Final chronicle from WYD

Dear parents,

We’ve gone two days without a chronicle, but don’t think we’ve abandoned you. It’s just that WYD is sooooooo intense that we haven’t been able to stop and write. But here’s the summary of the last few days.

Let’s start with Saturday: we woke up at 9 in the morning, which is quite unusual for us, and after the meditation and Mass we set about tidying up the house. We had to leave it spotless; like all of them, of course, but even more so, because it’s a beautiful estate where wedding banquets are held. The owner, Madalena, lent it to us with enormous generosity and trust, despite not knowing us at all. The clear-up was quite epic: there was no shortage of a little market of unclaimed clothes, nor of the urge to “put all the food you can fit into your rucksack, you never know”.

The priests took us out to lunch at a Burger place (spoilt to the very last day!), already loaded with our rucksacks and heading for the WYD campus. The Burger staff who survived our order of 100 burgers, each with its chips, are now ready for anything…

Then we took the train that brought us as close as possible to the campus and set off to do the last stretch on foot. By then the madness was total: crowds of people of every colour, with flags from here and there, singing, shouting, laughing… and pushing a little to get a good spot. We managed to reach our sector (B08), not without difficulty, forming a very long human chain thanks to which we didn’t lose anyone. Once there, we spread our things out on the ground and waited for the Pope for the vigil of Eucharistic adoration.

It was a very beautiful ceremony. The silence that fell when Our Lord was exposed in the monstrance is one of the most impressive things you can experience. More than a million people on their knees, adoring Jesus and asking for his grace for all of us who were there. That night the Pope told us that it doesn’t matter how many times we fall, that the only problem would be staying on the ground. With the love of Jesus we can always get up, no matter how serious our faults have been.

When the vigil ended, some people spread out their sleeping bags and shut themselves in like caterpillars to sleep, but most went off to wander around, to look for friends or to talk to people from every corner of the world. The fantastic thing about WYD is that you can sit down at two in the morning to play the guitar with a group of Mexicans you’ve never seen in your life, and everyone is so happy.

On Sunday morning we were woken by the campus PA system with a few very lively tracks, including Handel’s Messiah mixed with techno music. Disconcerting but cool. After the obligatory visit to the portable toilets, it was time to wait for the Pope.

Sunday’s Holy Mass was really great. Readings and prayers in several languages, an incredible choir and the words of the Pope, which always do us so much good. He referred to the Gospel of the day, the Transfiguration: it was so good to be at WYD that we would surely want to say, like the apostles, “how good it is to be here, let us make three tents”. But the important question is: what will we do when we get back? What will have changed in us? What will we take home after living these days of fraternity and communion?

After Mass, we retraced the previous day’s route and our coach picked us up and took us to Talavera de la Reina. There the Augustinian sisters welcomed us, gave us dinner and let us sleep in their residence, in real beds and with one bathroom for every three people. We can’t believe how Providence looks after us!

Today, Monday 7 August, we got up in Talavera very calmly. We had our meditation and joined the 12 o’clock Mass at the basilica of Our Lady of the Prado, with Don Miguel, a wonderful priest and a friend of Fr Ferran. After Mass, we got on the coach and headed home!

We can’t wait to see you, hug you and tell you about the whole adventure! Get ready for a week of children telling stories non-stop (or for a week of children sleeping; that depends on each one’s style). Thank you for being with us these 40 days, thank you for your prayers and your love. You’ve been very much in our thoughts, you know that. We’re coming home renewed and converted; we hope you’ll notice it in our service, in our joy and in our love for Jesus.

We close the chronicle journal here, and it will open again, God willing, in Korea 2027. We promise you two things: that we won’t be walking there, and that it will be as spectacular as this WYD!