Some Pictures

John is finished with his studies at the ITI, and yesterday graduated with his class. It's been an exhausting week. Rain began to pour during the ceremony, and it ended early. John took that to mean that he was free to go home, and left before official group shots were taken, so he is not in any of those. Ah well, one way or another I think he will be remembered here.

John is introduced by the President of the Institute. Among other things, he stated that John was "one of the best students here in recent years."

John has his academic biretta placed on his head.

After being granted his Licentiate degree, John joined the members of the faculty, instead of returning to his seat with the other students, because he is now qualified to teach Theology.

John (the one in the middle not wearing a gown) with the other graduates.

Graduation

Yesterday we had our graduation ceremony. So all is done, I officially have a licentiate in theology. It's a great relief to be done. We're very excited now about getting ready for our two weeks in Italy, and after that homeward bound!

John's Defense

John is currently out of town, but I thought I'd update everyone a little on his defense. To use the words of one of the professors sitting in on it, "he was brilliant!"

Last Day of Classes

Today marks day the last of five years' worth of classes at the ITI for yours truly. At 9:00 I have Augustine and Aquinas on the Resurrection of Christ in the Gospel of John. Then at 14:30 a summation of the divergences between Aquinas and Bonaventure on Metaphysics, Theology, and Divine Personhood. 

Tomorrow is a reading day for the whole school to prepare for exams. On Thursday, I will join one of the professors giving examinations. Friday afternoon I publicly defend my thesis. Next Monday I have my last exam. At some point early next week I give a lecture on the apparent discrepancies between the Gospels regarding the date of the Last Supper. And that's it. 

Finis.

Some Pictures from Pentecost

The Pentecost party was epic, but unfortunately we have very few pictures from it (except for the croquet game).

Here are a few of the kiddos before Mass

Chris wasn't so good at the game, but he had fun dancing (and lighting things on fire, in honor of the Holy Spirit).

John and I won the first match. I think his outfit helped.

Happy Birthday

This one's for Mary - still on pace to be called Dr. Joy before I am.

7 Years

Academic Theses

My master's and licentiate theses are now available at Academia.edu. You can read them in their entirety online or download them as pdf files. My baccalaureate thesis is available from the website of Antiphon, the Journal of the Society for Catholic Liturgy.

B.Phil. Thesis: Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (2005).

S.T.M. Thesis: Poena Satisfactoria (2010).

S.T.L. Thesis: Cathedra Veritatis (2012).

Happy 6th Birthday, Maria!

I can't believe she's 6! Today Maria had a party with all her friends here, and also went to a festival put on by the Trumau scouts (which is why her face is painted in the pictures below).

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Ballet

Maria had her last ballet lesson yesterday, and while the teacher wasn't up for putting a recital together, she did invite all the parents to watch the girls dance. Here are some pictures. The girls were all having a hard time knowing what to do with their hands, so the teacher told them to hold their "babies" to give them something to do with them.

Lied für Mama (oder Oma)

Melodie "Anton aus Tirol"

Du bist so schön.

Du bist so toll.

Als Mama (Oma) bist du wundervoll!

Du bist immer für mich da,

darum ruf ich laut, "HURRA!"

Ohne Dich, da möchte ich gar nicht sein!

Du bist so schön.

Du bist so toll.

Als Mama (Oma) bist du wundervoll!

Du bist immer für mich da,

darum ruf ich laut, "HURRA!"

Ohne dich, da fühl ich mich allein!

Du bist so schön.

Du bist so toll.

Als Mama (Oma) bist du wundervoll!

Alle Leute solln es wissen,

Mama (Oma), du bist ja zum Küssen!

Hör gut zu, mein Schatzi bist nur DU!

 

Du bist so schön.

Du bist so toll.

Als Mama (Oma) bist du wundervoll!

 

Croquet Match

We just acquired a croquet set recently. The inaugural match was held on Sunday, with John and Lisa facing off against Katie and David. Unfortunately, the youngsters ending up on the winning side. Quite a good show all the way around, though.

May Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Gabriel!

Spring Fun!

A Pile of Dirt

Due to some landscaping projects happening here on campus, there is a huge pile of dirt in the field behind our flat. This is absolute heaven for the children here, and they will gladly spend morning until night playing in the dirt, coming in for lunch only grudgingly. The other night I called the kids in for dinner, and I hardly recognized Thomas when he popped up from behind the pile. He had no idea why I was giggling as we ran home, or why Katie and John immediately started laughing when he came to the door (or even why I wouldn't let him enter until he had been stripped down, or why he was placed in the bathtub before, not after, dinner). 

The Birthday Month Continues

We love you, Aunt Betsy!

Hope you have a great day,

and can't wait to see you again soon!

And... Happy Birthday!

April is a busy time of year. Moving across to the other side of the family, this one is for Grandpa.

We love you lots! 

123

Happy Birthday Papou/Daddy

And another one! Whew, it's a busy week for the Imgrund family! We love you! Next year we can celebrate with you!

Good Friday

The kids and I mounted an expedition to collect rocks and bricks worthy of a tomb for our divine savior. Maria and Thomas each carried a heavy one all the way from the Schloss to our home (I carried Edmund as well as all the other rocks). Lisa took charge of the construction, and Maria added the little crucifix on top as a finishing touch. Here she is with the finished product.

Tigers Baseball

Note well:

The Austrian Joys will be watching Tigers' games only after Easter.
Your silence is therefore respectfully requested concerning said games in order to protect the integrity of our viewing experience.
Thank you, and Go Tigers!

Thomas and the Slide

This happened a few weeks ago, but is probably worth recording on here for the sake of posterity. Poor guy. He handled it like a champ, though.

Now for another birthday post...

Happy Birthday, Veronica!

Happy Birthday, Adelaide

We can't wait to see you this summer!

La Lumiere School

 

News update for those who haven't heard yet. I have accepted an offer to teach Latin, Ethics, and Theology at La Lumiere School, a Catholic boarding prep school in Northwestern Indiana, located in between La Porte (IN), Michigan City (IN), and New Buffalo (MI). My duties there will begin on or around August 6, 2012, so we will probably move there at the beginning of August after spending most of July in Lansing. We could hardly be more excited about this! Thanks for all of your prayers and support throughout our time in Austria, and especially as we've searched for the next step in our lives.

And thanks to St Joseph to whom we prayed for this throughout the entire month of March!

And, of course, for Mom/Grandma...

Home again in Austria

It was an exhausting week long tour of the United States, and I am glad to be back again with Lisa and the kids. Thanks to all of you who took care of me on my journey, and sorry I missed the rest of you. Time was too short for much visiting, but if the trip bears fruit then we will be seeing much more of you all from this Summer onward. We have fixed our timeline, by the way, in case any of you are interested. July 5 will be our first day back in the USA. And we're all looking forward to it.

Feast of St. Patrick

Happy St. Patrick's day to all, and happy belated to Vincent and Brigid.

(for Vince)

(for Brigid)

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday, Mom/Nana! 

With love from all of us!

Novena to St Joseph

Please join us in praying a novena to St Joseph petitioning for success in our search for happy employment. The novena will last from today, March 10, until March 18, the eve of St Joseph's solemn feast day. I'll also be flying in for a couple of interviews on the feast of St Joseph. Here is the prayer we are using:

To thee, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our tribulation, and having implored the help of thy most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. Through that charity which bound thee to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which thou embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg thee to graciously regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with thy power and strength to aid us in our necessities.

O most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty protector, be propitious to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness; and, as once thou rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God's Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by thy constant protection, so that, supported by thy example and thy aid, we may be able to live piously, to die holy, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.

St Joseph, pray for us.

Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Apotheosis of St Thomas

~Francisco Zurbaran

Various

Not having removed the pictures from our camera in some time, here are a few good ones from events of the previous weeks. For Lisa's birthday - although a few days before - we went to an opera at the Viennese State Opera House for the first time, and saw the Barber of Seville.

On Lisa's birthday she made sure that Maria received a nice Valentine's Day present as well: chocolate covered strawberries.

Then we finally made it back to the zoo on a day when the ponies were active, so Thomas finally got his pony ride.

In the elephant house, there was face painting and mask making in preparation for Mardi Gras.