Arrival-LeMans

So Bob and Mike are back in the states after a great semester abroad, and now Matt and Ryan have taken over the helm of keeping up this blog while studying in Leuven Belgium at the American College.

Ryan and I arrived late on December 20th (about 9:00) at the American College after a full day of travel across the Atlantic. Needless to say we were slightly tired. We got exactly what we were hoping for when we were informed that we would be leaving (not waking up, but walking out the door) at 6:45 the next morning to get on yet another plane. Although the time and fact we had to board another plane wasn't appealing, we were thrilled to make a pilgrimage to Rome, and spend Christmas with the Holy Father. I won't bore you with too many stories about that since Mike has already blogged about it, and covered it pretty well.

After returning to Belgium we began to settle in, when in 5 days, Ryan and I left for a silent retreat for a week in Mignault Belgium, directed by Fr. Rafael Partida, the spiritual director of the American College. It was an awesome retreat as Ryan and I got to really reflect a lot on ourselves and our vocations.

Following the retreat, we returned to the American College. Ryan and I joked that we had spent of 24 days abroad, 19 of them away from the American College. Just as we began to finally settle down, we decided that it wasn't time to do that just yet. The feast of Blessed Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, was approaching. We felt we could put off settling in just a few more days, and we packed up again to travel to LeMans France, to spend the 20th of January before our Blessed Founder. The picture is of the tomb of Blessed Basil Moreau in San Croix.

In LeMans Ryan and I stayed at the former provincial house of the France Province, with the sole Novice for their province, Bernard. It was a great experience praying, eating, and sharing our own Holy Cross experience with a novice from around the world. What a blessing! Every day we went to Mass before the tomb of Basil Moreau, and then spent most of our time walking through the city.

Alas, we had to return from our little refuge in Holy Cross, and came once again to Belgium. We have been rather occupied with the writing of our icons. We have almost finished the flat colors already, and are nearly caught up with the group here. Also, we have planned our further travels. So stay tuned for "Ryan and Matt : Madrid to Morocco".

In the Peace of Christ,

Matt Hovde