Paris

We arrived in Paris on Friday after a long day of driving. After eating dinner in downtown Paris we made our way to our hotel. He were all very tired so we went to bed to get a good nights rest.
We woke up Saturday morning and ate a quick French breakfast Of delicious croissants and jam and then headed for a bus tour around the city. We were surprised to learn that the city of Paris as it is now is a relatively new city. Most of the current structures were bulky in the 1800's and so the streets were much wider. Many people in the group throughout that Paris was a lot like New York City. After seeing the eiffel tower and the arc de triumph as well as many other famous sites in Paris, we broke from the tour group to have our own tour of the many beautiful little churches around Paris. We had holy mass as the church of the miraculous medal where the incorrupt body of St. Catherine, whom the blessed mother appeared to in order to reveal the medal, lies in rest beneath an altar. The church also contains the heart of St. Vincent de Paul which was very powerful for all of us to spend time in prayer before. We then headed to the church where the incorrupt body of St. Vincent de paul lies in rest. The churches in Europe are filled with relics of the saints. It has been beautiful hearing our youth as they realize that they have to be the saints to fill the churches of America. We went to several other churches around Paris including the one where St. Louis de Montefort said his first holy mass before meeting up again with the group for dinner.
On Sunday we headed to Holy Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. We were filled with wonder and awe at the glory of God which is so mamifested in that glorious house of God. Our eyes were all instantly drawn upwards as our souls were raised to contemplate the glory of God. After mass we were given free time to wander Paris. My group headed to a market to pick up food for a picnic along the Paris canal across from Notre Dame. We then headed to La Sacra-coure or the Church of the Sacred heart. We all fell in love with this beautiful church up on a hill shining as a light over all of Paris. It was a truly beautiful church. Many of us thought it was even better than Notre Dame. We were all very happy to discover that the church had perpetual adoration and so we were able to spend some time praising our Lord in this truly beautiful Church in honor of his Sacred heart. We especially prayed that the Lord would bless our diocese with an abundance of Vocations to the Priesthood. After spending some time in prayer we then headed to the Louvre museum where we were able to see many famous works of art including the Mona Lisa. After dinner we headed back to our Hotel to prepare for our day of travel to Madrid! May God Bless you abundantly and please keep us in your prayers as we embark on World Youth Day in Madrid!