Faith and Frozen Exploration

By Isaiah Seymour, DCHS senior

Over Christmas break, 12 senior Ut Fidem students traveled to Iceland for a discernment pilgrimage. Read about the experience below!

I went on the Iceland pilgrimage over winter break. This experience was extremely special. I went into it with very high hopes expecting to grow a lot with my friends and in my faith, but I didn't know how amazing it truly would be. We did so much together. One of the highlights was going to the black sand beach which was a truly amazing experience.  It really allowed you to see how God can handcraft the most beautiful things in the world. We got to see the Blue Lagoon which is one of the wonders of the world, and was a truly awe inspiring experience.

We learned a lot about the island of Iceland and what the culture there is like.  There are many things that have shaped people’s way of life on the island. We learned about that by going on a food tour and getting to taste the special cuisine of the Icelandic people. We also got to go to an Icelandic History Museum where there were extremely interesting facts about the history of Iceland and how it came to be the country and awesome Island that it is now. We also got to explore a lava flow cave and learn about how volcanoes have physically shaped the island.

Through all of the exploration, climbing mountains and seeing the history of Iceland, we also got the incredible experience of connecting all of those wonderfully made things to God. We had multiple talks from fr. Flood, Fr. Downey, Mr. Jones, and lastly but not least Mr. Clark. These talks did a really great job of focusing me on enjoying the beauty and extreme love of Iceland to seeing where it was truly coming from.

In addition to the talks we also had daily Mass and almost daily adoration with times of silence for us to truly reflect on what was happening in our lives through this pilgrimage. This was the most impactful to me. The times of silence and the times that we spent in the Most Holy Mass were extremely powerful and where a majority of the lasting effects on me were formed. I think in the short week that we were in Iceland my 15 other brothers and I grew extremely tight towards each other and towards God. This was an amazing experience and I wouldn't change anything about it and I'm extremely glad I got the opportunity. I would like to give a special thank you to Fr. Flood, Fr. Downey, Mr. Jones, and Mr. Clark for leading us 12 young men through this amazing experience.