Day Four. Our entire house forgot to set alarms so we got ready really quickly and ran to our church just in time for mass. Afterwards we went to the bakery and bought waters and some snacks and headed towards to beach to get good spots for the Pope's entrance. We got there and got spots at the very front where he was going to come out of the gates (our spot is pictured above). We waited there for six hours but it didn't feel long at all. We sang a lot, met people around us, took pictures with a ton of people, got interviewed a lot, and handed out holy cards. Then the helicopter landed and the Pope came out. Since we were in the front he drove really slowly by us. Pope Francis was the first Pope I had ever seen. I didn't know what to think. Then, HE LOOKED AT US. Oh my word we were freaking out. A successor of freaking Saint Peter was only a couple of feet from us. It was insane. Seeing a Pope for the first time is literally so crazy.. such a rush of so many different emotions. After that we went to our pizza place (this became a nightly routine) and went back home.
Day Five. We had our typical daily routine; wake up and go to Mass. Then our group split. Some of the people went and saw Cristo Redentor (Giant Jesus) and the rest of us went to the vocation fair. We went through almost all of the booths, met people from all over the world, lots of religious orders, and even met up with the LifeTeen people. Then we went to the adoration chapel and prayed the rosary with the Missionaries of Charity in front of the Blessed Sacrament. We satyed there for a while and saw some relics and then went to the Youth 2000 church. We prayed there for a long time and got to go to confession finally! Then we went across the street to Botafogo Bay (pictured below) and played for a while until we met up with the rest of or group. We went to our pizza place and then went back to our host houses for bed.
Day Six. We woke up and packed our backpacking bags. This was the night we were going to get to sleep on copacabana beach!!! The original location that we were supposed to go to got flooded but that was okay because we all liked the idea of sleeping on the beach much more. We went to get food boxes but the line was going to take all day so we went and set up camp and got good spots on the beach and a few people from our group went and bought juice and sandwhich stuff for us instead. We played on the beach, met a ton of people, and took a million pictures. That night was the vigil. It was absolutely amazing. There is just something about worshipping on one of the most gorgeous beaches in the world with over 3 million people. The highlight was definitely Matt Maher singing Lord, I Need You. If you haven't seen it GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LZa6spYqHsA
You have the link so you have no reason not to watch it. I literally have never heard the beach as quiet as it was during that song. It was SO powerful. We stayed up really late and talked with our group. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip even though getting to the bathrooms was nearly impossible. ;)
You have the link so you have no reason not to watch it. I literally have never heard the beach as quiet as it was during that song. It was SO powerful. We stayed up really late and talked with our group. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip even though getting to the bathrooms was nearly impossible. ;)
World Youth Day just kept getting better and better it was surreal. I mean to be surrounded by so many Catholics from all of the world is indescribable.
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