When I made an unplanned pilgrimage to Prague

I did something super Catholic today. It was awesome.
I had to drive out to the little Oklahoma town of Shawnee this morning for a school project, and on the way there, I saw a billboard for the National Shrine of Infant Jesus of Prague. My first thought was, "that sounds Catholic!" My original plan, since I was already over an hour from Stillwater, a town where there is no Target, mind you, was to make a day out of being out of town and go shopping (AKA find a Target), but I felt so drawn to this shrine that I totally forgot about shopping. So when I finished my work for school, the shrine hunt began. I arrived at about 11:50--just in time for noon mass! Thank you Jesus for Your perfect timing! The chapel was beautiful. It wasn't super big or even overly-elaborate, but had such a feeling of reverence and holiness  Mass was beautiful. The priest gave a great homily. He talked about St. Francis, who's feast we celebrate today, which led him to talk about Pope Francis. And how can anyone not love that guy?



So anyway, mass was beautiful. Very simple and traditional. For the first time, I received communion kneeling at a communion rail. It was awesome. Fun fact, I also helped some people help this lady back into her wheelchair. #kakidoesthings. So after mass and a little bit of adoration, the exploring began. There was this little side area with lots of prayer candles where some religious sisters were looking around and praying, and one of them handed me a lighter and gestured for me to light one of the candles, so I did. When a little lady in a religious habit hands you a lighter and tells you to light a candle, you don't ask questions.

I lit a yellow one because its my favorite color :)
I stopped in the gift shop (oh, looks like I did get some shopping in today) and bought a little something for my parents (coming to you in the mail soon mom and dad!), did a little bit more looking around and reflecting and praying in the chapel, and eventually, I came to this statue of the holy family, who I love.

 

I've never seen an image like this one before, and for some reason it just captivated me. It is so precious. Joseph holding Mary holding Jesus. I've been wondering about Mary and Joseph's marriage lately. St. Joseph is so often forgotten about, and so rarely mentioned in the Bible, but I imagine that he loved Jesus and Mary so much and did his best to take care of them. He probably taught Jesus how to do carpenter things. The young Jesus probably looked up to him just as most little boys look up to their fathers. The three of them were a family. They ate meals together and said goodnight each night and good morning every morning. They celebrated holidays together--like Christmas...





I love this statue.

 

So I went on an unplanned pilgrimage today. Well, to me it was unplanned...

If you're ever near Prague, Oklahoma, you should totally stop at the National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague. You'll be captivated by and drawn to the infant King. I definitely was.

Side note, the infant Jesus of Prague is named after the capital of the Czech Republic, not after the small town in Oklahoma. Read about it HERE. I love the universal church. Catholicism rocks.