Today, my destination was the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, WI. Dedication day was 7/31, but that event required tickets and all tickets were given out by the time I created my itinerary. (It was even scheduled to be broadcast live on EWTN, the Catholic cable channel.) So, in my itinerary I decided to attend the hopefully less crowded Mass of Thanksgiving for the Dedication which took place on August 1st.
The Mass would be concelebrated by Fr. Benedict Groeschel who has a one hour live show on Sunday evenings on EWTN. He is also the author of numerous books and gives speeches throughout the country. He is in his late 80s and was hit by a car a few years back in FL. He came out with flying colors. Archbishop Burke, who will soon be Chief Justice of the Vatican Supreme Court and likely a Cardinal, was the other concelebrant. Archbishop Burke was formerly the Bishop of La Crosse, WI, and spearheaded the effort to build this shrine. He was most recently Archbishop of St. Louis, MO.
This particular event dictated the day I would leave my job. Because I wanted to attend this Mass and also see Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin, July 25th was the absolute latest I could leave work.
I left quite early because the Mass started at 8am. I got very little sleep because I came into Onalaska so late. As I passed by the hotel desk, the clerk who had checked me in pointed to the assistant manager and said "That's the guy I told you about." They were able to fix everything in the computer and I was able to keep the same room.
I cut things too close with trying to get to Mass. I had seen an interstate sign for the shrine the night before so I assumed it would just be a quick jump on the interstate and I'd be there. The GPS took me through city streets, taking about twenty-five minutes. When I arrived at the shrine, I was directed to park in a makeshift lot which had once been a cornfield. When the guy noticed my plates he apologized and said it was a terrible welcome when I came from so far away. But, the parking lot was full. I parked the car at 7:59am for an 8am Mass.
Once I got out of the car and walked through the real parking lot, my heart sank. It was a lengthy, winding roadway up a steep hill to get to the shrine. It was foggy and it was VERY humid. By the time I got up to the shrine, it seemed as though I had been walking a mile. I was several minutes late for the Mass by then.
I expected that by the time I entered the shrine, they would already be finished with the Gospel. To my surprise, the opening procession of the Mass had only just finished. That was the only part I missed even though I was over ten minutes late. Likely they started Mass later than advertised, knowing how long it would take people to get up there.
During the Mass, Fr. Groeschel gave an excellent homily. I had problems with the camera. I was in the back of the shrine and thought the pulpit was just outside the range of the zoom lens. I was getting terribly blurred pictures and was quite disappointed.
After the Mass, Archbishop Burke stood outside in the extreme heat and humidity while wearing all the vestments. He spent time with each person who wanted to talk to him. I had a chance to speak with him for a couple of minutes. He gave me a personal blessing. He was so very holy and humble. Later on, I got two photos with him. The photos are a bit washed out because I didn't have a chance to adjust the camera settings.
After taking numerous pictures inside the shrine as well as photos of various outdoor statues and other buildings, I was absolutely exhausted. I was so glad to have the same hotel room two days in a row. I went back, posted the first entry in this blog (it had been previously written), sent the link out in email about the blog, and then took a refreshing nap.
After I woke up I was ready for dinner. I just wanted a quick sandwich. I found a travel plaza (if it could really be considered such based on its size) qith a Quiznos in it. Lo and behold, the gas station had postcards. They actually had the state's name on them too! Persistence pays off.
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