St. Theresa LIFE TEEN - WYD 2005

August 19, 2005, Day 12

Pilgrimage log

Today definitely had everyone feeling like a wandering pilgrim. After driving into Cologne we took the train across the Rhine River and did some shopping before our main activity for the day. The theme for this year’s World Youth Day is "we have come to worship Him," which was the response of the Magi who made a pilgrimage to see the newborn Messiah. So to honor the Magi who made a laborious trek to see Jesus, the Pilgrims of World Youth Day have all at one time made a pilgrimage to see the relics of the Magi who saw Jesus. According to tradition, the relics of the three wise men are kept in the Cathedral in Cologne. Today we, along with thousands of other pilgrims, walked two miles through the city, prayed, and read inspirational quotes hung on banners before we entered the Cathedral. Inside we saw the huge golden box where the relics reside. After that we were in for a surprise as the huge throngs of people at the Cathedral completely overwhelmed the nearby train station and streets. The crowd forced us to split into four small groups each led by a chaperone with a planned meeting area and time later outside the train station. Unfortunately, the sheer number of people at the Cathedral all trying to get on a train out of the city forced the local police to barricade streets and shut down the train station. And then the rain came. The next hour and a half consisted of the small groups trying to solve a labyrinth of barricades, locked doors, rain puddles, and roving groups of Spaniards singing and dancing. Finally, we met up and hiked back to the bus to rest our tired bodies to prepare for tomorrow and an even longer trek to see the Holy Father. But we know that no matter how tired we get it doesn’t matter because instead of relaxing or vacationing, "we have come to worship Him."

Diary entry from Matt L.

Today the group did the pilgrimage walk to the Cathedral of the Three Magi or Dom of Cologne. Making this pilgrimage to the Cathedral was the focus of World Youth Day. Even Pope Benedict XVI made the pilgrimage to the Cathedral. During the day I had the chance to go to an audience with the Holy Father with all the seminarians. After traversing the public transportation, which was a little tricky, since they closed the line I needed, so I had to jump on three different chains instead of just one to get there on time. I arrived, went through security, and found myself in a courtyard of 10,000 other people. The audience was held at St. Pantaleone, where the heart relic of St. John Vianney was present. I encountered several other Phoenix seminarians and many others from St. Meinrad. After mingling for several hours with seminarians from all over the world, we took our positions in the crowd to watch him enter. He entered from the other side so we couldn’t see him. He led everyone in Evening Prayer, which we participated in from outside via a large screen. In between each of the psalms, someone gave a testimony – first, a seminarian from Germany, then a priest from Kazakhstan(?), and then the Cardinal of Quebec. Pope Benedict called on seminarians to always keep their eyes on Christ, and to maintain a personal relationship with Christ. He said seminary formation is a blessed time to grow in their relationship with Christ, while learning about Sacred Scripture. He called on us to make Scripture come alive for the modern world. After giving us the final blessing, he walked out of the church surrounded by lots of security, bishops, and cardinals. Several times it rained during the day, the worst of which was when I was trying to meet up again with our group in front of the Cathedral (along with 30,000 other people). This has been a blessed time here in Europe with everyone from our group. I’m excited more than ever to serve the Church as a seminarian and God willing as a priest. Please keep us in your prayers. You and your intentions are with us as make this pilgrimage. Peace, Matt.

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Day 12 Video
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Pictures

Matt with Eugene, Killian, Bill, and Matt H at the seminarian gathering	Praying Evening Prayer with the Pope	Pope’s Homily during Evening Prayer	Pope leaving St. Pantaleon (in red and white in center)	Pope surrounded by Cardinals, Archbishops, and volunteers
Soaked seminarians in the train station	Heading to the Pilgrimage start (to go to the Cathedral)	Morning Prayer action	Waiting for lunch	Getting on the train
The Cathedral in Cologne (focus of the pilgrimage)	The Pope’s secret service	Square in front of Cathedral		David balancing our 6 foot flag pole on his nose
Along the pilgrimage route	Along the pilgrimage route	Along the pilgrimage route	Along the pilgrimage route	Praying at different stops along the pilgrimage
Getting close	Outside the Dom (Cathedral) with the massive crowd
JPII mosaic	In front of the Cathedral	In front of the Cathedral	Salvation history	Witnesses to the Christ
Mary greeting pilgrims	Inside Cathedral (blurry)	Inside Cathedral (blurry)	Inside Cathedral (blurry)	Sarcophagus of the Three Magi
Sarcophagus of the Three Magi	Inside Cathedral (very blurry)	Craziness within the train station	Running into Kellie’s cousin Garrett

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