We've been making a lot more excursions into Illinois lately for a couple of reasons. One is that we are always on the hunt for Walmart grocery pickup slots and they seem to be in greater supply on the Illinois side. The other reason is we are always on the lookout for new parks to enjoy and being downtown means there is a lot of fun stuff right across the river.
We've driven past signs for the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in the outskirts of Belleville numerous times and always been curious about what the heck that was. I thought maybe there had been a magical miracle in metro east but it sounds like the "Shrine name refers to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, where legend says snow fell in the summertime".
I learned a new word.
"In Christianity (especially Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist), an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God's service.
Oblates are individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally living in general society, who, while not professed monks or nuns, have individually affiliated themselves with a monastic community of their choice. They make a formal, private promise (annually renewable or for life, depending on the monastery with which they are affiliated) to follow the Rule of the Order in their private lives as closely as their individual circumstances and prior commitments permit. Such oblates are considered an extended part of the monastic community; for example, Benedictine oblates also often include the post-nominal letters 'OblSB' or 'ObSB' after their names on documents. They are comparable to the tertiaries associated with the various mendicant orders."
The grounds were really nice and there were definitely a lot of unexpected things to look at.
Back at home our television viewing habits have probably been affected by the amount of drama that is now involved with daily life. As a result we are watching copious amounts of The Great British Bake Off as a nice calming form of entertainment.
What's more calming than watching British people comment on the size of the bubbles in a cake mix?
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