So we're back at the monastery in Arcadia, the WYD festivities are over, and I have to say, the Vigil and the Papal Mass were an unforgettable experience.
The Vigil, first of all, started as just plain fun. The trek to Randwick Racecourse, sleeping bags on our backs and Rosaries in our hands, way appealed to the adventurer in me, and the exuberant anticipation among the crowd at the racetrack was contagious. The music played during the afternoon was awesome too (especially from Fr. Stan Fortuna, the rapping priest from the Bronx.....I'm definitely gonna suggest to Dan that we sing his rap-Litany at the Easter Vigil next year.....;-)
The Vigil itself was really powerful. I loved the candle-light service.....the seas of people, speckled with flames, was a really inspiring sight as we prayed to the Holy Spirit to inflame our hearts and transform our lives. It was also fun to play/dance with the candles afterwards, which provided a good source of warmth (even though we also got covered in wax!) Dancing and drinking hot chocolate also helped us keep warm, as the night was rather on the frigid side.
After I was done dancing and partying with the other rowdy Catholics (haha) Rakhi and I headed to the Adoration tent. That was definitely a highlight of the evening (and not just because the tent had heat lamps....) Before the Blessed Sacrament I was really able to sit and give everything to the Lord. It helped me to enter into the prayer of the vigil and to receive His peace deep down. I wanted to stay there forever, but I ended up only staying until about 1:30 in the morning. Then I headed back to camp where everyone else was sleeping/trying to sleep. Sleeping wasn't the easiest thing to do, between the bright lamps, the chanting off in the distance, and the freezing cold, and I really only drifted off a couple times, but I found the night a good time to reflect and pray and keep watch. Sunrise came at last and then it was time for the Papal Mass.
The Mass was beautiful (of course!) I want to go back and reread the Holy Father's homily, as well as several prayers during the liturgy, because I feel like everything said there completely confirmed everything I was thinking and praying about this WYD week. At the end of Mass, the prayer was for us to be transformed by this experience, and that really struck me because I keep praying that I'll go back home and never be the same....that I'll be able to hold onto this deeper sense of the Lord's presence and peace that He's given me this week. It won't be the easiest thing in the world, but I'll have the Holy Spirit, which makes everything possible.:)
After the Vigil, we waited around for some of the pilgrims to clear out before we headed out ourselves. I found that, despite the lack of sleep and generally energy-lag among the pilgrims, I was still on a super-high.....able to play frisbee and hackey-sack at the racecourse and sing most of the way back (on my sixteenth wind, as it were ;-) The trip back to Arcadia was also a lot of fun, including a happy reunion with Fr. Bernard and the "Atomic Doop" and an extremely slap-happy trip back to the monastery with made-up songs played on the broken guitar. Good times.:)
OK, well it's time for morning prayer now before we head out to the Blue Mountains, so I'd better hit the road. Thank you everyone who's been praying for me on this trip (especially my family--I love you and miss you utterly! ;-) It's really been amazing. God bless and peace out!
~Anna
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