Today, I had the great opportunity of visiting two sacred Christian spaces as part of my World Religions class. We traveled to the St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville and the New Melleray Abbey Monastery in Peosta. The Basilica was a visually stimulating place to visit. As soon as you walk in your eyes are almost overwhelmed by the fantastic décor. Everything from the vaulted ceilings with beautiful paintings to the vibrant stain glass to the enormous high alter made of marble lets you know you’re not in an average chapel. Obviously, part of the uniqueness is that by being a Basilica this Chapel is a home for the Pope if he were to ever visit Dyersville. By that I mean a Basilica is a Chapel in which the Pope can celebrate mass. Not only is the Basilica visually symbolically impressive, but it also has a lot of history. I really enjoyed the little things such as parts of the floor from St. Peter’s Basilica and the four bricks from the Holy Doors. Items like that are rare and make the church even more unique and special.
Unlike the vibrant Basilica, the monastery was very plain. It had a simple design as to keep from distracting the monks. While the design is simple it is not boring. I really enjoyed the stone walls which were not in a specific pattern. It gave a natural, comfortable feeling to the building. While both buildings were unique in their own ways I enjoyed the trip to New Melleray Abbey more than the Basilica because of the interaction with Father Stephen, our guide at the monastery. As a Catholic, I found much of what he said to be inspiring and spiritually uplifting. I liked when he was talking about his life of pray and stated, “Prayer is loving awareness of God”. That really helps put in perspective how close to God these monks are. They live a life centered completely on God and I think that is awesome. One other quote that really struck me was when Father Stephen was referring to the struggle of giving up sex, a wife and therefore a family. I was moved when he said, “Those things are so abused in our society that we need people who are willing to give those things up.” That inspires me to live a holy life and be grateful for what I have.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed traveling to both places. Both locations revealed a lot to me about the Christian faith and I feel that I have a better understanding of multiple ways of living the Christian life.