clamored over boulders and along stream beds, sustained by a lunch purchased and prepared by the teens.  The utterly unspoiled beauty of these places expanded every heart.  We enjoyed those days so much.  The teens played games in front of the building where we slept, and we had vespers there too, enlivened by songs, deepened by candid discussions and by daily poems, and finished by prayers, all student-led.

Many of the pilgrims named the cathedrals as their chief inspiration — and we got to tour Mont St. Michel, Chartres, and Notre Dame all in one week!  The paintings, sculptures, stained glass windows, and even the architecture referred to the Bible stories we have been reading for years: to see the antiquity of the art was to feel the longevity of the Christian tradition, and gave us the feeling that we were in a powerful context.  Our last afternoon in Paris re-emphasized this feeling during a stunning guided tour through the Louvre, in which we compared, for example, two paintings of the “Road to Emmaus” story, one by Titian and one by Delacroix.  In our last vespers it was obvious how close the group felt. We all know the 23rd Psalm now, and as we said it in unison we felt the power of praying together.

The pilgrims appreciated their leaders, Jay, Krista, Sarah, and Nancy, and Shawn and Cheryl got special praise for their coolness.  There was competition to help Cheryl on the clean-up crew after meals, she was that much fun.  We felt very lucky to inaugurate a new Wonder Voyage destination.  We changed during this time away and together, and we’re starting a new chapter of our lives.

When I first heard that our trip was to France, I instinctively thought of the same thing everybody thinks of. Paris. The city of light. The Eiffel Tower. The Seine. I was also looking forward to getting to know all of the people in my class on a whole new level. On top of the companionship, there was going to be the opportunity to learn about an entirely different culture.

However, when we arrived I saw that there was more to enjoy than the cities. We’ve experienced the gorgeous French countryside giving us time to get to know each other better. We’ve shared unique experiences. From learning about the sacrifice the soldiers made on D-day, walking the beaches where the invasion occurred, to seeing 10,000 American soldier’s graves. In contrast, we have lived in quite monastic communities where silence is a lifestyle.

The whole trip has been an incredible experience. We’ve connected with God by visiting beautiful cathedrals and joining worship services; through seeing the natural beauty He has created. We see the face of God through the dedication of the monks to their God. There have been so many new and unique ways of people expressing their faith that we’ve seen.

And the trip isn’t over yet!

NOTE FROM SHAWN- Kelsey wrote a poem at Normandy that stirred me so I asked her to share:

Alongside graves of heroic soldiers,
Runs a beach.
Waves whipping the omniscient cliffs;
Craters from shells still litter the landscape
While grass creeps in
To soften the land’s scars.
A woman steals a glimpse
Over the fence,
Crying over the loss of her husband.
The bus takes her from where
She lost her love.

The team from St John’s arrived in France ready for a pilgrimage of great proportions. As we enter into Europe’s fabled land of good food, iconic landmarks, and hidden landscapes we head toward our first monastery in the heart of Normandy.

Abbaye de Mondaye sits in a magnificant pastoral setting typical of Normandy. Started by a quiet priest named Turstin in the 12th century, Mondaye has survived the 100 year War, the Black Death, the French Wars of Religion, and WWII (you can still see bullet holes in the outer walls). In the quiet and silence of the moment we begin to absorb a world,quite differnt than we’ve known, that will bring us to the heart of Christ.