Journal of My Experiences
Pilgrimage to Marienfield, Vigil with Pope Benedict XVI
On Saturday, we were able to sleep in a little. Next we went to a grocery store to shop for supplies for our trip. I bought some nuts, granola bars and dried fruit. Then we took a bus ride for about one hour into the middle of nowhere, where we were left to walk the rest of the way.
The pilgrimage was supposed to be about 12km. I don�t know how long it was, but it seemed to take forever � at least 3 hours to reach Marienfield. We walked through all kinds of small towns, where the local people came out to greet us and brought us drinks, sold stuff etc. I was surprised by the number waving Canadian Flags. It was a real feeling of Germany, having the farmer come out in their rubber boots etc. It was great!!
Along part of the way, I lead the Rosary. With all the commotion around it was very hard, but I tried to be loud. I thought that few people were even listening and was about to give up at one spot. Nevertheless, numerous people thanked me for doing it, including some I thought would not be interested.
We arrived at Marienfield, but were unable to stay in the location in which we were assigned. We had to move further back. However, we had a very nice spot, with a screen that worked and it was not too crowded. Soon we got in groups of six to obtain our food kits. This was very different than Toronto. We were each given half a loaf of Rye bread and a box containing various stuff. This was to suffice for Supper, breakfast and lunch for the whole weekend. It was quite an amount of food, but not at all appetizing. There was nothing to spread on the bread, except one or two packs of butter and one pack of Jam. There were some sausages, which were pretty good, and two cans of vegetable salad. I ate as much as I could that night. I�m glad we didn�t subscribe to the food plan throughout the week!! Although the food was not as good, the bathrooms were organized very well � portapotties every so many sections.
It didn�t take long for some of the Belgians to locate us. They had met up with us throughout the week.
Things got a little wild when the Pope came. Although he was miles away from us, people were running and climbing on Portapoties etc. to try and see him.
The vigil began. First, Benedict blessed a big bell dedicated to John Paul II. This was to wake us up in the morning. Than the entire hill was lit with Candles, a very beautiful site. We were all given candles as well. The night took a sort of para-Vespers sort of form. There were psalms and songs. �Jesus Christ you are my Life� was said quite a bit. We also sang the world youth day theme song, which was very difficult to learn, and hence, was not sung as strongly by all. (Also, only half a verse was in English, making it even trickier). I was quite disappointed in the Latin pronunciation of the World Youth Day choir. They sang with classical Latin rather than Ecclesiastical pronunciation. I hope our Pope was not too upset.
After the psalms, our Holy Father spoke, once again on the same scripture text about the Wise Men. The words that especially struck me this night were �The saints are the true revolutionaries�. Next they had some man do a juggling trick and called it a form of prayer. He was very talented, but it was goofy to call it prayer. Afterwards there was a service honoring our Lady and the Pope venerated an icon at the altar. Next we had Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction. This was truly an AWESOME event � Eucharistic Adoration with over a million people, the Pope leading it. It was really special.
After the vigil ended, John, Marie and myself started to tour around. John had stuff to trade, but we were mostly too shy to talk to anyone except Canadians. We met many of them. Some were from Kitchener, which was quite exciting. We also met people from Park Hill. We met a guy and gal who were volunteers and were very upset, since they were told they only needed to help for one hour and would be free the rest of the day, instead they were expected to help for almost the whole day. We met some very crazy guys from Ireland who wore flags around their back and Santa hats. They had potty mouths but were hilarious. We also met some youth from Syria. I was surprised to speak to them and to find out that over 1000 youth had come from Syria - Quite impressive for a Muslim country.
We found our way to the vendors. The great thing about the German Vendors is that they did not gouge. I bought a sausage for 2,50, about the same price it would cost in town. We also found a lady selling Donuts and �Timbits� she was very nice to us and had a great affection for Canada. I bought a Donut to remind me of home.
Partway through the night we met a very nice man from Toronto. He knew Joe Keokle. We spoke for awhile and followed each other around. He led us to the tent where the Blessed Sacrament was being reserved throughout the night. It was a very beautiful sight; hundreds of youth were packed in the tent to pray before our Lord. What was really funny was that it was a very warm place, the night becoming quite cool. We stayed for awhile. I realized that I was very tired, the warmth causing me to nod off. So, we went back to our site and I tried to sleep.
I hadn�t brought a sleeping bag, because I was expecting rain. The forecast was for rain all week and the sight was cloudy the whole weekend. I had brought two tarps, garbage bags, a poncho, and an umbrella expecting the worse to come. It never did. The umbrella, which I had bought the night before was long, narrow and purple. Many people teased me about it being feminine. I never thought about it, I just grabbed the first umbrella I found, thinking myself to be quite prudent. I tried to sleep between the two sheets I brought. I succeeded for only about an hour and a half. Then, I was up again touring around.
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