The feeling of family

Memories that will stay with us for the rest of our lives: Naomi Villaca from Green Bay, USA, shares her "star moments" of "Youth August 05"

Llegue el Papa!

The Pope comes!

Der Papst kommt!

Foto: Weltjugendtags GMBH © 2005

Familia: Schoenstatt saluda al Papa Family: Schoenstatt greets the Holy Father Familie: Schönstatt grüßt den Papst Foto: Gerner © 2005
Alianza de Amor bajo la lluvia Covenant of Love in the rain Liebesbündnis bei strömendem Regen Foto: POS Fischer © 2005
Cadena humana Human chain Menschenkette
… con pañuelos... ...with kerchiefs... ...mit Tüchern...
... y peregrinas ...and Pilgrim MTA’s ...und Peregrinas Fotos: Schadt/Gerner © 2005

WYD-MOMENTS. The Covenant of Love in the Original Shrine, the universalness of the Church and the feeling of family with other Schoenstatters – these are my "star moments" of this August 05 in Germany.

On August 7, I arrived in Germany with a group of about 50 girls from the Schoenstatt Girls Youth in the USA. First we spent an incredible week in Schönstatt, experiencing the Youth Festival and meeting other Schoenstatt youth from around the world who were preparing to go to WYD.

The rainbow

After the Youth Festival ended, our group was one of the few who stayed in Schönstatt. For me, one of the main highlights from those four days was when about 15 girls (including me) from our group made either their Covenant of Love or their Blank Check Consecration in the Original Shrine. During our Covenant Mass, it was raining and cloudy, but on our way back up to Marienland, where we were staying, the sun came out. I was walking up together with a friend of mine who had also made her Covenant, and when we were near the Adoration Church, we saw a rainbow- the symbol of the Covenant. It looked like it was coming out of the Shrine behind Marienland, and we just stopped and looked at it until it faded. We had our promise from Mary!

Viva Schoenstatt!

On Monday the 15^th, we arrived in Cologne. There were already a lot of youth there, and the next day, even more came! We were really starting to feel the universalness of the Church.

One of the most incredible things was the feeling of family with other Schoenstatters. Whenever two Schoenstatt groups saw each other, one of them was sure to call out "Viva Schoenstatt!" The Schoenstatt unity was most present when we made our chain from the Shrine to the Cathedral. That was definitely one of the top highlights of World Youth Day!

The Holy Father drove by less than 150 yards in front of us.

Saturday morning, the 20^th, we woke up at 4:30 in the morning to go to Marienfeld, hoping that we would get to out seats before anyone invaded them! We succeeded, and it was all worth it- we literally had front-row seats. We were slightly to the side of the stage, but we could actually see the Pope without the TV screens! Of course, he was sort of small, but it was still amazing. After the Holy Father spoke to us and we had benediction, we spent a happy, though short and cold, night. The next morning, Mass with Pope Benedict was the highlight of the day. For his arrival, one of my friends and I squeezed our way up, closer to the stage. The Holy Father drove by less than 150 yards in front of us. It was absolutely incredible- I’ll never forget that. After Mass, our group tried to get out as fast as we could, to make it to the train station- but we still didn’t make it back to Schoenstatt till 2:00 in the morning. Our group left for the airport on a bus at 7:00 the next morning- and then it was over, but it made memories that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.