RETREAT, WEDDINGS AND AN EARTHQUAKE!

13TH. SEPTEMBER 2010 RETREAT, WEDDINGS AND AN EARTHQUAKE!
My journey to Macedonia by public transport was an adventure! It gave me three hours at St. Naum. This is a very beautiful resort on Lake Ohrid. It has an empty Orthodox Monastery and a hotel. I had time to attend a marriage in the tiny 18th. Century Orthodox Church. About 20 of the 100 guests came into the Church so there was room for a tourist and me. She was from Hawaii and has already sent me photos of the event! I took the public bus to Ohrid.

On Sunday, Father Kusan introduced me to two Dublin visitors after Mass. Joe is a Garda from Carlow and his 85 year old mother is on a holiday with him! He is based just over the Albanian border in Kosovo. He is an Adviser to a Unit of 200 border police. His brief includes trafficking and related matters and he could be a good resource for us in the future and would be happy to cooperate with us.

My retreat was truly blessed with excellent weather. I had the support of nine Franciscan priests from Albania who were also on retreat. I returned here on Friday.

On Saturday evening we had a wedding in our Korce Church. The bride was local and the groom was English, as was the priest. A moment after the couple had pronounced their vows, there was an EARTHQUAKE - a dramatic moment! The Church rocked and shuddered and there was a very loud noise. No damage except to window frames, thank God. All the buildings in Korce were affected and there were some wall cracks, but nothing more serious. The 'quake epicentre was 25 miles away and it registered 4.2 on the Richter Scale.

Father Kusan telephoned yesterday evening. He said he wanted to record that he was most impressed with the 12 young adults that Sister Lalini had brought for four days to Ohrid. They had taken a guitar, and organ and a mandolin and their music enriched the retreat days. He said the boys have had great formation and the girls will soon catch up with Good Shepherd involvement.

On Wednesday, it will be a year since we began our journey to Albania! So, au revoir rather than Mirupafshim for today!