Special to the HERALD
(From the issue of 12/5/02)
On two consecutive Sundays in November, Father Brian Bashista, diocesan promoter of vocations, led groups of men and women on trips to help them in their discernment processes.
Father Bashista led 38 men on a trip to Mount St. Mary’s College and Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md.
Pleased by the turnout, Father Bashista said, "What a wonderful problem to have. We barely had room on the three vans that we reserved for the trip."
The men were greeted by the seminarians from the Arlington Diocese: Ted Spinelli, Andrew Heintz, Jamie Workman, Gregory Thompson and Tony Killian. Spinelli had seen to the preparations of the day — reserving St. Bernard’s Chapel for 10 a.m. Mass, gathering seminarian volunteers to read at Mass, obtaining meal tickets for the visitors and taking care of other details of the day.
After the morning Mass, the group had the chance to have their questions answered by the Arlington seminarians. They talked about the spiritual, educational, pastoral and human formation they receive at the Mount.
The group toured the seminary complex, including the newest wing, Bishop Keating Hall, named after the late bishop of Arlington. They ate lunch in the newly constructed Patriot Hall, named in remembrance of five alumni of Mount St. Mary’s who were killed in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
After lunch, they traveled to the Basilica Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and they visited the National Grotto of Lourdes on Mary’s Mountain, above the campus. The grotto is a wooded replica of the original grotto in southern France. The group joined 146 seminarians for Holy Hour in Immaculate Conception Chapel.
Before returning to Virginia, the vocations visitors returned to Patriot Hall for dinner.
Spinelli spoke for the Arlington seminarians when he said, "Sometimes we forget how many great people are praying for us back in Arlington. When we get to share our campus with them, we are able to take stock of how blessed we are and how thankful we are to the people of the Church of God back in Northern (and western) Virginia who enable us to study the riches of the Catholic faith, in hopes, one day, of being holy priests of Jesus Christ."
Father Bashista said that the young men with whom he traveled had, in a sense, already begun formation in their first seminary, that of their own homes, through the love, goodness and prayerful support of their families.
One week after the men traveled to the seminary, Father Bashista led a group of 50 young women on a "Nun Run." Father Bashista was assisted by Ted Richardson, vocation promoter from St. Joseph Parish in Herndon, Teresa Bergida, vocation promoter from St. John the Baptist Parish in Front Royal and Judy Dansereau and Celia Schmitt, both from the vocations office staff. They drove a caravan of five vans to five convents.
The first stop of the morning was at the Gift of Peace House in Washington, D.C., run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. There, the women prayed the Morning Prayer following the custom of the Missionaries, kneeling on the floor of the pewless chapel. Afterward, Sister Bethany told the women about her order and its traditions, and gave each woman a Miraculous Medal before they left.
The women then traveled to the Little Sisters of the Poor Convent in Northwest D.C. and attended a Mass concelebrated by Father Bashista. The women met the elderly people that the Little Sisters care for and served them lunch.
After lunch, the 50 women adored Jesus present in the Eucharist in the tiny chapel at the Daughters of St. Paul convent in Alexandria. After talking to the sisters and browsing through the book center, the group headed down Route 1 to the Mary, Mother of the Church Monastery of the Order of St. Clare.
Upon arriving at the monastery chapel, Evening Prayer was beautifully intoned by the nuns cloistered behind a filigree grill. After Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Rev. Mother Miriam, along with the novice mistress, visited with the women in a special room designed to respect the nuns’ separation from the world.
Traveling further down Route 1, the women arrived at Aquinas School in Woodbridge, which is staffed by four Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia or "Nashville Dominicans." They shared dinner with the sisters and shared their adventures of the day.
"It was a great tour of the richly diverse vocations we have right here in our own area. The sisters and nuns were wonderful to talk with and I enjoyed being with all these other women who are also discerning their vocation," said Jackie DeForge of Sterling.
Sister Eva Marie, from the Little Sisters of the Poor Convent, said that the group "truly brought the Holy Spirit" with it during its visit to their home and was grateful for the enthusiastic witness to vocation awareness in our area.
Copyright ©2002 Arlington Catholic Herald. All rights reserved.
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