From the Pastor’s Desk
Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners,
There are few places on earth as majestic and mysterious as the monastery of Mont Sant-Michel in Normandy, France. Built on a small rocky islet, the abbey is perched on its peak, with its stone bell tower pointing upwards like a finger towards Heaven. During high tide, the ocean rises around it, creating a natural island fortress. The sight is breathtaking. It looks more like a movie set from the Lord of the Rings than a real place. Visitors enter beneath a giant archway made out of hand-chiseled bricks into a medieval village. Built in the 9th century, the small city seems frozen in time, as if modernity had forgotten all about it and went on its merry way. The main cobblestone road winds around the rock towards the top, where the Romanesque church sits. The higher you go, the stronger the gale winds become. It’s wise, say the guides, to wear a jacket even in the middle of summer.
While still a seminarian in Rome, a few of my classmates decided to take a trip to this famed place during our Easter vacation in 2016. Since we lived in Europe, we wanted to take advantage of the cheap flights. A round trip between Paris and Rome could be had for less than $100 US dollars at the time. Once in Paris, Normandy would only be a few hours train ride away. When we got to the top of Mont Sant-Michel, the ocean views to the north stretched out over the horizon. To the south, green farm fields dotted the coastline, each separated by the meddlesome hedgerows that slowed the Allied advance during D-Day in World War II. We then made our way through the wooden doors of the old church. As a novice student of architecture, I marveled at the sweeping archways of stained glass and the solid mass pillars that has held this church upright for over a thousand years. It told the story of Christianity as the Church moved from the Romanesque, to Gothic, to the renaissance.
As I continued my walk through the Church, to my surprise, I came upon a tranquil sight in a small side chapel. A lone nun, dressed in a long white religious habit, knelt silently still (the image on the cover of this bulletin is a picture I took of this moment). At first, she startled me. Then I realized she was kneeling there in quiet adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. She was as still as one of the marble statues that dotted the church. But she was alive, breathing, and most importantly, she was praying. Like Mary in the Gospel reading, this nun had chosen “the better part” (Cf. Luke 10:42). Each of us has the opportunity to be like this nun. We don’t have to fly all the way to Normandy to do it. In fact, we can find it right here at our own beautiful parish in the heart of Vacaville. Each weekday, the same Lord that this nun adored, can be found between 3pm – 6:30pm, exposed in the monstrance. I invite you to come to spend a few quiet moments with Jesus Christ. It will change your life.
Padre Brian J. Soliven
