Another Busy Month: August

It's been awhile since I really got to post much here.  What have I been doing?  Glad you asked.

August has been incredibly busy.

July ended with my move out of my summer assignment to my parents' house, temporarily of course.  The first few days of that week consisted of me packing, first for our Seminarian Gathering, then for seminary.  I had been helping to plan our Gathering all summer, so Wednesday was our last day to get ready before it started.  Mostly it was a trip to the store to buy a whole lot of drinks and some food.  We then had to move it from the van to the room where we would be meeting.  And, because I don't think ahead, I was wearing pants and a polo.  And it was about 90 degrees.  That was a fun day.

Our Gathering started on the 4th with a good talk by someone from the Tribunal, followed by a trip to paintball.  It was my first time paintballing, and it was a lot of fun, despite the heat and humidity and the long pants and shirt.  In fact, on our first "mission," I was the last one out, largely because I had no idea what I was doing so I just stayed in the back.  It almost worked.  I only got two bad hits, one on the top of my head, and one on the collarbone.  Overall, it was a good time.

Friday was a day of a few talks, one by our vocation director and one by our bishop, which is always a good time.  We also had a Jeopardy! game made by one of the seminarians focusing on the history of the diocese.  It was a lot of fun, though I was the judge of who raised their hand first so I was the enemy.

Saturday was our pilgrimage.  This year it was focused on Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, an Italian priest who founded a number of churches in southwest Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.  He was a true pioneer priest, even drawing the plans for many of the churches.  First we went to St. Augustine in New Diggings.  Built in the 1840s, it was restored recently to look exactly as it had 170 years ago.  We had Mass there, Extraordinary Form, which was fantastic.  They even rang the bell for us.

Next, we headed over to Sinsinawa Mounds, home of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sister who were founded by Fr. Mazzuchelli.  In their heyday, they were the largest order in the United States, numbering nearly 2000!

 Painting of Fr. Mazzuchelli when he entered seminary, around age 17

 After he died, he was found wearing this penitential chain around his waist

The habit Sinsinawa Dominican sisters used to wear

We then trekked over to St. Patrick's Church in Benton, the final resting place of Fr. Mazzuchelli.  Holy Hour there was a treat, even if the A/C wasn't working.

 He had a great devotion to Our Lady, Queen of Sorrows

We finished the pilgrimage with dinner at the house of a major benefactor for the diocese.  His farm includes a nice chapel, Stations of the Cross, various statues, and a huge rosary.  What a great man.

Sunday brought us Mass with the bishop, a fantastic brunch, and then the priest/seminarian soccer game in Sauk City.  The seminarians won, of course, 4-2.

Monday was another big event for us.  We had a golf tournament with some of the priests from the diocese as well as some local benefactors.  This took place at the Janesville Country Club, which is the oldest country club in Wisconsin and something like the fourth oldest in the United States.  My group did not do very well, but we still had fun.

Tuesday was picture day!  Always a favorite day.  We also had an event with major benefactors of the vocation office.  And we finished on Wednesday with a talk on the importance of learning Latin as priests of the Latin Rite.  What a concept!

After a half day of "rest" at home, it was move-in day at the seminary on Thursday.  Busy busy busy, but the people here were great about helping make it feel like home.

 My new home

The seminary used to have a baseball team!  Of course, they also used to have 400 seminarians 

Friday the 12th began orientation.  Like most places, it's that "necessary evil" to learn the ropes.  One among many interesting facts, it was built in 1855, making it the oldest continually operated seminary in the United States.  So that was my next week.  One of the highlights was Monday, the Feast of the Assumption.  We went over to the cathedral to help out at the Open Door Cafe, a fantastic organization that feeds 5000 lunches every year at no cost.  We also got a tour of the cathedral.  The less said the better.

Milwaukee cathedral circa 1940s 

That afternoon, thanks to the feast day, we had our only real block of time free for two weeks (or three for me).  I took that time to see Suicide Squad, because I had to.  My short review: despite some great performances by Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, and especially Will Smith, it was one of the most disappointing movies in awhile.  The editing was horrific, and the villain was a Marvel-like throwaway villain, only more laughable.  I'm going to blame the studio for at least a little bit of that.

Our orientation ended with a trip to a lake house on Saturday.  It was a nice, relaxing time for some of us.  Others went crazy playing volleyball and soccer. 

Sunday morning we were free to attend Mass wherever we wanted.  I decided to head over to St. Stanislaus, where my great (great?) uncle was the pastor in the 1880s/1890s.  This former Polish church is now run by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.  It was a Low Mass, and I have to admit to feeling a little emotional thinking that I was in the same space as my ancestor, listening to the same Mass that he would have celebrated.

Then Sunday afternoon we headed to our yearly silent retreat in Illinois.  It was a good retreat, focusing on the Beatitudes.  As always, the most important part of the retreat is the personal time with God.  I was able to finish Cardinal Sarah's book, which was inspiring.

And now I'm back in the seminary.  Classes begin Monday.  I'm ready to start theology!