Chronicle of Monday 25 August

Dear parents, grandparents, friends and all the other pilgrims,

The last stage. Only 26 kilometres separated us from Rome. 26 out of a total of 576. Almost nothing. Just a few more hours and we would have reached our destination and could see our families. Thoughts like these were going round the pilgrims’ heads in the early hours this morning, before breakfast and setting off. Today, the young men of the logistics team walked with us so that we could finally all arrive in Rome together, like one big family that we are all part of.

Yesterday a small sheepdog followed us all the way to the village. Well, today the animal was still there, keeping us company on the way and never leaving our side. The first part of the stage wasn’t especially hard. We did the first hours of darkness on a path of stones and gravel that went up and down without much of a gradient. Then a stretch of uphill road, not very long, which had us all walking in single file and wore more than one of us out because of the heat rising from the tarmac. Finally, at around 9 in the morning, we stopped in a park, now only 10 kilometres from St Peter’s Square.

The eagerness to arrive could really be felt in the air and won out over our tired legs, so the pace, which hadn’t been the fastest until then, held at a reasonable average. After making our way through the streets on the outskirts of Rome and entering the city by climbing hills through the districts furthest from the centre, yesterday’s dog was still there, stopping the traffic and following us everywhere down the middle of the road. In the end, to the relief of some and the sadness of others, some passers-by decided to take it with them to stop it causing havoc among the drivers.

Back to the pilgrims’ way: they decided to stop walking 500 metres from Piazza del Popolo, the meeting point with the families. From there, they walked on singing various songs while people in the street looked at us with a mixture of curiosity, suspicion and admiration. Finally, entering to the sound of “Dona toda tu vida”, came the moment everyone had been waiting for. With great shouts of joy, the pilgrims melted into hugs with their families, reunited after quite a few days without seeing each other. There were tears, laughter, stories and children running everywhere. After the group photo, now with the pilgrims from the vans, those from the plane and those on foot forming a single group of pilgrims, we all went together towards Vatican City, intending to enter through the Holy Door of the Jubilee. On the way we all prayed the Holy Rosary to Our Lady together as a community.

Just before reaching St Peter’s Square we were handed some leaflets explaining the steps to follow to gain the Jubilee indulgence. We began by praying the Creed and, as we walked towards St Peter’s Square, we had to recite some psalms and the Litany of the Saints, and then enter St Peter’s Basilica through the Holy Door. Once we were all inside, we finished the prayer before Peter’s tomb, and so we concluded our visit to the papal basilica and gained the Jubilee indulgence.

Later we had lunch nearby and all celebrated Holy Mass together at the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, a beautiful church surrounded by the embassies of several countries, very close to Vatican City. How lovely it is to be able to live Mass again, celebrated all together as a family.

At around 19:00, the coaches that picked us up in the centre of Rome dropped us off at Casa Zeffirino, the residence where we have our base camp, so that the pilgrims could enjoy a shower, which today we were told could last as long as we liked, and a well-deserved rest after a day of intense emotions and frayed nerves. With the families we had some delicious pizzas in the residence garden before praying Compline and heading off to a long, deep sleep, knowing that tomorrow, at last, we won’t have to get up at 3:00.