Graduation at the Pontifical College Josephinum

My youngest brother, Tim, just graduated from the Pontifical College Josephinum with his undergraduate degree. He will be returning to the seminary there for another four years of theology and then become ordained as a priest shortly after that. The Josephinum is in Columbus, Ohio, so we had quite a little road trip! The school was beautiful, and all of my brothers were able to be there, so I am very glad we went! The girls were real troopers on the drive... we didn't even have to stop for the first five hours of the trip and made it from North Georgia to Lexington, Kentucky in one stretch, amazingly!

My parents had reserved hotel rooms for everyone, so we arrived with just enough time to check in and then head over to the main chapel at the college, where we were attending evening vespers. In true Nadolski fashion, we got there about two minutes late... but this time, it was actually not our fault, as the lady at the hotel check-in desk had told my dad about a "short cut" to avoid the traffic light that has a reputation of being awful at rush hour. So it took us almost twenty minutes to get "across the street."

Vespers was beautiful, lots of music, and I only wish we had a book of the Liturgy of the Hours so we could have followed along better! After vespers, there was a cookout for the graduates and their families and friends. We all headed to the basement of Tim's dorm, where there is a pub. What an awesome school, huh? ;) We had lots of appetizers and drinks, and then bratwurst, burgers, potato salad, and baked beans for dinner. Some of the underclassmen spoke about each of the graduates, and then the rector spoke.

Caroline and Cecilia got antsy after dinner and acted a bit crazy with Uncle Stephen, Grampa, and Uncle Tim, who always rile them up even by just sitting there doing nothing!

Following this was a dessert social in the school's cafeteria, which they call the refectory. Multiple kinds of cheesecake, a chocolate fountain with strawberries and marshmallows to dip into it, and cordials... we were well-fed on this trip!

The next morning we had a baccalaureate Mass back in the chapel, followed by a brief break with... you guessed it, more refreshments! Coffee and lemonade, English muffins and fruit...

The girls had a bit of lemonade and toasted English muffin, and then they hung out with Uncle Stephen.

We also used this time to take a few photos by some of the many beautiful statues that are everywhere on the campus. There are lots of detailed photos of the beautiful decor and architecture, and any of these images can be clicked on to see in better detail:

The girls spotted and immediately identified St. Therese in the refectory.

Tim told me that this is a statue of St. Francis.

Caroline was excited to find this wooden carving of her patron saint, St. Anne, with young Mary.

The graduation ceremony was held in the main chapel again, and as we enetered through a side door, I noticed this printed at the bottom of the doors. It is very visible when you notice it at eye level as you come up the steps of the stairwell.

Despite getting there 15 minutes before the ceremony began, we had lost our seats. Apparently leaving programs and a sweater strewn across the pews isn't obvious enough. ;) I took the time before the ceremony started to take some pictures of the chapel. This relief carving of the Last Supper is on the front of the altar table.

I liked these ornate candle holders.

The huge organ in the back of the chapel

very high ceiling... and this chapel is located on the second story of the building!

pretty stained glass

a spiral staircase leads to the organ

This is the front of the church... apparently there was a beautiful painting that covered the entire front wall, and somebody in the 70s (of course) had the idea to plaster over it. Tim says they are hoping to re-renovate it and get some of the original parts back.

Waiting for the ceremony to start... Cecilia and Grampa.

They were so patient overall... this was the third event in this chapel in an 18 hour period, and they handled it all so well! They are used to being in church, but I was surprised at how well they did after a long drive and the excitement of being on vacation!

Tim processes in

waiting in the pews

Tim gets his diploma...

...and his scarf thingy (don't know what those are called!).

More beautiful artwork... a statue of St. Joseph (with somebody walking in front of it)

a painting of Mary hanging on a wall outside the chapel

We went outside to take some family photos. Tim said they used this statue of Mary for a May Crowning... a "May" Crowning that they did on April 30th, he says! I am hoping to host a May Crowning in our own yard for some friends sometime within the next couple of weeks...

This is to the right of the Mary statue. I think it would look so pretty at night with some of the prayer candles lit... although I am sure it's not that practical, being outside where it can rain on them and all...

Tim with our parents

now showing the inside of his diploma

all the siblings together (and the girls had to be in the picture as well)

Stephen, me, Tim, Mike: from shortest to tallest, we are oldest to youngest.

You can't really see it in this photo, but Mary is standing on a large concrete block. It is just a plain block... and Tim says it used to be the altar table inside the chapel! I'd say they have made an improvement there already, ha ha!

the cross up at the very top of the main building

a view looking up... gives you an idea of how big it really is!

Tim holding his diploma with the rector and vice-rector of the college

On either side of the main entrance, there are these beautiful statues... I couldn't remember who Tim said they were, but I am assuming this one is St. Peter since he appears to be holding a large key.

This statue is on the left, and I asked Tim to remind me again who he was: St. Paul.

There is also one of St. Joseph higher up which will appear later... I didn't notice him until Tim pointed him out later on that day.

Tim puts his hat on Caroline...

the main entrance

a side view of the main building

After the graduation ceremony, we had a nice lunch in a reception hall at the college. The girls tried to figure out what all the forks were for...

Uncle Stephen was no help with identifying their purposes... Daddy showed Caroline the salad fork, dinner fork, and dessert fork.

Cecilia shows a tired moment... no naps and a previous day of 7:00 am to 9:45 pm, and she was still doing quite well other than a few moments like this! Those green beans were all gone just a few minutes after I took this photo!

Tim took us on a tour after lunch...

Here is St. Joseph, way up on the first peak of the main building.

This cross and statue are to the left of the main entrance...

...and these prayer candles are to the left of the cross.

These beautiful, fragrant flowers were in bloom along a walkway.

This statue is at the end of the walkway and is of the founder of the college. It was originally founded as a seminary for Germans because the Irish priests didn't want the Germans coming to their schools, Tim says... strange.

looking back at the main building from the statue

Okay, here is a view of the "altar" on which the Mary statue is standing... pretty lame excuse for an altar, huh? ;)

This beautiful column is just inside the main entrance...

..and the floor there is quite ornate as well.

the ceiling in the old auditorium

Tim says they are planning to turn it into a multimedia room with a projector... as long as they replace the old seats which were made for "skinny German kids," ha ha.

This is in the sacristy behind the chapel... the picture frames contain information about the priests' vestments, in Latin! In the center you see a reliquary, although Tim didn't know whose relics it contains.

This is the ceiling of the sacristy... very pretty!

This small chapel is off the sacristy as well... it used to be the nuns' chapel, back when they had some nuns here who taught classes and such. We got to have a private Mass on Saturday evening here, to meet our Sunday obligation before we all had to travel the next morning.

This painting is on the back wall in the small chapel

Cecilia looks at one of the stations on the wall... apparently, somebody tried to clean them, with an abrasive cleaner... oops. It took the paint off!

windows in the nuns' chapel

Cecilia and Caroline enjoyed checking out the confessional in the back of the chapel

a view of the entire room

In one of the courtyards, a mother duck has been coming back for about twelve years to lay her eggs and raise her babies until they can fly away. The seminarians have put a kiddie pool out there for the ducklings to learn to swim in! They also take out a plate of cornmeal for them to eat.

a beautiful hallway

This is in Tim's dorm building, outside the chapel there... the girls are standing with St. Pius X, the patron of my high school.

This Marian statue is in an alcove at the top of the stairs inside Tim's dorm.

This is the outside of the chapel... the seminarians living in this dorm building use it for their morning prayers, early each day.

This painting depicts the way the main chapel used to look, before the painting on the wall got plastered over.

After our tour, we went back to the hotel to change into slightly more casual clothes before heading back to the nuns' chapel for our Saturday evening Mass. Then we had dinner reservations at a nearby steakhouse... Stephen had a return flight home in the middle of the afternoon, but everyone else came, including Father Dan, a priest who was at St. Pius high school with Tim and was influential n his deciding to enter the seminary. He had come up to attend the graduation as well. The restaurant was very good... I have decided that lobster macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food!!! And they had a delicious crab bisque... oh, now I am getting hungry! ;)

After dinner and the girls were in bed, my parents and Mike and Tim came to hang out in our hotel room... Tim and Mike stayed until 1:00 am. A bunch of night owls, we are!

And here are the girls outside our hotel room the next morning, ready to head to Indianapolis to meet some friends (although they didn't know that yet!)... posts on that segment of the trip coming soon!