The National Shrine of St. Philomena

Two winters ago my friend Danette and I had plans to visit the National Shrine of St. Philomena in Briggsville,Wisconsin.  Our plans were foiled, however, by a winter snowstorm that made the two hour drive from our homes impossible. Instead we made a prayerful pilgrimage in Milwaukee and ended up at St. Joseph's Chapel where we miraculously discovered St. Philomena's relic in a reliquary room containing hundreds of relics.  It seems we were meant to spend the day with her whether it was at her shrine or within our local area.  I still had my heart set on a trip to the shrine someday, but, Danette has since moved to Florida, so I put the thought of a day trip to the shrine out of my mind.  What fun would it be without her?

Recently my family joined me on a trip to Wisconsin Dells where I attended a conference for my job. Whenever we spend time away from home, I look for a nearby church so that I might still attend daily Mass, but hadn't done so on this particular trip.  As we were driving into town from the hotel for a meal out, we passed a billboard advertising St. Cecelia's Church.  It seems God gave me a sign, literally, that He wanted me at Mass.  So on the final morning of our stay, I arose early and drove into the Dells for Mass.  When I arrived at the church I was disappointed to find that there was only a prayer service and not a Mass, but I was still grateful to have received the Body of my Lord and to have to opportunity to visit a charming, small-town church, although it did make me a bit homesick for daily Mass at my  beautiful home parish of Old St. Mary in downtown Milwaukee.  As I was driving back to the hotel, I saw a highway sign that read "Briggsville 10 miles" and I then recalled that Briggsville is the home of the National Shrine of St. Philomena.

The Shrine of Our Lady of the Dells at St. Cecelia Parish

the church boasted many beautiful stained glass windows

the main altar

Our Lady's side altar

St. Joseph's side altar with the tabernacle

The last day of the conference really dragged as I was now looking forward to stopping at the shrine on our way home.  As we drove into Briggsville we were greeted by another sign that read "Welcome to Briggsville, Home of the National Shrine of St. Philomena."  I doubt that there are many other small towns that boast a shrine as the highlight of their area. The shrine was easy to find as Briggsville is a very small town, one of those that you would miss if you drove too fast.  

As I entered the outdoor shrine, I was greeted by the strong smell of candle wax and the sight of many bouquets of silk flowers and plastic rosaries, a witness to the many prayers that had been offered there.  A book for recording prayer intentions and several pamphlets about St. Philomena were also available.  It was such an honor to spend a few minutes praying with St. Philomena for all of my intentions, and to offer a special prayer for Danette and her family whom I sorely miss but who were with me in my prayers at this very holy site.  

There is much to admire at the lovely shrine which was built by Fr. I.C.Wiltzius, a priest with a deep devotion to St. Philomena, in the late 1940's.  I admit that I was a bit disappointed that the interior of the church was very plain, but perhaps it is a work in progress and at my next visit I may be surprised to find that it will have been lovingly embellished.  

Except for a man praying in front of the tabernacle inside the church, my family and I were the only ones visiting the shrine at that time.  I didn't want to disturb his prayer to ask about where I might find the relic of St. Philomena, and my family and I were anxious to return home, so we kept our visit short and sweet. Now I'll just have to make a return visit some day to find her relic and to spend more time praying with one of my favorite saints!

I recommend that you learn more about the fascinating history of the shrine here.  The shrine website is full of interesting information and stories of miracles attributed to St. Philomena including several pertaining to the building of the shrine.

You can read my previous posts about St. Philomena here and here.

St. Philomena, powerful with God, pray for us!

Parfrey's Glen

Beauty for the eyes both majestic and miniscule, woodsy fragrance so heady and delightful the senses can't possibly take it all in, melodious sounds of birds and babbling brooks to soothe the soul, this is what my family and I find at my favorite hiking trail, Parfrey's Glen, part of Devil's Lake State Park, near Baraboo,Wisconsin, where we revel in God's gifts of natural wonder on a much needed annual family visit.

Parfrey's Glen begins with an easy, paved trail through a wooded area but quickly evolves into a deep gorge of sandstone and quartzite carved out by the ice age millions of years ago.  The temperature is easily ten degrees cooler within the gorge than what we experienced on the paved path.  A few years ago, sturdy wooden bridges carried the hiker over the rocky stream-bed to a small waterfall until the floods of 2008 and 2010.  The effects of water on the Baraboo area were so strong during the floods that the man-made bridges were washed away.  The Glen was closed to the public for nearly two long years.  The trail has since re-opened but without the bridges, and the hikers must now navigate the rocks and fallen trees carefully so as to keep from twisting an ankle on the slippery rocks or falling into the water.  To call the trail difficult is an understatement, and yet, the thrill of the challenge and the beauty of the surroundings makes the hike well worth it and brings me to praise God for His glorious creation with one of my favorite prayers, the Orthodox Akathist Hymn.

Akathist Hymn-Glory to God for All Things

O Lord, how lovely it is to be Thy guest. Breeze full of scents; mountains reaching to the skies; waters like boundless mirrors, reflecting the sun's golden rays and the scudding clouds. All nature murmurs mysteriously, breathing the depth of tenderness. Birds and beasts of the forest bear the imprint of Thy love. Blessed art thou, mother earth, in thy fleeting loveliness, which wakens our yearning for happiness that will last for ever, in the land where, amid beauty that grows not old, the cry rings out: Alleluia!

Thou hast brought me into life as into an enchanted paradise. We have seen the sky like a chalice of deepest blue, where in the azure heights the birds are singing. We have listened to the soothing murmur of the forest and the melodious music of the streams. We have tasted fruit of fine flavour and the sweet-scented honey. We can live very well on Thine earth. It is a pleasure to be Thy guest.

Glory to Thee for the Feast Day of life
Glory to Thee for the perfume of lilies and roses
Glory to Thee for each different taste of berry and fruit
Glory to Thee for the sparkling silver of early morning dew
Glory to Thee for the joy of dawn's awakening
Glory to Thee for the new life each day brings
Glory to Thee, O God, from age to age

It is the Holy Spirit who makes us find joy in each flower, the exquisite scent, the delicate colour, the beauty of the Most High in the tiniest of things. Glory and honour to the Spirit, the Giver of Life, who covers the fields with their carpet of flowers, crowns the harvest with gold, and gives to us the joy of gazing at it with our eyes. O be joyful and sing to Him: Alleluia!

Bay Beach Amusement Park

It's been a long summer for my youngest teens.  With both parents and the older teens working, the summer days grew long and dull for them.  They were forced to entertain themselves with creative (and dangerous) little activities such as mattress surfing down the stairs, practicing cartwheels and handstands in the living room, and taking selfies while hanging upside down on the furniture.

Their mother, too, was showing signs of becoming summer stir-crazed as well, spending her spare time cutting out paper doll sisters just for the fun of it as if she had nothing better to do with her time.  But they are terribly sweet, aren't they?

It seems it was time for a badly needed vacation.  So I took a few days off work at the end of summer for some family fun including a day of delight at  Bay Beach Amusement Park  in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Bay Beach has been in continuous operation since 1892 and is the 9th oldest amusement park in the United States.

A summer day at Bay Beach is a family tradition going back to my own childhood.  My parents would take my eight siblings and I there every summer to enjoy the ten cent rides. And today Bay Beach remains an extremely reasonable family destination.  There is no admission fee, the parking is free, they boast fabulous picnic grounds with lots of playground equipment, and the price for rides is a very low twenty-five to fifty cents each! My family of seven can play all day for under $40!

My original intention for our end of the summer trip to Green Bay was to stop at Our Lady of Good Help Shrine in Champion, for Mass, but the first Mass of the day wasn't until 11:30 AM, so we chose to attend the 7 am Mass at our parish, Old St. Mary in Milwaukee, and then we made the two hour drive and arrived at the park just before it opened for the day.  All of the lines for the rides were short allowing us plenty of time to ride our favorites, like the bumper cars and the scrambler, again and again.  As we watched all of the many people at the park with near-constant smiles on their faces, my daughter remarked, "This is THE place for fun!"

In the last few years, the park has added the Zippin Pippin Roller Coaster for the low price of one dollar per ride.  It looked pretty tame as far as roller coasters go, so I was eager to give it a try.  I don't know what I was thinking.  It was horribly scary!  Whenever I'm afraid, I turn to my Mother for support.  As I took my seat and pulled the safety bar down, I began to pray the Hail Mary silently.  As the roller coaster took the first plunge down, my silent prayer became a scream.  I was praying, "Haaaaaillll Mary, FULL OF GRACE, the Lord is WITH THEE!!!!"  throughout the entire duration of the ride.  I'm sure that the Blessed Mother heard that prayer all the way at her Shrine in Champion even though we didn't actually go there!

We finished off our end of summer day of delight with a stop in my hometown, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for a visit to the world's best and most charming candy store and ice cream shop, Beerntsen's Confectionery.  The long days of summer may be drawing to an end, but our memories of family fun  at Bay Beach will remain with us for the rest of our lives.

For your own virtual taste of the Zippin Pippin, visit this link or watch the video at the end of this post. 

Jack and Mary by the Bay

Never too old for the classic helicopter!

Let's fly away!

the swings

a selfie on the train

love the carousel

Zippin Pippin Rollercoaster

outside the arcade

Beernsten's Confectionery

the inside of sweetness

yum!

Campfire Conversations

Moses and George Bush were riding on an elevator. George Bush recognized Moses and said "Hello." Moses ignored him. George Bush tried again but still, Moses offered no response. Finally, George Bush reprimanded Moses and said, "Don't you know it's rude not to speak to someone who is talking to you?" Moses replied, "The last time I talked to a Bush I spent 40 years in the desert!!!" (A campfire joke shared by my son John.)

On our camping vacation with our long-time friends from church, all of us friends since our teenagers were babies, we have a tradition of starting two adjacent bonfires at night-one for the adults and another for the kids, otherwise our group is too large for anyone to cozy up close enough to the warm fire.

The conversation at the adult campfire quickly turned to St. Matthias Parish, of which we have all been members for 15-20 years. The talk concerned the recent trend of emptier pews and the many reasons why we felt that families would choose to leave a parish to which they had long been members. One thought was that it is a parent's duty to make sure that their children were happy at church and the parents better do whatever it takes to insure that the little ones don't give up the faith, even if that means changing parishes. And Steve and Kathy, who have long been pillars of the parish, deeply involved in every ministry, and most currently passionately building up the youth of the parish by running the youth ministry which is affectionately called FEET (Faith Empowering and Engaging Teens), were just wanting ideas to keep those same teens who might be bored at church actively involved with their faith at the parish in which they were raised. There certainly are no easy answers and everyone is going to do what they feel is best for their family-either leave or dig in and plant the roots of faith even deeper.

So this girl who likes to send her roots down deep and stay put, changed the topic to share her love for her family minivan. Our minivan is over ten years old; it's rusty and noisy and has safely carried our family over 120,000 miles. Paul would like to trade it in for a newer and less maintenance-costly model, but I love my van-it's my daily traveling companion and I just can't bear to part with it. Sometimes it makes some strange noises, but I just turn the radio a little louder and carry on. I feel the same way about my house and my husband. I know that my van, my house and my husband, beloved though they all are, are none of them perfect. But I love them all just the same and couldn't imagine my life without them

And that's exactly how I feel about my parish. Sure, we've got troubles and problems, but if I bail, which I've often been tempted to do over the years, then I haven't done one single thing to help solve the problems, I've only selfishly run away to look for something new which I will soon find has problems of it's own.

A few years ago, when my depression was at it's most severe, God called me to begin attending daily Mass. I didn't want to go. I cried all the way to church, cried all during Mass, and then cried all the way home again. I begged God to just let me roll over and sleep for another thirty minutes. Why did He always have to drag me to church every day when I was just tired and wanted to sleep, I wondered? But somehow God's drawing me to Mass was powerful and potent and I could not resist, so there I was every day at 7 AM Mass, tears and all. Over time, I stopped complaining and dried my tears long enough to notice how beautiful that daily Mass was and before long I couldn't imagine staying away. I began to thank God for daily Mass instead of complaining about how unhappy I was to attend.

I think there's a lesson in that experience for the youth of our parish. They might not want to attend Confirmation classes, they might complain about having to dress nicely for church, they might prefer to sleep in on a Sunday morning, and they might even say that Mass is boring. But if we, as parents, continue to compel them to come through obedience, sooner or later they will stop complaining and they will find the beauty in the routine of worship and they will feel the love God has for them and will respond in wanting to give all of their love right back to the Lord. If we teach them to run away every time things become the least bit unpleasant at church or in life, then we haven't done our job in firmly teaching them the faith or given them the life skill of endurance through good times and bad.

And Steve looked over at the youthful campfire and said, "Now that's spiritual-twelve teens getting along, sharing stories with one another, even though they rarely see each other. There's a fine example of living joyfully and glorifying the Lord."

And why does that spiritual connection happen? Because even if the parents complain about the difficulties of camping such as rain, cold weather, and hard rocks to sleep on, they persevere in bringing their children on a family camping trip year after year and the children learn that there are joys and sorrows intertwined in all things, that life is a combination of ease and difficulties, and that by lovingly continuing the traditions of our faith and our lives we allow God to shine through and bring beauty and faith to all situations.

And so we stay at our parish, we continue on in our Catholic faith, we hold on to our friendships. We embrace a radical fidelity to the lives to which God has called us and in the end, He will reward our faithfulness with his abiding and eternal love.

The Lord Has Done Marvels For Us

"The Lord has done marvels for us." Psalm 126

The Bender family has long been early risers, so on the first day of our camping vacation, while our friends were sleeping in, we all got up for an early morning walk along the lake. As we were returning, I noticed a man sitting on a picnic bench with a big camera aimed our way. I suspiciously told Justin and Mary, my walking companions, "That guy over there is taking a picture of us."
















And suddenly, I recognized the photographer as our friend, Steve!


















And Steve also candidly captured Paul and Joe. I never cease to be amazed at Joe's height, how at the tender age of fifteen, he towers over the rest of the family.

















And John with Jack trailing behind.

















And here we all are rocking out in the sunshine!

















And last but certainly not least, Steve snapped this lovely photo of the beauty that surrounded us at Devil's Lake. The Lord has done marvels for us, indeed! He has given us the love of a family striving for holiness and happiness, the glories of nature, and time for rest and relaxation away from the daily grind so that we can catch our breath and appreciate His many gifts-and it is all LOVE!