The Week that Was
Another week has past rather quickly. It seems like I have just made a posting when another Monday rolls around. I am increasingly aware of the short duration of my remaining stay. The weather has finally begun to turn. It has been in the 50's and low 60's with rather cool evenings. It is supposed to warm up this week. We are all hoping it does. It seems that the weather at home is far better than it has been here these last few weeks. I am getting jealous!
This week will be a regular school week. But on Wednesday we will be touring the InBev brewery in the afternoon. If any of you know Belgian beers you know that there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 different beers. Many of them are brewed in the abbeys by the monks. The ones which seem to have penetrated Minnesota to some extent are Stella Artois, Leffe, and Hoegaarden. The InBev brewery is where Stella Artois is brewed. It actually originated in Leuven. That should be fun. On a side note, while in Budapest I had a "Budweiser." This is not the American beer but one brewed in the Czech Republic. I don't know if there is any connection or not.
Last Sunday a group of us travelled to Ghent for the opera. They were performing Francis Poulenc's Dialogue of the Carmelites. It is a fantastic opera about a convent of Carmelite nuns who were sent to the guillotine in post-Revolutionary France. Although our seats really did not have a view we were able to move around to some empty seats and see something of the stage. The production is very powerful and we had a great discussion on the way home and the next morning. We are looking into the possibility of going to see Donizetti's Maria Stuarda on May 11 in Liege. I don't know if we will be able to work it out with all of the final events as we move into our final weeks here in Leuven.
In last week's posting I mentioned Craig, a seminarian for the Diocese of Crookston, where my former housemate, Bishop Michael Hoeppner is. Somehow the picture got messed up and I could not get it included as I wanted it. Here is a picture of Craig with Tom Niehaus from the Diocese of Winona. It was taken at the Holy Father's Regina Caeli blessing.
There were two little interesting tidbits this week. One of my goals on sabbatical has been to get back to playing piano and organ. I have not actually spent much time on the piano but have gotten some of my skills back on the organ. I played a few things for Mass this Sunday - a prelude, piece during the preparation of the gifts, and postlude. It was fun. I am not yet back up to my former skill level (probably will never be) but it has been a worthwhile part of the sabbatical.
In addition, I have been studying Spanish using the Rosetta Stone series. The goal is to be able to say Mass in Spanish in my new parish. This week one of the faculty members who speak Spanish helped me with the parts of the Mass. He was encouraging so I feel that I have a start on pronunciation and so on. I will keep working on it and hope that by the time I get home I will be able to do this with some ease. I will be preaching in English for the time being but hope to get to a point of doing that in Spanish as well.
Next week is Ascension feast days. It is still celebrated here on Thursday where as in the States it is generally moved to Sunday. We have a good part of the week off and there is no kitchen service at the College so I am working on a few days in Paris with side trips to Lourdes (150th anniversary of the apparitions is celebrated this year) and to Bayeux to see the great tapistry which tells the story of William the Conqueror's victory in securing the English throne. Folks who have seen it say it is marvelous so I am anxious to see it.
When we get back a group arrives for the Sedes Sapientia program which is a two week renewal program (kind of a mini-sabbatical). I will be participating in some of the sessions for that and will go on the various tours they are offering to Antwerp, Maastricht, and Bruges. The only other big trip we are still working on is Mont St. Michel. We have a large group who wants to go so are looking into renting or hiring a van (and maybe a driver). Otherwise it really takes two days from here with an overnight somewhere. We are trying to avoid that given the limited time. We'll see if it works.
I travelled with Fr. Bernie Nolan over Easter break. This picture was taken during our cruise on the Danube. He is from Australia. In fact, half of the priests on sabbatical are from Australia. Two sabbticals who left were also from Australia and the other is from Ireland. It has been interesting getting to know folks from various parts of the English speaking world.
This week will be a regular school week. But on Wednesday we will be touring the InBev brewery in the afternoon. If any of you know Belgian beers you know that there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 different beers. Many of them are brewed in the abbeys by the monks. The ones which seem to have penetrated Minnesota to some extent are Stella Artois, Leffe, and Hoegaarden. The InBev brewery is where Stella Artois is brewed. It actually originated in Leuven. That should be fun. On a side note, while in Budapest I had a "Budweiser." This is not the American beer but one brewed in the Czech Republic. I don't know if there is any connection or not.
Last Sunday a group of us travelled to Ghent for the opera. They were performing Francis Poulenc's Dialogue of the Carmelites. It is a fantastic opera about a convent of Carmelite nuns who were sent to the guillotine in post-Revolutionary France. Although our seats really did not have a view we were able to move around to some empty seats and see something of the stage. The production is very powerful and we had a great discussion on the way home and the next morning. We are looking into the possibility of going to see Donizetti's Maria Stuarda on May 11 in Liege. I don't know if we will be able to work it out with all of the final events as we move into our final weeks here in Leuven.
In last week's posting I mentioned Craig, a seminarian for the Diocese of Crookston, where my former housemate, Bishop Michael Hoeppner is. Somehow the picture got messed up and I could not get it included as I wanted it. Here is a picture of Craig with Tom Niehaus from the Diocese of Winona. It was taken at the Holy Father's Regina Caeli blessing.
There were two little interesting tidbits this week. One of my goals on sabbatical has been to get back to playing piano and organ. I have not actually spent much time on the piano but have gotten some of my skills back on the organ. I played a few things for Mass this Sunday - a prelude, piece during the preparation of the gifts, and postlude. It was fun. I am not yet back up to my former skill level (probably will never be) but it has been a worthwhile part of the sabbatical.
In addition, I have been studying Spanish using the Rosetta Stone series. The goal is to be able to say Mass in Spanish in my new parish. This week one of the faculty members who speak Spanish helped me with the parts of the Mass. He was encouraging so I feel that I have a start on pronunciation and so on. I will keep working on it and hope that by the time I get home I will be able to do this with some ease. I will be preaching in English for the time being but hope to get to a point of doing that in Spanish as well.
Next week is Ascension feast days. It is still celebrated here on Thursday where as in the States it is generally moved to Sunday. We have a good part of the week off and there is no kitchen service at the College so I am working on a few days in Paris with side trips to Lourdes (150th anniversary of the apparitions is celebrated this year) and to Bayeux to see the great tapistry which tells the story of William the Conqueror's victory in securing the English throne. Folks who have seen it say it is marvelous so I am anxious to see it.
When we get back a group arrives for the Sedes Sapientia program which is a two week renewal program (kind of a mini-sabbatical). I will be participating in some of the sessions for that and will go on the various tours they are offering to Antwerp, Maastricht, and Bruges. The only other big trip we are still working on is Mont St. Michel. We have a large group who wants to go so are looking into renting or hiring a van (and maybe a driver). Otherwise it really takes two days from here with an overnight somewhere. We are trying to avoid that given the limited time. We'll see if it works.
I travelled with Fr. Bernie Nolan over Easter break. This picture was taken during our cruise on the Danube. He is from Australia. In fact, half of the priests on sabbatical are from Australia. Two sabbticals who left were also from Australia and the other is from Ireland. It has been interesting getting to know folks from various parts of the English speaking world.
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