Sunday, July 15, 2012

Packing Out

So it begins...





Saturday, July 7, 2012

Catholic places we have visited in Japan

Because some of John's compatriots in the Catholic Men of the Chapel asked:
             (This is a work in progress. I will try to add links and photos and the real names of the churches as I find them.)

Our Lady of the Assumption, Misawa (Fr. Andre's church)
Sacred Heart Church, Towada
Seitai Hoshikai - Akita
Hakodate Catholic Churches
 -old church (and Lourdes grotto)
 - new church
Trappistine monastery in Hakodate
Furano church (Hokkaido)
Sendai cathedral
Tokyo cathedral (and Lourdes grotto)
Franciscan church in Roppongi
Narita catholic church
Kyoto cathedral
Niigata cathedral
Base churches:
Misawa AB
Iwakuni MCAS
Atsugi NAS
Nagasaki Urakami Cathedral
26 Martyrs Hill and Museum
Nyokodo--hut of Dr. Takashi Nagai
Seibu-no ______-- Franciscan monastery founded by St. Maximillian Kolbe
    (Kolbe museum, kindergarten, boys' school, Lourdes grotto, church with side chapel of St. Max)
Oura historic church and former Latin school - Nagasaki
Oura new church

Bonus! Korean churches
Osan shopping area church
Myeong-dong Cathedral (and crypt with relics of the Korean Martyrs)
Yongsan North chapel

Extra Bonus!!! Thailand!
Chiang Mai Cathedral

Double Extra Bonus!!! New Zealand!
Christchurch Cathedral [no longer in use due to 2011 earthquakes :-(]
            This is where Matthew threw up on John just as Midnight Mass was starting on Christmas Eve, so John and I went back to Mass in the wee hours of Christmas morning and found ourselves at a Traditional Latin Mass. Serendipity. :)

Wellington Church
Queenstown church

China - sort of
We did not have the freedom to leave our tour group in Beijing, but we did pass a large church while on the bus--we assume it is a government-approved church--and realized it was Catholic as we passed.

St. Joseph

Now that we have our orders and many of the arrangements to leave Japan are proceeding, we are beginning to think harder about what we're doing when we get to Maryland. In other words, we're looking for a house to rent and a van to buy. 
 
My second-youngest brother and his family live in Maryland, and we are hoping against hope to find a home near theirs. They have enticed us with stories of the neighborhood and, especially, their parish. Oh, my goodness, how we would love to participate in Mass at a parish that appreciates Latin! Even more, my brother is going way above the call of family duty to help us.
 
Whenever we need a home, St. Joseph always prays for us, and the right home comes available just as we need it. So, following Meghan's prayer for "Daddy to get the best job where God wants us to go," we are also praying for the best home where God wants us to live.  We will start our novena to St. Joseph tonight. :)
 
 
The Prayer to St Joseph
Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God. I place in you all my interests and desires.
Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary of contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me and ask him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath.

St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls - Pray for us.

Amen.


And in advance thanksgiving, we have ordered an icon for our parish here in honor of St. Joseph. It will hang in our Blessed Sacrament chapel and it looks like this:




St. Joseph, pray for us!

AMDG

Monday, July 2, 2012

Counting down

This morning, I ground the last of our hard wheat and baked the last loaves of bread that I will bake in Misawa.

Every moment is bittersweet.