| |
How
would you like to meet one of those face to face?
Students admire the stuffed animals at Cabelas. |
|
Cabelas
A herd of antelope bound over a tangle of brush,
chased by three lionesses. A large ferocious lion looks on majestically,
waiting for the lionesses to bring the prey. Africa? Safari?
NO! Cabela’s, the “World’s Foremost Outfitter,
” as we saw when visiting this gigantic sporting goods
store in central Pennsylvania.
There are other displays of stuffed animals at
Cabela’s. In fact, its walls are decked with deer, antelope,
and other fauna. One whole section is dedicated to deer from
all over the United States and Canada shown in realistic and
fascinating settings. The main exhibit, however, consists of
a 30-foot “mountain” with bear, bison, deer, moose,
fox, sheep and other animals placed in strategic scenes featuring
all four seasons. We found ourselves truly longing for a good
hunt—and for a good fishing trip too. Cabela’s has
a 55,000-gallon tank with hundreds of Pennsylvania fish.
After 3 or 4 hours at Cabela’s, it was time
to go. We’ll be back, though.
Austria
| |
Academy
students participate in an international student
seminar in Gaming, Austria. |
|
Thanks to some of our benefactors, a small group
of students was able to travel to Europe last summer. There
we visited many historical places and took full advantage of
centuries of Catholic culture. Castles, cathedrals, palaces
and pastries, all helped to increase in our souls a great sense
of reverence for Christian civilization.
The main purpose of the trip was to participate
in an international student seminar hosted by the Austrian TFP
in Gaming, Austria, in the foothills of the Alps. We learned
much and brought back plenty of valuable concepts: the value
of Tradition, Catholic principles, great figures in history
such as Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Empire, and much more.
Ecuador
A trip to Quito, Ecuador, was another special
experience. Although cultural shock was frequent, we were deeply
affected by the strong religiosity of the Ecuadorian people.
The number of churches and shrines is impressive, and almost
all of them have a miraculous statue or image.
We were there to participate in the celebration
of the feast of Our Lady of Good Success. With more than 1,000
other pilgrims, we attended the “Rosary of the Dawn”
procession at 5 in the morning. During the procession we carried
a small statue of Our Lady of Good Success. Later that day,
we helped to move the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Good
Success itself.
Part of the year, the statue is kept in the church
of the Conceptionist nuns; the rest of the time it is in the
nuns’ choir loft. The story of this statue is one of the
most beautiful and amazing we have ever heard, and we hope to
publish something about it in a future bulletin.
Cross-country Skiing
In another exciting excursion, we went cross-country
skiing at Crystal Lake Camps, Pennsylvania.
Larry, our ski teacher, was very competent. We
learned how to ski forward, uphill, downhill, and to stop and
fall properly. Larry remarked that we were one of the best groups
he had ever taught because we followed instructions.
| |
| Skiing
through scenic pine forest |
|
Skiing through the mountainous terrain reminded
us of the Norwegian resistance fighters of World War II. Some
Norwegians so loved their country that they fought to expel
the Nazis. They carried out devastating strikes and then skied
to safety. With a little imagination, a boy could easily picture
himself having just blown up an arms factory and then racing
for the mountains.
After four hours at the ski resort, we left tired
but happy, resolved to come again.
