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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

scenes from arlington


spent a fabulous day yesterday in virginia...starting at st. thomas more cathedral in washington dc, where a friend of mine is the parochial vicar.

fr. lundberg was a fabulous 'tour guide' - meeting up for breakfast with us, saying daily Mass, and taking us to st. mary's in alexandria, washington's birthplace in mount vernon, and finally to the arlington national cemetery.

the second bishop of the arlington diocese, bishop keating, is buried in the crypt beneath the cathedral. a beautiful cathedral built above the original (where the crypt is) serving the rapidly growing area.

at the arlington national cemetery, we were just in time to view the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

the ceremony, solemn and full of pomp and circumstance, was beautiful. there were a few hundred people on the stairs with us, and there were many wet eyes when the bugle began to play.

from the graves of those in the civil war to the dead from the explosion on the uss maine at cuba, to those who died in 9/11 -it was a piece of american history which simply stopped me in my tracks.

my biggest surprise?

leaving the cemetery to see a large group of amish in full dress, there to pay their tributes as well.


3 comments:

Ryder said...

Very cool! Sounds like Fr. Lundberg...what a fella!

I'm so jealous....

Unknown said...

Oh, if you see Fr. Lundberg again, give him my love. I was so excited when I saw the picture of the cathedral. My first thought was, "I was just there for Bjorn's ordination!"

Noreen said...

Kate totally beat me to my message. I was so excited to see the photo and hear that you got to see Bjorn. I really feel like the first blessing I got, and my trip to that church changed my life. And what an awesome change. So, it's quite moving to see the picture. Sounds like you had an amazing trip all around. God bless!

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