On Saturday, March 5, five catechetical students (with adults in tow) ventured hence to Philadelphia, PA. While there, they visited Gloria Dei Church, Penn’s Landing and the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Here’s what engaged them:

In the confirmation trip, we stopped at the Gloria Dei Church. “Gloria Dei” translates in “Glory of God.” The site is more commonly known as Old Swedes Church. The church is the oldest in Pennsylvania. It was built between 1698 and 1700. It started as a Lutheran church for its first 150 years, then became and Episcopal church in 1845 because of its “unique historical significance.” Betsy Ross got married in this church. The Gloria Dei (Old Swedes) Church cemetery has been in continuous use since the early 1700s and is one of the oldest burial grounds in Philadelphia. ~ Kara Hershey

The Museum of Boats: The Bacuna is a submarine that was used in World War II. Its rank is guppy. I saw the engineer where it was operated. There was a ships behind the Bacuna. It was used for war as was the submarine. It had a secret spot for the captain to steer. The other big wheels were to distract the enemy. It took six men to turn them. It had 6-pound guns on the top of it. Inside the museum, they had a spot where you could hear different ships’ horns. There was one for fog. I saw a room where they were working on boats. There was a man there who told you about building a ship model. There was a room where you could push a button and a guy will start talking about his life. If you go upstairs, you’ll see art. They had a model of a famous bridge. ~ Ezra Buckman

My favorite part of the trip was when we went to the seaport museum. I liked seeing the submarine that had sunk three Japanese subs and rescued hundreds of pilots whose planes had been shot down. There was also a ship that was huge. It had lots more room in it than the submarine. But the submarine was way cooler. My favorite part was to hear the World War II veteran talking to us in person. ~ Dustin Pelleschi

My favorite part was the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt exhibit at the Penn Museum. I learned that the Pharaohs ruled Egypt for about 3,000 years. It was usually a man that was often thought of as a god. He would have controlled the army, government and high priest of every temple. Cleopatra was called king not queen because they dressed her up as a man because they thought it would be alright for her to be a higher order because men had a higher standing in Egypt. Like the Greeks, they also had more than one god. ~ Anna Zeigler

The Greek area of the Penn Museum was my favorite. The Greeks ruled by more than one god. They had 12 major gods. The three most powerful were Zeus, god of the sky; Poseidon, god of the sea; and Hades, god of the under world. Some others are Hermes, god of messengers; Ares, god of war; Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy; Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty; Apollo, god of poems and the sun; Dionysus, god of wine; Hephaestus, god of fire; Morpheus, god of sleep; Demeter, goddess of the earth; Hera goddess of marriage; and Hestia, goddess of the hearth. Those are most of the gods, not including the minor gods. ~ Laura Zeigler