The Office of Youth Ministry - Travel Journal

Vigil

Liz Buncher — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 17:10:19 -0500

After our three hour ten kilomoeter walk, we finally made it to our destination, Marianfeld. The night was full of faith, new friends, and fun.

Check out the official World Youth Day website for a look at all of the latest WYD news.

After our night out in the cold (it was a bit chilly) we woke up to mass with the Holy Father, 10,000 priests, 800 bishops, loads of cardinals, and one million of our new friends. It was incredible.

We will be leaving our Duesseldorf hotels early tomorrow morning, very early in the morning. We have had a great time traveling, but it will be great to come home, have a big glass of ICE water with out carbonation (an with out having to pay for it) and have a great big beefy burger. We will see you soon, we have many stories to share. Please pray for safe travels.

Viva il Papa!

Liz Buncher — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 18:42:02 -0500

Yesterday the city of Cologne was jam packed, trains full, streets crowded. Close to a million people anxiously awaited the arrival of our holy father. At 4:30 he cruised up the Rhine river, crowds going wild. Some caught a great glance of Pope Benedict on his mighty boat, others saw him wave from his Volkswagon Popemobile. Today about 6,000 priest and seminarians had an audience with Pope Benidict. Some tell us stories of shaking his hand, all tell of the wonderful experience they had being inspired by their fellow seminarian and priest brothers.

The gorgeous cathedral “dom” of Cologne has been toured by most of our St. Louis crew. There the relics of the gifts of the Maji lay. It is a beautiful place to stop light a candle and say a prayer.

Many of our pilgrims participated in stations of the cross today. Jim Cavezle also known as Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ” spoke to thousands, followed by a showing of the movie. Some groups held their own stations service in their hotels, while others went to our host parish for a multilingual stations service.

Tonight we pack for our big adventure. Tomorrow we will start our day off with a mass with Archbishop Burke and Bishop Herman. Then we will head to Marienfeld, the place where we will spend the night anxiously awaiting the celebration of mass with Pope Benidict.

Cologne

Liz Buncher — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 17:27:46 -0500

We have made it. We have spend the past two days in Cologne Germany.

Saying goodbye to our Dutch friends was not easy, we formed great friendships with them. We have been blessed to bump into them a number of times already here in Germany. It has been great.

Some groups have ventured off taking day trips to castles and other German attractions. Some have remained in Cologne enjoying the company of thousands and thousands of their new best friends, attending mass, catechetical sessions, visiting the gorgeous cathedral, and preparing to greet our holy father as he crusies up the Rhine tomorrow afternoon.

People are dancing and singing throughout the city streets of Cologne. It is so inspiring to see so many people who share the same passion for Christ that our youth have.

Stay posted to hear more about World Youth Day.

Roermond and Sittard - A Day in Kevelaer

Sr. M. Consolata Crews FSGM — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 05:50:39 -0500

On the morning of August 13th we arose to meet buses at 7:30am to take us on our journey to Kevelaer, Germany. Here we met wth various international groups from places such as Colombia, Germany, Netherlands, and Africa to spend the day together.

It began with a talk by Bishop de Jong and we understood it much better once we set up our transitor radios for the translation from German to English, of course! We celebrated mass in the beautiful shrine church with many priests, including our American ones, and two of our young men had the honor to assist at mass as well. We took a nice walk down the street to wait in line for lunch: rice and curry chicken! Not exactly what one would have expected, but delicious just the same. We enjoyed seeing the sights of Kevelaer and meeting people from all around. The group from Roermond said good-bye to the group from Sittard and headed back to have evening prayer in the Munsterkirk from 7-8pm. Host families joined us for prayer and then escorted us home for dinner and fellowship.

August 14, 2005

Today in Roermond and Sittard is a day to spend with our host families. We will go to mass at the local parish. Some of us will go to a castle and others shopping for sure. Tonight in Roermond will have a BBQ with all of the host families as we spend our last night here in the Netherlands. Tomorrow we will journey to Maastricht to gather with the other groups here in the Netherlands and then travel to Dusseldorf in the evening. We have built friendships and have enjoyed getting to know the people of the Netherlands.

Roermond News

Rosanne Twellman — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 13:34:04 -0500

This morning we awoke for our first full day of Days in the Diocese. After a good nights sleep we enjoyed breakfast with our host families and then gathered together at our meeting place in Melick (a nearby town). We had catehesis, lunch and then we were given the task of going into the city streets of Roermond in search of answers to the question, “How do you make a difference?” Later we gathered at the church of St. James in Melick to celebrate Holy Mass with our host families. After Mass our families gathered us and now we are home for dinner and an evening with them. The Dutch people have been so welcoming and hospitable!

Continents, Churches, Cruises and Castles

Joel Stein — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 16:47:25 -0500

Yesterday, 177 youth, chaperones, seminarians and priests boarded 5 flights to Frankfurt, Germany. Upon crossing the Atlantic ocean and arriving safely in Europe Thursday morning, we boarded 4busses and travelled to Rudesheim, where we celebrated Holy Mass at St. James. This church which was first built in the medieval ages, partially destroyed in World War II, and rebuilt in the 1950’s. After grabbing a quick lunch at some local restaurants, we boarded a tour boat and spent 2 hours touring the beautiful Rhine River. This part of Germany is richly painted with vineyards, small villages, churches, and castles. Once the tour was over, we split up into the 4 busses again and took a three hour drive north to the Netherlands. There, in the cities of Roermond and Sittard, all OYM participants were showered with snacks and welcomes and introduced to their host families. Finally, some 24 hours (and maybe 2-4 hours sleep) later, each was transported to the homes of their host families for a nice meal, good conversation, and much needed rest!

Gearing up for World Youth Day

Joel Stein — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 10:40:52 -0500

Activity is buzzing in the OYM today. Pulling last minute logistics together, we wait with eager anticipation our departure for Germany and the Netherlands on Wednesday. Fearing that those who can’t make the pilgrimage will be insanely jealous, we’ve put together a little treat…

Welcome to the WYD Travel Journal! During our trip, we’ll be on the hunt for every internet cafe and kiosk so we can post entries here. So, come back here frequently to see what the latest adventures of the Catholic pilgrims are!

In the meantime, check out the Official World Youth Day website, or watch what’s happening on Marienfeld via webcam, where hundreds of thousands of youth will gather to worship Christ!