Our two weeks of vacation is coming to a close.
We started with our annual, four-day silent retreat with the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross and Opus Sanctorum Angelorum. Besides the annual retreat resolutions, the talk which will stick with me the most is Fr. Matthew's talk on the power of the rosary. He said that while it sounds overly simplistic, the rosary is the solution to the ills which beset our country ~ the threat to religious freedom, abortion, same-sex marriage and military involvement with Syria. He gave a number of instances in which other countries have had miraculous intervention and resolution after Catholics had launched rosary crusades. It left me feeling very hopeful.
After a stop at home to do laundry and check on the cats, we headed south. Our first stop was in Decorah, Iowa. Decorah has both a quilt shop and a yarn shop, but we left bright and early in the morning, and so I was spared the temptation to violate my "one project at a time", and "No more yarn/fabric until I reduce my stash!" rules. Next stop was Gutenburg, where we stopped to look at their facsimile of the Gutenburg Bible. No chapter and verse marked in that baby. It is Latin, of course, and printed in script. Gutenburg has wonderful limestone architecture in the town. It also has a cat which apparently hangs around the post office waiting for customers to come by and pet him! We knew he was no stray by the collar and tag, so I had to do just that. After all, my two kitties were sitting at home alone. As we walked away the cat had to follow us for a couple of blocks.
On the way through Iowa we discovered the shrine at St. Donatus. We saw a sign on the road which simply said, "outdoor way of the cross", and decided to stop. The stenciling in the church reminded us of St. Mary, Help of Christians in St. Augusta. It had the traditional carved altars and statues as well. The stations were on a trail above the cemetary. I was not ready to climb the hill, but I went for it anyway, since Arthur was walking it. The stations lead to a small chapel with the Pieta. The setting was very European, with the shrine looking down over the church, the cemetary and the valley. Sheep graze the hill, so we had to watch where we walked to avoid the droppings. Because the stations were outdoors and up such a steep hill with the shrine at the top, it was a pilgrimage walk. I would highly recommend it to everyone.
Our ultimate destination was Hermann, Missouri. We entered the city via the Christopher Bond Memorial Bridge, paid for in large part by your federal tax dollars. The bridge was beautiful, but it could have been scaled back a bit given the size and condition of the city which we were entering. Herman had wonderful red brick 19th century German influence architecture, but we saw many for sale signs, and weedy sidewalk gardens which made it appear as if the town no longer cares whether or not the tourists come. No quilt or yarn shops in town, nor a shop with German imports, like the former Domeier's in New Ulm. Many antique and second-hand stores, but we bought only a few small foodstuff items. We attended a fish and chicken fry at St. George's Cathholic Church on Friday evening, and were a bit surprised to see how the stewed tomatoes and bread which they served was relished by diners! I came home with some recipes from Mary, the cook at Captain Wohlt's Bed and Breakfast. I did not get her recipe for the orange cranberry scones, or the wine-poached pears, so will have to do some research and testing on the internet for those. Brant Wilkins, the inn owner, hinted that they may have to do a cook book. I'm all for it!
We did only two winery tours while in Hermann. We came home with no wine. However, we found another pilgrimage sight where we spent an afternoon, Our Lady of Sorrows Shrine and St. Martin's Church and Museum at Starkenburg out of Rhineland, Missouri. St. Martin's Church is a now closed Catholic parish. The building is on the National Register of Historic Buildings, and is intact, with paintings, altar and side altars, and statues. The shrine has the first built, tiny wooden chapel with a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, and a much larger stone church above it. Outside it has a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes, a statue of Jesus and the Angel with the chalice in the Garden of Gethsemane, a way of the cross, and a crypt with a statue of Christ lying in the tomb. We were able to make our Passio at the shrine.
I think we also discovered the cat lady of Hermann. On our walk home from church one day we saw six cats and their beds and carriers out on a porch. I still wonder why my cats cannot get along so well!
We spent our last night on the road in Galena, another town with great architeture, but way too many night time carousers. The town was packed as we went to find a place to eat on Saturday night.
