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WYD CMSWR 2011
8/14/2011
Young
Sisters representing communities of the CMSWR
from across the United States arrived safely in
Madrid for the 2011 World Youth Day events. The
three ports of departure – Chicago, Miami and
New York were a sight to behold as young people
from across the country converged for their
departure for the event. The Sisters were
greeted by numerous young Catholics
enthusiastically anticipating the event.
After
a long day of travel the Sisters arrived safely
in Madrid and were greeted by the Little Sisters
of the Poor who will be providing hospitality
throughout their stay. A gracious welcome was
followed by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Afterwards the Sisters had the opportunity to
visit with the residents where the Little
Sisters of the poor care for the elderly. The
visit was enhanced by the lovely surprise of
hearing the residents sing to the sisters. A
quiet time of prayer brought the day of travel
to a peaceful close.
8/15/2011
On
August 15th, the Solemnity of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the
Sisters enjoyed a day of rest, celebration and
exploration. A number of Sisters took part in
the annual procession of La Virgen de la Espina
– the Patroness of Los Molinos, Spain.
Townspeople dressed in local garb gathered in
front of the façade of the convent where they
sang hymns to our Lady before processing to her
grotto located on the side of the mountain.
Afterwards some of the Sisters rode into the
city of Madrid to scout the area and plan the
travel routes for the Sisters to participate in
the World Youth events. During their day the met
young pilgrims from around the world. Fr. Thomas
Rosica, CSB – the CEO of Salt and Light
Productions from Canada met with our Sisters
at the Love and Life Center for the English
speaking pilgrims.
On
the same day, about twenty-five Sisters boarded
a train for Avila to spend a day among the
Carmelite Saints. There too, the city was filled
with pilgrims from around the world who had come
to spend the day in the birthplace of St. Teresa
who is one of the Patrons of this World Youth
Day. The Bishop of Avila celebrated Mass in the
Plaza of Santa Teresa for several hundred
pilgrims. Masses were celebrated throughout
Avila. An afternoon procession in honor of our
Lady beginning at the Church of San Juan (St.
Teresa’s church of baptism), moved in solemnity
and song throughout the streets of Avila.
In
the evening families gathered in the Los Molinos
home of the Little Sisters of the poor for a
candle light rosary procession. Our Lady’s
praises brightened the still and starry night.
8/16/2011
The
Sisters drove into the city of Madrid in the
morning of August 16th. Some assisted
at the Love and Life Center for English speaking
Youth. Australian youth were ushered in by the
Sisters who welcome them to the day’s events.
Sisters from the various communities took the
opportunity for prayer in the ancient churches
of Madrid. Confessions were offered in the
Parque de Retiro. Hundreds of pilgrims
participated.
On
the same day the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine
Heart and the Carmelite Sisters of the Most
Sacred Heart of Los Angeles boarded a train for
Toledo where they spent visiting the Carmelite
Monasteries. Father Tito lead the Sisters in a
guided tour through the Monasterio de Los
Carmelitas Descalzos where they spent time of
prayer in the chapel where the remains of 16
Carmelite Martyrs are reserved and venerated.
From their they walked to the Carmelite Cloister
where they received a gracious reception from
Mother prioress and the Sisters. The nuns
brought out various relics of St. Teresa and
even shared with them the original Toledo
manuscript of the “Way of Perfection” which
bears St. Teresa’s hand written edits and
corrections. The Sisters were permitted to hold
the precious work and to touch various religious
articles to it.
In
the evening all of the Sisters gathered with
thousands of pilgrims for the World Youth Day
2011 Opening Mass celebrated by Madrid’s
Archbishop Roco Varela in the company of
numerous priests and bishops. The Archbishop
called the youth to live their faith fearlessly
in the spirit of John Paul II. He welcomed them
to Madrid and proclaimed that during these days
Madrid was the capital of the world’s youth.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Many
of the sisters volunteered with the Sisters of
Life and the Knights of Columbus at the Palacio
de Deportes. This is the main English Speaking
site at WYD Madrid. Catechesis sessions and
confessions encompassed most of the morning. El
Parque del Buen Retiro hosted a Vocation fair
attended by religious communities from around
the world. Thousands of Pilgrims participated. A
seemingly endless row of confessionals were set
up along the center of the park. Thousands of
pilgrims availed themselves of this opportunity
to encounter God’s mercy in the sacrament.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Feastday of the Blessed Mannes, O.P. (brother of
St. Dominic). Many of the Sisters spent the day
at the Palacio de Deportes where they
volunteered for several hours, greeting pilgrims
as they arrived for Mass and the various events
being hosted. some of these included catechesis
sessions, praise and worship, and Eucharistic
Adoration throughout the day. The "Vocations
Cafe" has been highly visited through the days,
and it has been impressive to see many different
priests and religious from within the United
States as well as from various countries.
In the evening thousands of young people
gathered throughout the streets of Madrid along
the route of our Holy Father's entry into the
City from the Barrajas International Airport to
the Plaza de Cibelles. Some of the Sisters were
blessed to be directly in front of where the
papal motorcade was pasisng, and got an up close
and personal view of the Holy Father. At one
point he looked directly at the Sisters and
extended his blessing. Such was the enthusiasm
of the moment that the Sisters kept some of the
police barrier tape as a souvenir.
It was moving moment to watch the Holy Father
enter the city through the arches which no one
ever uses. This was a symbolic act of welcome,
and it was there that the mayor of Madrid handed
the keys of the city to Pope Benedict XVI. Then
two young people, representing the thousands of
pilgrims present, handed over to the Holy Father
the city of Madrid - capital of the entire
world's youth. A spontaneous cheer erupted: "Esta
es la juventud del Papa..." (All the world's
youth belong to the pope) repeated continually.
After the evening's event, the streets and metro
stations were flooded with young people singing
and cheering in various languages their love for
the pope. There were even some musicians at the
metro station playing Paco Bell Canon as
professionally as if they were on a stage. A
lovely tribute to the contagious joy in the city
of Madrid at this time.
Friday 8-19-2011
Pope Benedict XVI Audience ith young religious:
The Sisters boarded the bus at 5:00am to await
entry into El Escorial for their audience with
Pope Benedict XVI scheduled to take place at
11:30am. We arrived a little before 6:00am and
were the only ones their at that time. We were
permitted to wait at the entrance, and were the
first ones through the threshold as soon as the
pilgrims were allowed admittance. This was at
about 9am. We stood for several hours awaiting
the arrival of His Holiness. It was well worth
it.
Some of our Sisters were within 5 feet of our
Holy Father as he passed through. The walls
nearly blew out with cheers as we heard our Holy
Father address the religious there as "mis
queridas hermanas religiosas preciosas" (my
beloved and beautiful consecrated religious).
The young sister who greeeted him with a brief
address truly spoke for all of us as she told
him of our love and support. She promised him
our love and prayers, and she assured him that
while the cross which our Lord has given him is
heavy he is not alone because "we are here." The
consecrated hearts around the world have come to
him and will help him to carry the burden of the
cross.
Afterwards, our Holy Father met with young
professor. His message resonated deeply in
hearts since we are all called to educate the
world in Christ. He emphasized the need to seek
the truth while we are young, and said that
faith and reason need each other. We must not
bring our students only "nosotros mismos"
(ourselves). Rather we must lead them to the
Truth we are all seeking.
In the evening, many participated in the Way of
the Cross presided over by Pope Benedict XVI.
The Stations were profound, guiding the pilgrims
into a deeper experience of the Passion of
Christ. One could experience in each Station the
passion of our own beloved Holy Father as he
too, walks the Way of the Cross together with
the Church.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
The United States Bishops ushered in the
preparations for the evening’s vigil with the
Holy Father with Mass at “Palacio de Deportes.”
Sisters from CMSWR communities directed the
English speaking pilgrims to the respective
seating areas while bishops and priests from all
over the United States greeted and thanked the
Sisters for the gift of their life and
consecrations. We assured them of our prayers,
and they responded that this is a source of
ongoing support to them and to the
priesthood.Cardinal George was the main
celebrant with Archbishop Dolan as the homilist.
Over twenty thousand English speaking pilgrims
were present, enthusiastically engaged and
seemingly captivated by the homily. It was
moving to here one of the young women address
the bishops on behalf of the pilgrims present
and thank them for their service to the Church
as shepherds. Afterwards the bishops took the
time to mean with the pilgrims from their
respective dioceses – truly a reflection of the
solicitude of the shepherd for his flock.
Following the Mass the Sisters proceeded on foot
to “Cuatro Vientos” air field where the pilgrims
would gather for their “conversation” with Pope
Benedict XVI followed by Exposition and
Benediction. The arrival there was arduous as
there has been an unexpected heat wave the past
several days, but the pilgrims were jubilant and
resilient in their anticipation of the Holy
Father’s arrival. He was welcomed with loud
cheers. During Pope Benedict’s talk, a
refreshing and power wind blew in accompanied by
rain. This resulted in some technical
difficulties, but these did not deter the Holy
Father from being with his 2 million youth who
ardently waited to hear him speak. After some
time of waiting for the storm to pass, our Holy
Father proceeded with his talk.He thanked them
for their joy and resistence, reflection of
faith that is stronger than the storm. As he
prepared the young people for Exposition of the
Blessed Sacrament. He told them that this was
the sublime moment of the evening – receiving
into our midst our God, the King of kings, in
the silence of our hearts. It was a breath
taking experience to see so many young people
kneeling in complete silence during the
Eucharistic exposition. According to the Madrid
television, there were some 1.5 million in
Cuatro Vientos and several hundreds of thousands
outside, lining the streets of Madrid. The Vigil
progressed throughout the night with all-night
Eucharistic Adoration, praise and worship,
Confessions, conversations with the young people
and a little bit of sleep in between. The young
people were prayerful and filled with praise.
There were thousands of adorers throughout the
night and Confessions went on continually.
Sunday, August 21,
2011Closing Mass:
Reflections “The sun has
risen over Madrid in radiance and splendor.”
These were the words spoken by Pope Benedict XVI
in his greeting the 2 million young people
gathered for the WYD 2011 closing Mass after
their all-night vigil in the presence of the
Blessed Sacrament. The brightness of the sun was
a reflection of the light of Christ in His
Resurrection splendor made present in this
Eucharistic celebration. The Splendor of the
Church seemed to shine more radiantly than ever
on this Sunday morning.“Young people, my heart
is filled with joy as I look upon the great
number of you, knowing that God gazes on you
with love. He loves you!... Let your young
hearts say: ‘Lord, I believe you are the Christ,
the Son of God. You know me, Lord. You
strengthen me. I want to give my life to you…’
Faith and closeness to Christ are inseparable.
Each must support the other in an ever deepening
and living relationship with Jesus
Christ…”Alongside of a very personal relation to
Christ, our Holy Father exhorted that we cannot
follow Christ as solitaries or individualists
without falling into a false image of Him. We
need one another. We need the Church to guide
us. We must love the Church, participate in her
sacraments – Eucharist and Confession, pondering
the Word of God. Our Holy Father stressed that
the very fact that so many young people are here
today from every continent of the world is the
realization of Christ’s mandate: “Go and preach
to the whole world.” The Holy Father explained
to the youth that in the blessing of the World
Youth Day crosses, they were receiving the
mandate to take the cross on pilgrimage through
life to their respective countries, communities,
families – each person to the ends of the earth.
“The world needs your testimony. Don’t keep the
faith to yourself alone. Communicate to the
world the joy of your faith.” “Now that you go
back to your homes, your friends will want to
know what has happened, what has changed in you
these days that you have spent with the pope.
What will you respond?”One young woman spoke for
the multitude in saying: “You have taught me not
to be afraid to open wide the doors of my heart
to Christ, to give myself entirely to Him who
takes nothing from me but gives me everything in
return.” At the conclusion of this unforgettable
and grace-filled time with Pope Benedict XVI, a
young person from Madrid said: “It is fine for
our Holy Father to depart from Madrid now,
because during these days he has brought us joy
enough to last the rest of our lives.”
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