A Day in Dubrovnik

Thursday morning, we had an early breakfast and got on a bus to go to Dubrovnik, in Croatia, which is where we were flying out of on Friday. It’s a coastal city about 2.5-3 hours away from Medjugorje. I had no expectations, but I had a wonderful time.

We checked into our hotel, which was less of a hotel and more of an apartment, but it was clean and comfortable and had locks, so whatever works.

After checking in, we headed into the city and we drove past what looked like a castle. Now, I have been to [I think] 7 castles/palaces in Europe and all the ones I have been to are either uninhabitable or have been turned into a museum. And none of them contain an entire city. This “castle” that we saw? It’s actually a TOWN. Where people LIVE! It’s called the Old City, and apparently you can only live there if you have bloodlines tracing back to its original inhabitants.

It’s an amazingly preserved piece of the past, and also a beautiful intersection with the present, because of course there are shops and restaurants etc inside the city.

So here I am, feeling like a little kid in a playground, wanting to go running around, exploring, walking atop the castle walls, etc, thinking this will be a “real” vacation day and not thinking about anything religious for once on the trip…when we walk into a church – St. Blaise church.

It’s beautiful! And the incorruptible body of St. Silvan is inside.

Holy cow.

In case you weren’t aware, one of the signs that lead to a canonization of a saint is if their body doesn’t decompose. When this happens, it’s called “incorruptible.” I had seen an incorruptible body before in Assisi (St. Clare), but she had died of natural causes, so she kind of just looked like she was sleeping. Also, you couldn’t get right up to the glass.

St. Silvan was martyred for being a Christian. More specifically, his own father slit his throat. It was unbelievable to see this un-decayed, lifeless 1700-year-old body, absolutely perfect with the exception of a laceration on the throat.

We walked in at the end of a mass, and afterwards they were offering the blessing of the throat. David was astounded that I had never heard of this before, but I hadn’t… after looking it up, I still don't really understand it, but it apparently stems from two things: 1. St. Blaise was allegedly a doctor before joining the church and 2. St. Blaise saved a young boy from choking on a fishbone that was stuck in his throat. Anyway, apparently it's a "special prayer for protection from afflictions of the throat and from other illnesses and is a sign of our faith in God's protection and love for us and for the sick."

After, we had a delicious lunch right by the Adriatic Sea, and then hopped on a boat that took us on a loop around half the castle and around a nearby island. While on the boat, David admitted to me that he had had two separate and unacquainted people both tell him that they were praying for me, because they knew that I was meant to go on this trip, and that it would be really moving for me. Two people that I have never met or even heard of.

I was absolutely floored. They were right.

After this trip, I am filled with a spiritual fever, and I know from previous retreats and spiritual experiences that the heart doesn’t usually stay on fire like we want it to. I’ve been thinking the past few days - what is my “plan of action?” How can I water the flower of my faith and feed the fire of my love?

The only answer I’ve been able to come up with is that I need to approach conversion with love as the center.

Our Lady gives us several tools to convert and bring peace to ourselves and to the world: pray the rosary, go to mass, go to confession, fast, and read scripture. But every day shouldn’t be a checklist.

If you love someone, you will do anything for them. If you are dating or married to someone, do you tell them I love you and do nice things for them because it’s on the checklist of “things you should do for your significant other”? Do you stop yourself from lying to them or cheating on them because it’s on a checklist? No! We do these things naturally out of love, because we want to show our love and nurture our love and not do anything to harm it.

Praying the rosary, going to mass, going to confession, loving one another, avoiding temptation - these are all ways we show our love to the Lord. So if you fall in Love with the Lord, you will WANT to do these things. They won’t seem difficult or inconvenient – you will be happy to do them.

So I need to fall deeper into love, and let love inspire me. Right now, I feel inspired to pray, attend mass, and read scripture. But I’m going to be honest, fasting seems really hard right now, and so does praying the rosary multiple times a day. So as Bill Murray says in What About Bob, I’m going to take “baby steps.”

I would also like to find more opportunities to serve God. I find that in talking about it and sharing my faith, my own faith is strengthened tremendously. I used to lector at my church back home and I’d like to lector at my church in Madison. I also remember having youth group leaders who were young adults and looking up to them…I may ask and see if their youth group needs any help J

I have a feeling it won’t be an easy transition. I have hundreds of emails to get back to, Ultimate Frisbee season starts soon and I’ll be really busy, and I’m young and single and like to go out and have fun.

But when you really love someone, you don’t make excuses.

After the boat ride, we wandered into another church that had a really moving painting of the Last Supper. What I liked most about it is that the table is really small, so they’re all crowded together intimately like a family, and Jesus is serving the bread and wine to them like a priest serves the Eucharist.

To top it all off, we wandered through the city and ended up at one last church. I walked in and was completely overcome by the altar; it was so breathtaking, I couldn’t even speak. There was a mural of Heaven on the ceiling, and all I could think was, ‘Who needs an apparition when you can get a glimpse of Heaven through this artwork?!'

I saw “IHS” painted at the top and it rung a little bell in my head that said, “Jesuit?” but I wasn’t sure. There was a statue of Mary by the altar, with Her crown of 12 stars. But even better – there was a grotto of Lourdes in the corner.

When I realized it was a church dedicated to St. Ignatius of Loyola, I felt like my adult spiritual life had come full circle.

The Jesuits kept me from being totally disenchanted with the Catholic Church. Mary showed me why I should love it.
So maybe my plan of action should include combining the teachings of Ignatius and the messages of Mary to water the rose of my faith in my own, personal way.

I don’t dislike of judge other religions – in fact I have believed for quite awhile that the major religions of the Earth are all seeking the same God, just in different ways – and in fact Mary has disparaged the belief that there is “one right” religion and everyone else is condemned, and confirmed that God rules over all religions:

"Tell this priest, tell everyone, that it is you who are divided on earth. The Muslims and the Orthodox, for the same reason as Catholics, are equal before my Son and me. You are all my children. Certainly, all religions are not equal, but all men are equal before God, as St. Paul says. It does not suffice to belong to the Catholic Church to be saved, but it is necessary to respect the commandments of God in following one's conscience. Those who are not Catholics are no less creatures made in the image of God, and destined to rejoin someday the House of the Father. Salvation is available to everyone, without exception. Only those who refuse God deliberately are condemned. To him who has been given little, little will be asked for. To whomever has been given much, very much will be required. It is God alone, in His infinite justice, Who determines the degree of responsibility and pronounces judgment."

“All religions are similar before God. God rules over them just like a sovereign over His kingdom. In the world, all religions are not the same because people have not complied with the commandments of God. They reject and disparage them."

So I hope any non-Catholics reading this don’t take me the wrong way. I have felt, and do still feel, that any religion that brings you closer to God is good.

However, I have found a new love and respect for the religion I was raised on. And a big reason for that is learning the “why” behind things.

And I've decided that I’m drafting St. Ignatius and Mary for my spiritual team. Whose on yours?