Pope Bennedict

Hello, this is Mike,

We did it!

Together with 800,000 pilgrims we worshiped Christ with our Pope! It was a great journey full of sacrifice, prayer, joy, and friendship.

All of our group made the journey to the great field to see the pope and survived a cold night with humor, friendship, and perserverence. Fatther con-celebrated mass with the pope this morning along with 7,000 other priest, 800 bishops, and numerous cardinals. His message of Eucharist was passionate and received with enthusiasm. It was very humbling to see that many people gathered together in one spot to celebrate mass.

Our trek to the buses after the celebration was the most challenging part of the pilgrimage. We were exhausted, it was a long, long, walk, in huge crowds, and we were unsure of how to find our bus. The whole event was very well organized except how to get from the field to the respective bus stops.

When we got back to the hotel, there was time to take a shower before going by bus to Dusseldorf to have a dinner with Bishop Sean. He taught everyone there how to sing a song about wishing the pope well in German. Father Chris O'Conner urged us to go back and share our love for Christ with others on our return.

We leave early tomorrow morning so we will see you tomorrow night! WE CAN'T WAIT!

Last Day in the City of Churches

day 5

Hello there, it is I, Terry. Today we go to see the Passion with guest speaker Jim Caviezal. The legend of the German train was proven true as the ride was one of the smoothest rides that ever did exist. 'Twas as if the pilgrims rode on the clouds of Heaven to Duuseldorf. These trains come highly recommended [aside from the sardine-effect of the large crowds and temporary lost-ness of the foreign language ports.]

At the duusseldorf port we met up with a group of four Canadians also going to see the Passion. A frisbee game later and we were sitting in the field munching on cheese/ham/bread and anticipating the g'times to come.

Hello,

This is Fr. St. Martin. Mrs. Brady was able to meet Bishop O'Malley today upon his arrival. Some of the pilgrims from St. Joeseph's Parish saw Pope Benedict by chance as he drove down the street. Our singers spent a good day at the field singing the songs for the final Mass with our most excellent Pope. We were able to read his address to the youth translated from all the various languages into English. We are leaving for the main event tomorrow and will not be able to blog until we get back to the states. This has been a grace filled pilgrimage and we are thankful for your good prayers and support.

Sincerely,

Fr. St. Martin

Banks of the River Rhien

This is Fr. St. Martin reporting.

Today we reflected on where we saw Christ so far in our pilgimage and then offered Mass together in the Hotel. Colleen, TJ, Erica, and Kaitlyn spent the rest of the day turing an ancient castle. Mike, Maria, Terry, Kelsey, Kristin, and I visited an expoition on Mother Theresa of Calcultta and some of our number dove into the pool of reconciliation. We all were able to take part in adoration with the rosary led by the Sisters of Charity.

We grabed a quick sandwich and found our way to what we thought was the field where the Pope was going to talk from the boat. He when right past us, stopped for a while, and then the jian catamaran on which he was perched backed up untill it was directly in front of us. Even though we had arived only a short time before he did we found ourselves within the most excellent of spots.

From what I have been able to gather so far the multi-lingual address was a reminder to the people of this fair city that they have produced many great saints. He talked of St. Edith Stien and her observation that we can forget how to pray. He told us to open our hearts to Christ and that in this, the year of the Eucharist, to remember God's mercy flowing from the Eucharist.

He called us to pray for the founder of Taize movement who was killed just a couple of days ago. He was able to get Catholics and other Christians to pray together.

We ate at an outdoor cafe, looked at all the things we were able to trade with our siblings from all over the world, had a little catechisis on the magesterium and infalibility, and caught a few songs at a concert. After a good sleep we will be ready to worship Christ tommorrow.

Colleen, Erica, Krintin, and Kelsey will attend a 5 hr. chior practice for the final Papal Mass. Everyone is bursting with excitement and pride. St. Cecilia, the patron St. of Musicians, is a powerful intercesor! The rest of us will be traveling to a stadium to hear Jim Kavesal and meditate on the Lord's Passion.

The River

Hello! My name is Kristen Shea and my home parish is St. Edward's Church in Medfield, yet I am traveling with St. Cecilia's Church in Ashland for Wold Youth Day. It is now the third day of the pilgrimage and I am taking part in a wonderful opportunity and once in a lifetime experience. Germany is great!! It is a beautiful country, wonderful cathedrals, churches, and chapels, great restaurants and cafes, cute shops, great museums, etc. Today, we were supposed to go on a boat ride on the Reine for the whole day, but it got cancelled. However, our individual group decided to go on a one hour cruise on the Reine anyway and it was fantastic!! The weather was perfect for a boat ride. Afterwards, we spent some time at the Chocolate Museum. It was extremely interesting and the chocolate was delicious. Afterwards, we went to Saint Maria Church for adoration and daytime prayer. It was a very old Romanesque Church and absolutely beautiful. I wsa truly amayed by its beauty. It was incredible! Afterwards, I went to a choir rehersal with six other girls and two guys from the Boston group where we will be singing for the Pope on Saturday night and at the Papal Mass on Sunday. There are about 75-100 of us. We are all so thrilled to be singing for the Pope and are very excited to be so close to him! It will be an experience we will never forget, a once in a lifetime opportunity!!!
We'll catch up with you later!!!!
God Bless,
Kristen E. Shea

Day Two

Acting St. C's!!!!

This is Colleen. Today we started out at 8am to spend the day "Church hopping". Our mission was to go to as many of the Romanesque Churches in one day as possible. We went to the Dom Cathedral early to beat the crowds and it was already packed! The Dom is definitely the hub of WYD 2005. We toured the church and prayed at the relics of the three wise men. We also sang the divine Mercy chaplet kneeling at the feet of a crucifix that had an incredible story. It was cracked and then miraculously fixed by the bishop of the time. He inserted a host into the crack and it healed the wound. Looking up at the spires some of us were inspired to climb to the top of the Cathedral. They said that the view was amazing. Down below It was so cool to see so many groups of young people waving flags, dancing and singing. We checked out the Roman/German Museum and then headed down to "Old Koln" for lunch. After lunch we went to St. Martin Church (guess who wanted to go there????)which is also a monastery. We met some really funny and helpful monks who gave us some great suggestions on where to go next. We headed down the Rhine to 3 incredible romanesque churches, meeting so many new friends along the way. We felt so blessed to offer Mass at St. Mary's hospital for all the sick. Everywhere we went we encountered so much of Christ's love in the words, songs and actions of those we met. We pilgrimaged all day and now, hungry and tired we are eating at a restaurant sure to add to our cultural experience.... Joes American Sports Bar! (kid's choice)

Peace,
Colleen

Assumption of Mary

We made it. It was a long trip but everyone made it to Cologne safe and sound. We left Boson at 9:45 Sunday morning and arrived today at 7:30 AM in Frankfort and then at our hotel in Cologne just before noon. We were all tired from the long journey but after we got settled and had a little rest, we walked through downtown Cologne {which is like Faniuel Hall except much larger in area} to St. Andreas for a Mass with about 300 other young pilgrims from Boston and Chicago. At the last minute three of our number found themselves preparing to do the readings and psalms. Erica Carlson, Kristen Shea, and Kelsey Mott did an excellent job participating in this Archdiocesan mass. Our small group capped off the celebration of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary with a visit to the Crypt in which was laid the body of St. Albert where we offered prayers for the intentions of all the people who helped us make the pilgrimage and all the people who had asked that we spend some time praying for their special intentions. We also learned that St. Albert helped bring strong and solid growth thought to the Church's contemplation of the divine mysteries and was able to help influence and form the most excellent mind of St. Thomas Aquinas, the great master of the saving truth of God's love.
After mass we were suffering from fatigue and hunger. Michael Mott found us a good restaurant and after trying to decipher the menu, we made good choices {guesses} and had a wonderful communal meal. It ended up to be a good and fitting meal for the great feast of Mary's Assumption, being taken body and soul into heaven.

We look forward to a deep sleep this evening and a morning visit to the Dom and it's great treasure of the relics of the Three Kings, who with us came to worship Christ.

WYD 2005 St. Cecilia's Ashland

We are ready to go. Tommorrow on the feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven we will be taken up on our first leg of Pilgriage. Pray for us as we pray for you with our new Pope and the youth of the world. Together with Mary our Hope we will all come worship Christ.