The Confirmation class of Sacred Heart Church went to visit the Monastery at Conception, MO. The students who went were Christian Bengtson, Karoline Dittmer, Emily Grismore, Nate Hoeger, Caroline Hunkele, Abbie Schultz, and Hunter Storm. The chaperones were Confirmation teacher, Gary Hoeger, and parent, Charlotte Hunkele. The group left from Sacred Heart Church on Friday, December 4 and returned on Sunday December 6.
The trip down to the Abbey was fun. We stopped at Wendy’s in Bethany, MO, and shared mealtime together. When we arrived at the Abbey and checked into our rooms, we met downstairs in the common area and played some games. We all gathered around a table and played Monopoly. However, we did not stay up late, as we had to get up early for prayers.
Everyone awoke about 5:15am to prepare to go to Vigils, which began at 6:00am. We returned to our rooms by running in the cold dark morning to return as quickly as possible. When we left for Lauds, which began at 7:15am, we noticed that the sun had risen. We could see the turbine windmills on our walk back to the Basilica. Afterwards, we had breakfast together. We saw Deacon Rainey and Sandy Cunze. They were at the Abbey, too. Father Allen was on hand to say, “Hello.” Although he is assigned to a parish, he comes to the Abbey for meals. After a short reunion, we went to class.
The first speaker, Karen, spoke to the Confirmation class about the life of Jesus. She spoke about Jesus as one Divine Person, with a Divine Nature and a human nature. Then, she showed how the sacraments related to the time that He was with us on earth. After a delicious lunch, it was time for our second class, which was led by Father Albert. He spoke about the sacraments including visible and invisible signs. Father Albert explained that things happen that we cannot see, but we know that they are happening.
Following class, we all had Holy Leisure; afterward, we went to dinner. In the evening, we received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Afterwards, the lights were turned out; we each lit a votive candle, which symbolized the light in our heart that was re-lit through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We carried it in procession, in the dark, to a statue of Mary. After we placed our candles at the foot of the statue, we noticed how nicely the candles lit up the area. Father Albert likened them to the light of Christ shining within us. He said that when we feel this light dimming, we should receive the sacrament again.
Sunday morning, we met three seminarians. They sat on the “hot seat,” and we asked them all kinds of questions. In addition, they explained that they were discerning their vocation and getting their college degree at the same time. We played a game of tic-tac-toe. Mrs. Hunkele was one of the players. She was one of three people that sat in front while the MC asked questions. In order to put our mark in a box, we had to guess whether the answers to the questions were correct. The questions had to do with the lessons. It was Chariton against Winterset (and three people from Maryville). Chariton won the game. Afterwards we went to Mass, and then to lunch.
We left the Abbey to return to Chariton after lunch. In Bethany, we made a quick stop at Dairy Queen. Everyone agreed that we had a wonderful weekend.
Click here for more pictures: Conception Abbey 2009
