Pour fêter la fête!

11 février 1858: 1ere apparition...

For the 152nd anniversary of Mary's miraculous manifestation to Bernadette, nous allons faire la fête! In First Hour, we will celebrate with a typical French breakfast, and in Third Hour... something a little different than breakfast!

THIRD HOUR: In preparation for this feast, please read Pope Benedict's address to the youth (click for title link) and answer the following questions on a clean, presentable sheet of looseleaf paper:

1. Which paragraph of his address is most meaningful to you? Why?
2. In your opinion, what is the most important thing that Pope B16 says to the young people in general? Why? (Be sure to include the quote from his address!)
3. In your opinion, what is another challenging thing that Pope B16 is saying TO YOU? Why? (Again, be sure to include the quote you reference from his address.)

These will be graded as short essays, and they should be AT LEAST three full paragraphs. Your writing will be handed in AT THE BEGINNING of the hour, before "la fête" begins!  Réflechissez bien!

"Leavin' on a jet plane..."

Salut les grands! A few of you "sort of" finished the third part of yesterday's assignment, but not really... So, here we go again! Work diligently...

Imagine that you have been given UNLIMITED funds to complete a pilgrimage to both Lourdes and Lisieux. Your next task is to choose a tour company. Perform a GOOGLE SEARCH to research companies that lead pilgrimages to these two places (together). Then, choose one of the companies and answer the following questions:

1. Which company did you choose? Why?
2. When will you go (specific dates)? For how long?
3. How much will it cost for each part of the trip? (travel, food, accomodations, etc.)
4. Will you visit other European shrines? If so, which ones?
5. What are the highlights of the pilgrimage? That is, what exactly will you do in Lourdes and Lisieux? What will you see?

That's it! Please be sure to give your assignment to Mrs. Howard, your substitute, before leaving class. I'm really looking forward to seeing you next week when I get back to class. Passez un super bon week-end avec beaucoup de repos. Bon courage! Ms. Strafaci

Jeunes femmes, Grands saints

Ciao, ragazzi! Let me begin by saying that I have been impressed and proud of the work you have done for the past two days. Nice job! Today is another special day for us because it is the FEAST of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower. She led an extraordinary life for someone so young...

Today you are going to learn a little more about Therese, and there are several websites dedicated to her. So...

FIRST, perform a GOOGLE SEARCH using her name. See how many sites appear!

SECOND, using one or more of those sites, answer the following questions:

1. Where is Lisieux? In what part of France?
2. Who is Therese of Lisieux? How old was she when she died?
3. Who are Louis and Zelie Martin?
4. Name three significant things about Therese's life.
5. Did anything mention her "dark night of the soul"? What do you think is meant by Therese's "dark night of the soul"?
6. When was St. Therese proclaimed a Doctor of the Church?
7. What similarities do you see between St. Bernadette Soubirous and St. Therese of Lisieux?

THIRD, imagine that you have been given UNLIMITED funds to complete a pilgrimage to both Lourdes and Lisieux. Your next task is to choose a tour company... Perform another GOOGLE SEARCH to research companies that lead pilgrimages to these two places. Then, choose one of the companies and answer the following questions:

1. When will you go? For how long?
2. How much will it cost?
3. Will you visit other European shrines?
4. What are the highlights of the pilgrimage?

That's it! Please be sure to give your assignment to Mrs. Howard, your substitute, before leaving class. Bon courage! Ms. Strafaci

"Well, sort of..."

Salut, mes etudiants! (Notice the missing accent aigu...)

When I asked one French 1-2 student if he had learned something yesterday, and he said "Well, sort of..." - which made me wonder! But then I read your article summaries, and I see that you DID learn about St. Bernadette Soubirous, the 18 apparitions of the Blessed Mother to her, and the 150th anniversary that the shrine at Lourdes is celebrating this year. The Pope's visit was a huge success, and we'll talk more about it next week.

During class today, I would like you to read the "PS" that I mentioned yesterday: the Pope's address to the French youth during his visit. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the following questions:

1. Which paragraph of his address is most meaningful to you? Why?
2. In your opinion, what is the most important thing that Pope B16 says to the young people? Why?
3. In your opinion, what is the most challenging thing that Pope B16 is saying TO YOU? Why?

When you are finished answering these questions, spend more time exploring the blog and its links. Then, answer these questions on the same sheet of paper, but on the OTHER SIDE (not a second sheet of paper):

1. What is happening in the Diocese of Phoenix on Sunday, October 12th? Why do you think it is important?
2. How is the Archdiocese of Washington (ADW) celebrating and honoring the 150th anniversary of the apparitions?

Third, I would like you to read the words of St. Bernadette herself about the first apparitions. Visit this link to read the translation in English.

Finally, there is a SHRINE to St. Bernadette in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Can you find it? What is the physical address? Can you find a website for it? If so, note the physical and web address at the bottom of your assignment.

Bon courage! Ms. Strafaci

French 2008-2009

Salut mes étudiants!

It didn't "hit" me until this weekend that I would not be in class with you for the next FOUR days, and since we have off on Friday and Monday, I won't see some of you until next Tuesday... Yikes! Monday-Wednesday, I'm leading Safe Environment Training for the Freshman class, and then I'm headed to North Carolina on Thursday, causing me to miss 6th and 7th hour. So... This week, you've got a little vacation from me, but you will be getting to know the BIG EVENT in Lourdes: the 150th anniversary of the Blessed Mother's apparitions to St. Bernadette.

Today's assignment is four-fold:
1. First, get to know The Lourdes Project site. Click all the links on right side of page, look at past entries, etc.

2. Second, get to know THE EVENT(S): When did all this happen? What exactly happened? In what part of France did it happen? Who is Bernadette? You will learn about this through the appropriate links.

3. Third, please read about POPE BENEDICT XVI's pilgrimage (visit) to Lourdes earlier this month. In particular, look at the PROGRAM.

4. Fourth and finally, find, read, and summarize ONE article from an American newspaper (USA Today, NY Times, Washington Post, etc.) that talks about Pope Benedict's visit to Lourdes. This will be collected at the end of class.

• To find an article about the Pope's pilgrimage, go back to "Google" and search using the words "Pope Benedict" "France" "Lourdes" "visit"...
• Look at several articles and then make your choice. Don't just take the first one!

You will have another Lourdes assignment tomorrow! Be nice to the sub, and I look forward to seeing you in the hallways...

Vous me manquez!

Ms. Strafaci

PS: If you finish ahead of schedule, read BXVI's May address to the French youth about his fall visit.

Allez à la Source...

Anniversaire

31 mars 2008: L'annonce faite à Marie

Buongiorno, mes amis!

Aujourd'hui dans l'église, on fête l'Annonciation. Qu'est-ce que c'est? D'habitude, on fête cette date le 25 mars de l'année liturgique, mais cette année, la date a été rapportée à cause de la Semaine Paschale. Notez que L'annonce faite à Marie est une pièce très connue en France, écrite par le dramaturge Paul Claudel.

Hier, on a fêté la Miséricorde divine partout le monde. Qu'est-ce que c'est? Regardez le site internet et essayez de trouver le lien pour "World Apostolic Congress on Mercy."

Enfin, lisez le blog Lourdes avant notre discussion du nouveau projet...

DOSSIER des bénévoles américains...

LIEU de GUERISON, FAIRE du BENEVOLAT
Poser sa candidature pour se mettre au service
des pèlerins malades et handicapés

Vous allez poser votre candidature pour être bénévole à Lourdes avec le Service Saint Joseph. Pour ce projet, il est nécessaire de passer par de nombreuses étapes...

DATE LIMITE de SOUMISSION

9 avril 2008

DOSSIER de CANDIDATURE
hors de classe
1. essai personnel
2. attestation familiale
3. lettre de recommendation

en cours
4. compétence écrite
5. interview

SERVICE SAINT JOSEPH

Ce service a pour mission d'accueillir les pèlerins aux Sanctuaires Notre Dame de lourdes et plus particulièrement de faciliter et d'aider dans leur démarche de pèlerinage les personnes malades et handicapés. Les hospitalières et hospitaliers de ce service agissent en étroite collaboration avec différents services des Sanctuaires.

Les tâches à accomplir sont variées:

• Service d'accueil des pèlerins à la Grotte: aide à l'organisation matérielle des messes, passage des pèlerins venant vénérer le rocher
• Service d'accueil et d’organisation lors des grandes cérémonies des Sanctuaires : Messes Internationales, Procession-Adoration-Bénédiction du Saint Sacrement, Procession Mariale, Cérémonies regroupant plusieurs pèlerinages
• Service d'accueil des pèlerins aux Piscines
• Gestion des arrivées et départs des pèlerinages d'accompagnement à l'Accueil Notre-Dame, à l'Accueil Marie Saint-Frai et dans différents autres lieux d’accueil et d’hébergement
• Gestion du matériel nécessaire au transport des personnes malades et handicapées à l'Accueil Notre-Dame, à l'Accueil Marie Saint-Frai et à la gare de Lourdes
• Organisation des arrivées et des départs des personnes malades et handicapées venant aux Sanctuaires avec un pèlerinage d'accompagnement, à la gare de Lourdes et à l'aéroport de Tarbes-Lourdes