Visiting

Guess who we visited?

Well, maybe not the Holy Father himself, but his cardboard cut out at the Basilica.

We were at the Basilica doing a little pilgrimage of gratitude for the end of the school year.

Actually, we were multi-tasking, we were also hoping to pick up some copies of the new encyclical.

We will be studying it in our Dominican chapter, and I prefer to read (and mark up) a paper copy rather than reading it online. I tend to forget things when I only read them on a screen. 

What were we talking about?   Oh, yes, Amazon won't have it until late July, and we were hoping to get it as soon as it came out... several weeks ago...

Remarkably, the Basilica didn't have it either!  To add insult to injury, they were getting it in the next day!  Ah well, we'll just have to visit again, I guess.

Basilica

I've been going to this Basilica since I was a small child, possibly before the main church was even open! (Picture by Zorg)

Whenever I return there, I feel like I am seeing old friends, and (as they open more chapels) meeting new ones.

There's more too it than that, even.  I remember going there with my grandmother and great grandmother who have passed on, and now, when I kneel where they knelt, I pray for them.

 This was Mxyl's favorite artwork, a mosaic of the Woman of Revelation featured on one of the half domes. 

 The new Marionite chapel was my favorite!

This is St. Charbel, a favorite saint in my family.  Perhaps I should rephrase that - we all like him, he's not physically related!

I loved the new chapel - simple, but beautiful with a protected, peaceful feeling. 

The Marionite Rite is mostly in Lebanon, a place in need of peace and protection.

 Here we have Zorg in the chapel of Our Lady of Africa, under a statue of one of the evangelists.

And here is our favorite statue of the Holy Family resting during their flight into Egypt.

I love this piece!  It captures both the strength, weariness, and trust of the small family. 

Plus, it looks to me like Mary is stretching her aching back which seems tremendously realistic to me (there is a donkey lying down on the other side of the statue).

It was a great start to Lent!

Return of the Adventurers

The new dome

 I'm behind on my posting: Adventurers started up way back on Ash Wednesday!

Since it was a holy day, we started at the Basilica.  I think I've mentioned how I used to come here as a small child, and that the Basilica was not yet complete.  It still is not completely complete, so I occasionally find new things on our trips there.  This time, they just had finished another mosaic!

That leaves only the main dome "blank" on the inside (it's painted white).

 My kid's favorites are the same as mine, way back when: we always stop by Our Lady of Ireland.  I love the tender expression on the statue.  And of course, the fountain is always a big hit!

Our Lady of Guadalupe is also one of the most beautiful shrines (and is always covered with roses from visitors).


The following week, we went to the Walters.


The Hall of Wonders remains, well, wonderful in the literal sense.  It's also the best place in the world to play "I Spy."

The Knight's Hall was a big draw.  Their Medieval collection really is fantastic as Art, as History, and as a record of faith and devotion through the centuries.




 We also made it to the Hackerman House (still part of the Walters) to see their collection of Chinese and Japanese objects in the house of an Asian curiosity collector from the Gilded Age.

In one room was this amazingly detailed pagoda.

 Each level was filled with tiny drawers.  Choclo and Oob (and I) were entranced by the exquisite craftsmanship.  Choclo wanted one for his room.

I asked Oob what he would put in those tiny drawers and he told me without hesitation: "Little sandwiches."

 Which probably meant we were close to lunch time!

But we still had time for a quick visit to the children's room to try on armor and stage a puppet show!

Guest Blog by Mxyl: More Basilica and Walters

WARNING: as I run a blog on technical things, this may contain a few notes on photo taking.  Feel free to skip over any of it.

Anyway: after a crash course on camera shooting, I'm back as well.

As the Prime Minister said, the Basilica is a beautiful place dedicated to Our Lady of the World, where all sorts of shines are devoted to Mary as certain countries honor her.  Here's a shot of Our Lady of Portugal using framing (looking for frames within frames can make for great pictures--see?  Here's one already):

The main hall was great for leading lines.  Also, just for fun, I took a separate photo with an object in the foreground to indicate depth.

Absolutely beautiful place.

At the Walters, I had a lot of fun with sculptures.  One of the best way to take photos of sculptures is to shoot from a point of view which people generally don't look at it from; getting closer to the sculpture and focusing on the face can dramatically change the meaning.

The man now looks almost like a philosopher.

After that, I took a bust of an actress (for Athena?) and modified the shot in different ways:

Probably my favorite--the statue "looks" with us

Rows are also fun ways to take pictures, like the evangelists as described in Revelation.


More characterization of sculptures and such:

 And here's my favorite:

More Rows!!

Perfect placement!!!

And stuff like that!!!!


This shot, as you can see, has been perfectly executed, with--
welllll, okay, maybe the rows aren't perfect, but they're still...
Uh...
They're... kind of okay?

Alright, fine, so maybe the first one's head is flat, the second one doesn't have a nose and the third one isn't even the same material, but still...

Erm...

Well, I'll be back sometime before Easter!

Awesome American History: 1812-1820

This covered pages 69-77 in The American Story.  The topics were Uncle Sam, Audubon, and whaling.

The active activity was supposed to be a bird walk (like Audubon), but it was unseasonably cold and windy, so we skipped it.

The art activity was fairly active, though!

We drew whales,ships and islands lightly on paper, then had the kids turn the pages over on carpet and stab them with pencils (trying to ht the "whale").

this is a variant on a game my Dad played as a kid during WWII, except he drew tanks or ships.

At any rate, the kids loved it! 

For our snack, I wanted to do chipped beef, since that was close to what "Uncle" Sam Wilson was selling to the US government, but it was a Friday during Lent, so we went with the all-American apple pie instead.

So this was actually the Friday before Holy Week.  We didn't have class on Good Friday, but we did do two special things: we visited the Basilica for the Memorial of the Lord's Passion,(and were able to venerate their relics of the Passion!), and we did our own Living Stations.

This year, the kids did them completely on their own, and I loved it so much, I took pictures of each one, and I am hoping to print them as a book for our family.

Here is the one of Veronica wiping the face of Jesus:

Baltimore with Klenda

Klenda is starting at the Schuler School in a few weeks, and she wanted to do a test run of her train commute.

I spent 6 years living and working in Baltimore, so I volunteered to ride along and show her the sights.

I really love Baltimore!









After checking out the lay of the land around her new school, we walked downtown and visited the Basilica of the Assumption.





 We walked around the Mount Vernon neighborhood and stopped in at The Walters.

It was lovely to linger over the paintings.

The 1890s townhouse the museum was renovating was finally open, and it is really an architectural gem.

 
 I've always loved this sweeping staircase which curves up to a carved plaster dome crowned with this beautiful window.

 They've actually installed a lot of modern art  in the townhouse, and I felt the stylistic conflict was a bit jarring.  Previously, they had the house decorated as a period piece: the home of a collector of Japanese art, and I really had enjoyed that, so maybe it's partly just the contrast.

We did find some pieces we liked, though, including this exquisite pottery.

Then it was time for the train back!




One of the things I've always loved about Baltimore is that the city overflows with art.  I've never seen a building there that was strictly utilitarian.  Even the warehouses have little architectural  flourishes.

The main train station has beautiful stained glass ceilings and  walls decorated with marble and carved plaster.


It was such a fun and beauty filled day!

Oob's First Communion

 The happiest day!!

Oob has been waiting to receive Jesus for a long time.

Sunday morning the question was, "How many more hours? How many more minutes?"

 And then, He was here!

So happy!  So much love!!

Thank you, Blessed Mother, for helping Oob get ready!

Thank you Fr. Stack!!

That afternoon, we went to the Basilica gift shop to let Oob pick out something to remember his First Communion.








He picked this beautiful glass depiction of the Last Supper, which he is keeping by his bed.

Like this, but right side up!

Mumpy and Pa also gave him money to pick out something.  He chose a "golden" rosary, a rosary case, a medal of his patron saint, and an image of Divine Mercy.

Happy, happy Oob!

Now we're off to morning Mass for his second Communion!

Gospel Dessert: Palm Sunday

I was away visiting my folks for the weekend, but, when I got back,  Klenda had made a tiramisu cake with a palm theme.

We're excited to be entering Holy Week!

It's also spring break week for Klenda and Mxyl, so we'll be doing some special things with them.

We'll be helping out with decorating the church for the Triduum.

We won't be doing any of our usual classes, although we will visit the Basilica for Adventurers.

Hope you are having a great Holy Week, too- let's keep each other in prayer!