St. Rita, Pray for Us

So today was the first full day at NST (New Staff Training). The day began with Mass in the beautiful chapel here at University of Illinois - Champaign. We're lucky to have Franciscan CFR's, or Friars of the Renewal, with us for a little while and they presided at Mass that was full to the brim with missionaries. One of the older priests gave an amazing homily about courage and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Since the congregation consisted of mainly missionaries, he was able to tailor his message to our call of evangalization. I was so pumped for the next two years!

After lunch, I wanted to explore a garden a good friend of mine talked about, so she, another friend, and I went on an adventure to find this garden. And let me tell you about adventure! It ended up being a 20 minute walk in the blazing Illinois heat and none of us were convinced we weren't lost. Let me tell you, after being on a campus with a grand total of around 20 buildings, UofI is gigantic! We finally managed to make it to the garden, and what a treat. There were roses and colorful flowers galore, rows of trees looking as picturesque as those that lined the road in the Sound of Music, and a handful of berry bushes (the berries weren't quite ripe yet, so we'll have to head back in a day or two). Then there was a separate larger circular garden that had just been tilled and new plants put in...and giant sprinklers watering the new plants. 3 women + heat + sprinklers = too great a temptation to resist! We spent a few blissful moments running through the sprinklers like children, and I'm sure Mother Mary was smiling at our antics. Having cooled off from the water, we headed back to the Newman center refreshed, enjoying a few stolen moments with good friends catching up on life. 

At training there are colleges which are basically small groups, usually around 8 missionaries of the same sex, that all have a saint as their patron. I was placed into St. Rita's college, which happens to be my sister's Confirmation saint. She it pretty amazing: she's the patron of impossible causes, infertility, abused wives, and difficult marriages to name a few; she received a thorn from Christ's crown in her forehead that caused her to be isolated for the last 15 years of her life; her body is incorruptible and the chapel at the convent where she died continues to smell like roses, her favorite flower. I am excited to have her and the other women in my college as my role models.

"There is nothing impossible for God." ~St. Rita.