Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Last week Tyler had a day retreat at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, AL. We had been wanting to visit this shrine for some time so James and I decided to join him.

It was a three hour drive to Hanceville and after we dropped Tyler off at the shrine, James and I went exploring. Tyler had a few talks in the morning so our plan was to meet him for Mass at noon back at the shrine. There wasn't much to do in Hanceville so we found a Chick-fil-A in the next town over.

Just enjoying our snack at Chick-fil-A!

After a snack James explored the play area and was getting adventurous on climbing up the slide!

We then picked up lunch to go and met Tyler for Mass. This was the highlight of the day because the chapel was so beautiful, Mass was beautiful as always, AND James slept the whole time. Thanks to Tyler for holding him, I got to enjoy a quiet, James-free Mass. What a blessing! Then we ate lunch with Tyler and while he went to his afternoon talks James and I explored the grounds of the shrine.

It was really cold and windy but James didn't seem to mind. He loved running around and pushing the stroller. There was a beautiful life-sized nativity scene in a stable-like room that was very warm, so we went to visit that multiple times!

James is fascinated by lights so he loved seeing all the candles. Then we met up with Tyler, went into the bookshop for a quick browse, and then started our drive home. Overall it was a really fun mini-pilgrimage and we look forward to going back another time!