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Las naciones vuelven a su hogar... The nations come home Die Länder kommen heim. |
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Lluvia soleada Sunny rain Sonniger Regen |
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Listo! Los voluntarios de fiesta Well done! The volunteers relax Geschafft! Die Volontäre können aufatmen. |
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Banderas Flags Stolze Fahnen wehen. |
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Casi 40 paises estan presentes en Schoenstatt Almost 40 countries are present in Schoenstatt Fast 40 Nationen sind in Schönstatt versammelt. |
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2500 globos 2500 balloons... 2500 Luftballone fliegen durch die Gegend Fotos: Kanya © 2005-08-08 www.wjt.schoenstatt.de |
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WYD SCHOENSTATT, eka. The youth go in mass to the "Festival Square" where the festival will take place. The inaugural night for the International Festival for the Youth has finally arrived. "Those of us who came from different nations are here as foreigners; however, we are at home. Schoenstatt is the home of all nations", said the moderator, Julia Hufner. The volunteers as well as the Priests and the Sisters who had prepared all of this during the last months, were under a lot of pressure. The guests were no less worked up.
During the previous days, the weather had been a great worry. Would the opening be drenched with rain? Will we have good weather? The weather forecast predicted cold showers…
All Schoenstatters were asked to pray for good weather.
In the end the planning was perfect, even in regard to the weather. A light rain fell while the sun shone brightly, which helped keep the spirits animated.
A stimulating atmosphere reigned in the festival. People instinctively spoke to others they did no even know. There had something in common, said Maja Pusic (20 years old) from Bizovac, Croatia: "All of those who love Mary are here. That is what unites us". "Today I can easily remember your name", said someone to a person he had just met. "In the next few days it will become a lot more complicated…"
Welcome Home
A graffiti for North America, a gigantic calendar for Latin America, flowers for Asia, a drum roll for Africa and the anthem for Europe. Afterwards each country was individually greeted by the moderators: Julia Hufner, Dorthe Freisberg, Johannes Schenk and Father Duncan. The greeting was the same for each country whether they had a delegation of some 600 persons such as Chile or only two, as was the case for the Philippines. Each one is important. The nations presented their flags parading over the red carpet. The largest flag was from Texas, since "In Texas everything is a little bigger than in the rest of the world", explained the young Texan, Paul Heussner (16 years old).
Constantly phrases or shouts in chorus spontaneously surged, above all "Chile, Chile, Chile"…or Long Live Schoenstatt! and Long Live the Blessed Mother!" By the volume of the shouting, the youth could easily have been in a football stadium!" Some benches were broken because of the enthusiastic jumping.
After the parade of flags, the moderators stood since someone was missing: the MTA of course. The most important person in the Covenant. When everyone was present, Father Walter Heirich, began the Festival with a brief and precise talk.
High volume and silence
Then there was a variety of presentations, dance, music, ("Jugo Band de Illberg"), plays, prayer and reflections alternating continually between high volume and silence. The audience was attentive and followed along. When there was a technical problem with the sound system and the music stopped for a short while, a young man from the audience took out his trumpet and broke the silence.
"It was stimulating, international, very animated, spontaneous, without alcohol, is how the Austrians summarized their impressions. "It totally grabbed us, it was that simple. The spirit here is better than the celebration on the isle of the Danube, and that IS Austria’s celebration", said Maria Mucha, 21 years old.
One of the highlights of the festival "Home of Nations" was the game with balloons. "2,500 balloons flew through the area and when the order was given they had to burst them. Each balloon had a slip of paper with the name of one of the participants of the Festival. The task for the next few days will be to find that person. In this way a net will be woven between the human mass and each one will feel welcomed and awaited.
Without being rude
Corinna Huwiller (14 years old) from Melchtal, in Switzerland commented: "Here there is a beautiful atmosphere, it is tranquil, people do not drink alcohol and they still have a good time. The music is youthful, but it refers to God and all without any rudeness. It is possible to unite an animated rhythm with deep meaning."
Timea Diana Zaban, from Romania, was impressed: "I cannot put my feelings into words. It was unbelievable. We are so many, like a great family."
Paul;: "You always believe that the church is just your world. But it is so big, and there are so many people from so many different countries – but we all belong together and we all the same."
But we are not all the same, at least not in terms of the sensitivity to the temperature: after the sun sets, the temperature descends brusquely. This caused problems especially for the guests from the warm countries such as Loretta Nwokolo (18 years old), from Nigeria. She explained: "I enjoyed the party, but it was so cold. Our problem is that we really are not used to such low temperatures."
Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA