Chronicle of Thursday 28 August

Dear parents, grandparents, friends and the rest of the pilgrims,

Today started early. Shortly after 7:15 in the morning, the coaches left for Vatican City, where we were to celebrate Holy Mass at the Altar of the Chair of Peter. It was a very special Mass. The Cor Ginesta, the parish choir, had spent the whole year preparing with excitement, rehearsal after rehearsal, this celebration that seemed like it would never come but that, with so much love, rested in everyone’s heart. Singing in the Vatican is, for choirs, like playing at Camp Nou, or at least that’s how we felt it.

Just before starting, we were told that, in the end, we wouldn’t be able to use the Vatican organ. A feeling of uncertainty shrank the singers’ hearts, but they pulled themselves together and the singing turned out splendidly. He who sings prays twice, as St Augustine said, and with the voices of our artists multiplied, many were the prayers that rose up to heaven during today’s Eucharist, organ or no organ. At the end of Mass, however, they opened up the instrument for us so that we could use it for the closing hymn, the Virolai, the most representative hymn to Our Lady of our land.

After Holy Mass, the group split up so that each family could make the most of what was, for some, the last day on Italian soil. The Seniors group knew exactly what they wanted to do today: shopping. Our older members came back laden with souvenirs and keepsakes for their families and friends. After praying the Angelus all together, we set off in the vans to Casa Pastor Bonus, the place where the PSP and the Seniors have been having lunch these last few days.

After filling our stomachs with a good plate of pasta with an indecipherable name and some truly succulent steaks, we headed in the vans to the Colosseum, the great Roman stadium of antiquity. Many of our brothers and sisters in the faith died there for defending Christ, the Truth with a capital T. That’s why, if you look carefully, there are several plaques around the walls of the site marking visits by popes, and a large cross stands in the centre of the amphitheatre’s arena. Our walk through the streets of Rome continued to the entrance of an ice cream parlour that made Gerard really happy, as he had been waiting patiently for several days for the moment to enjoy a good ice cream. After this snack, the older members of our pilgrimage went back to the hotel to rest while the young, in age and some in spirit, carried on walking and visited the Roman Forum, which amazed some with its historical importance while to others it looked like a few old stones badly piled up.

We all got together for dinner at the Hotel Midas, as usual these days, and then, back at the residence, we prayed Compline and had a packed get-together. Among pilgrims’ anecdotes and bottles of soft drinks, the musical performances stood out: Pablo Garrido, who sang us Have you ever seen the rain; the Gel family, who sang us all Los Tontos by C. Tangana; and the Perreau sisters, who, with Laura on guitar and Alejandra on the microphone, did an extraordinary version of ¡Qué bonito! by Rosario Flores. These moments of community bring us very close to one another and make us realise that we are a big family, the great family of the Church, knowing that God is our father and that he delights in seeing us happy with one another, sharing our experiences and our faith.

Now we’re off to bed, as tomorrow some are already leaving for Barcelona in the vans. We are praying hard for the return journey of these pilgrims, which begins tomorrow. The rest of us will be able to rest a little more today so as to carry on exploring the streets of the Eternal City tomorrow.