Today at St. Meinrad

We had a splendid day today. We loaded the bus about 9:00 and headed for Boonville and the the little nursing home there. We sang several songs, hugged the residents and then boarded the bus for one of the seven Benedictine Archabbeys in the world. The Benedicitines are a Catholic order that was begun in 480 by St. Benedict. There are Benedictine brothers and priests all over the world. They are monks which means they live in a monastery and dedicate their lives to work and prayer.

The children were absolutely wonderful on the bus. We had a few squirrels, but all in all it was a nice ride.

We unloaded and headed out for the Big Church. This is a lovely building inside and out. The children loved running up the big church steps and walking into what can only be described as a tradition deep in the Middle Ages. We looked at the beautiful stained glass windows which are from Germany. We looked at the Black Madona from Switzerland, and we went into the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. Then it was upstairs to the Chapter Room where the kids got ashes. Brother Maurus was delighted to put a sooty cross on each child's forhead and say, "Remember thou art dust and into dust thou shall return." The kids loved it. They loved the beautiful paintings along the ceiling of this very special room. Then it was off to lunch. We ate at the Guest House and then went off across the way to the Big Church again for Noon Prayers. Every monastic order prays every three hours every day. These prayers are called the Litany of the Hours. We attended a fifteen minute Noon Prayer and at the end the children were able to participate in saying the Our Father right down to the youngest. Each child said his prayer with great knowlege and wisdom. And at the end the children added the sign of the cross. It might have been a bit of a disruption to the regular order of things, but the look on the faces of these two nuns was enough to say that they were enchanted with such a well behaved and beautifully knowledgable group. Our children participated perfectly. They sat quietly and added their little prayer like pros. We were sooooooo proud of them. After prayers, we let them roll, slide, run, jump, and tumble down the big hill in front of the big church. Then it was home.

This is our first field trip of the year. If it is any symbol of how the rest of our field trips will be, we are in for a great field trip year!