Before leaving Belgium we need to make a brief visit to Bruges, one of the most picturesque cities I’ve ever visited. Remember how I told you that the Belgium city of Leuven is pronounced in two ways? Bruges is the same way. If you’re a French-speaking Belgian it’s Broozh; if you speak Flemish it’s Broo-gah. Whatever way you pronounce it, it’s gorgeous. Alas, that’s part of the problem in Bruges, which reminds me of a celebrity who’s mobbed by paparazzi... Read more
Before we leave Leuven, Belgium, there’s someone I want you to meet: Father Damien, who in 2005 was voted De Grootste Belg, the Greatest Belgian, in a poll conducted by the Flemish public broadcasting service. Never heard of him? Neither had I, but after visiting his shrine I’m most grateful to have learned about his remarkable life. Jozef De Veuster was born in 1840 in the Belgian village of Tremelo. As a young man he joined the Congregation of the... Read more
The long silence on The Holy Rover is a result of a trip my husband and I took over the past three weeks to see our son Carl, who is spending a semester studying in Belgium. I had never been to Belgium, Bob had never been to continental Europe, and before you know it we had planned a trip that also included Germany, France and Amsterdam (in the military this is known as “mission creep,” but it also happens to... Read more
Image courtesy of Walter Anderson Museum of Art Sometimes holy places are easy to find, and sometimes they emerge only upon reflection. I was reminded of this truth on a recent trip to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to attend a meeting of the Society of American Travel Writers (an added treat was a visit with my friend and Holy-Rover-commentator-extraordinaire Mississippi Marian). I knew I would enjoy the Gulf Coast, but I didn’t expect to find a spiritual destination on my... Read more
(Today’s post is a sermon I gave yesterday at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City, Iowa.) On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them,... Read more
I enjoy my work, but if there’s one job I envy it’s the one held by radio host Krista Tippett. Each week on her National Public Radio program On Being (formerly known as Speaking of Faith) she interviews someone fascinating. One week it’s the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, another week a specialist in whale songs or a Orthodox theologian from Turkey. These wide-ranging conversations about religion, spirituality, ethics and ideas are almost always thought-provoking and often quite moving. The... Read more
Have I mentioned before that I enjoy visiting Virgin Mary shrines? (Insert smile here.) As you know if you’ve been reading this blog for very long, I’ve seen a lot of them around the world, from the Black Madonnas of France to the House of the Virgin Mary in Turkey and the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. But the shrine to Mary that I recently visited in Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks region is among the most unusual of all the... Read more
In my last post I wrote about my personal connection to Bear Butte in South Dakota, but today I want to tell a larger story. In doing so I am indebted to Corey Hairy Shirt, a Lakota man who serves as the caretaker of the Bear Butte Lodge, an educational, spiritual and cultural center that is located at the base of the mountain. Run by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, it is open to everyone but has a primary mission to host... Read more
When I started writing this post, my first thought was, “Surely I’ve told them about Bear Butte before.” But I haven’t, at least not at any length. And that’s surprising, because if there’s one place responsible for my fascination with spiritual travels, it’s Bear Butte in South Dakota. I first visited Bear Butte in my 20s and since then have been back almost every year. Because Bob’s family lives nearby, hiking to its summit has been a nearly annual event.... Read more
The place I’m going to tell you about today, unfortunately, takes the prize for Worst-Named Holy Site. Devils Tower is a tower, certainly, but evil forces have nothing to do with it. Thanks to a clueless Army colonel who gave it the designation while passing through this part of northeast Wyoming in 1875, the formidable formation has borne a most unfortunate name. (To add insult to injury, its official name lacks an apostrophe, which grates on the nerves of my... Read more
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