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