Hi this is Laura and Monique (Huon Valley Parish)
On Monday we arrived in Mardrid got settled in our rooms had dinner and went to bed :)
Tuesday we had a bit of an early start, breakfast was at 7 AM, after this we had some small group time to reflect and relax. We then went to the love and life centre for english speaking pilgrims for the Australian Gatherering, there was 3000 of us and it was awesome!! We had music prayer and two hilarious MC's. That night was the opening mass at first we could not see or hear anthying so we moved to a small square and tried to listen on radios but this didn't really work so in times of singing we sang our own hymns (many passers by started to take photos of us!).
On Wednesday we decided to go to the Cathedral of Madrid which is very beautiful, we could not really see why the spanish are so ashamed of it. We then went across the square to the Royal Palace, it too was amazing. Before going into the palace we stood in line in the boiling sun for around an hour. After this we had a small amount of free time and then we were given some choices to do. Option one was to go to a talk on 'The Theology of the Body' by Chrisptopher West an American speaker. Option two was to go to 'Soul Band' from Sydney during this time we decided to reflect and write in our journals in the park. The option two group then went to see Fr Robert Galea (Sandhurst) this was absolutley amazing so many people dancing and singing to some inspiring music. Option one went to a dance show depicting the life of Jesus through the Spanish dance and music style: Flamenco.
On Thursday we went to Catachesis and mass in a completely packed church that we had to sit on the foor in, it was given by the Archibishop of New York who had a very powerful message about how to become closer to Christ. After this we went to the massive Reitro Park and watched the Pope arrive after some free time where many of us went out in boats on the lake and a few of us even went swimming... Eddie and Eve. The Popes arrival was a great experience even if we were only watching a screen the atmoshpere and excitment was overwhelming.
Laura & Monique
I lived with one of those 'hilarious MC's' last year. I can imagine you all had an amazing time! Looking forward to the return of my pilgrims. (Dianne and Sarah)
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear of your adventures Laura and Monique. It must be awesome to be with so many other young people who have similiar beliefs and where you are able to openly talk about what your faith means to you. How are you getting on communication with Pilgrims from other countries and are there many opportunities to do this? Keep having fun and look forward to your return. Kathy (aunty) Huon Valley Parish
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