"we're in the land of beauty and the beast!...oh yea, and all that historical stuff' (Day 9)

Today was our trip to Carcassonne, so we talked about the Crusaders in class and read the Song of the Cathars. The different Crusades were for different reasons. The first Crusade was to Jerusalem because they wanted to get it back from the Muslims so that people could make pilgrimages there. The second one was to free Chirstians from Muslim domination. The third one was to push back the Turks who were constantly attacking Constantinople. The Crusaders wore a cross on their right shoulder and their battles were considered a pilgrimage if they served for at least 40 days. They would receive full absolution of sins and could keep whatever land they conquered. This was especially beneficial for the second sons of nobility, because they were not given any land in their family.

The Albigenzian Crusade was the only crusade against Christian lands. It began in 1150 by Pope Innocent III. It was against the local religious and lay authorities; he wanted to replace them with Catholics who were loyal to the Pope. However, this was against feudal law and noblemen refused to take part. Simon of Montford led the Crusade. The Pope sent legats to Fontfroide to shake up the local clergy and demand they take action against the heretics. The local bishops were offended. St. Dominic came to Fanjeaux to try and solve this a peaceful way. Two years later, one of the legats who talked with King Raymond VI got murdered. The Pope couldn't take it anymore and began the Crusade.

We had cassoulle for lunch. This is a dish with beans and sausage inside with duck legs. I don't

think I'd have it again, but I'm all for trying new things. We also had the best ice cream cake I've ever had.

After lunch, we got on the bus to Carcassonne. This is a medieval castle with a lot of tourist attractions. They built the castle from what it was originally made out of, following plans they found for this kind of castle. In the Crusades, the Crusaders won it and it was given to Simon of Montfort. The fist thing we did there was visit the Basillica of St. Nazaire. The stained glass windows and all of the statues were amazing. I didn't know that the colors in the rose in the north were supposed to be darker. It was in honor of Mary. It was made to look like it was moving, because time is always moving. The rose in the south, however, was brighter. It honored Jesus and was not made to look like it was moving, representing eternity. My absoute favorite moment of this trip occurred in this cathedral. A male a cappella quintet began to sing. I don't know what they were singing, but it was beautiful. To hear the music in the church, surrounded by all of the statues and windows and with a bunch of people from the trip who I've been blessed to spend time with this week, made me have that AHA moment. It was completely indescribable. Nothing I say here will ever show just how talented these men were and how gorgeous their voices were. I think if you could hear God, that's what He'd sound like.

After Carcassonne, we went to the house of St. Dominic. Here we got to see where he may have

lived and most notably, really vibrant stained glass windows. It showed different major events int he life of Saint Dominic, including the 9 women forming the convent and him making the wheat bleed. We went to the garden and got so see another beautiful view from there.

For dinner we had a very good soup and chicken cordon bleu with swiss chard. For dessert we had a tart for Matt's birthday.

After dinner, we went to the couvant and did St. Dominic's 9 Ways of Prayer. I REALLY enjoyed this. I loved being able to do it where St. Dominic had Mass. Praying while moving is a different kind of concept, but as we did it a few times, it began to make more sense why we did it. Last year at the Dominican Preaching Conference we got to try liturgical dancing, which goes along with the same concept, but for some reason I didn't like it. What we did tonight just makes more sense and seems "right" to me. I also find it interesting that St. Dominic came up with these at a time when the Cathars were thinking the opposite, that the body was bad. He must have been a very brave person to come up with something so different.