World Youth Day 2016 Part Two: Krakow, Poland, a city of saints!

After our three day stay in Rome, we joined up with other friends at Krakow, Poland. The next week would be some of the most fruitful and spirit-filled days we would ever experience. Here are some of those highlights, in no particular order:

Jasna Gora Monastery, home to the Black Madonna of Czestochowa

This was honestly my favorite part of the trip prior to the apex of our pilgrimage. The highlight of this, well, highlight, was the prayer service called the Appeal, in which us, along with our fellow pilgrims, placed our petitions before the Blessed Mother and her Son.

Chapel of St. Kinga at the Wieliczka Salt Mine

This place has an incredibly rich history, ranging from the Neolithic period to the present day. Aside from being able to lick the walls of the mines and (regrettably) drinking from a spring of extremely briny water, I was bombarded with images of Polish culture and history which were quite literally carved into these mines. At the Chapel of St. Kinga, I was awestruck by the artwork and the effort placed into creating it. Also, Kevin and Molly, with Fr. Pat's blessing, renewed their marriage vows in the chapel. Many years!

Never again.

As you can read above, this was a very solemn and somber highlight. It's unthinkable that some would go so far as to commit genocide for the sake of "purification". Let this chapter of history remind us to never forget the value of all human life, and let it also give us hope in building a world where everyone's dignity is respected.

I did not take pictures of the Campus Misericordiae (my battery basically died when we got there), but it was quite the walk! Took us a few hours to walk all the way and then camp out in our section for the vigil. We walked around, interacting with the various international groups that came, and I served as our group's hype man, cheering on the other countries that came. Spain. Germany. Italy. Poland. Canada. Armenia. The Philippines. Singapore. France. Portugal. Brazil. And many others!

The morning after our campout, we had Mass out in the Campus. Pope Francis passed us by as we cheered him on. During this weekend, His Holiness stressed that we should not confuse comfort with happiness, and that we must take an active role in the Church as the next generation of apostles.

There were many other places, such as St. John Paul II's apartment and the site of the Divine Mercy apparitions, but there's a reason why I added "city of saints" to the title of this post. See, the patrons of WYD 2016 were Sts. John Paul II and Faustina Kowalska, who both lived in this city. But they were not the only saints present at this event. The city of Krakow was filled with saints of the Church on earth, today's generation of Catholics. Today's generation of Catholics will serve as the new leaders in the mission of spreading the Gospel of Christ, and we are called to push in this mission.

"Blest are the merciful, blest are the merciful, for it is mercy that shall be shown to those who show mercy."

Hope to see you in Panama in 2019!

World Youth Day 2016 Part One: Rome, the Eternal City!

Now begins the posting.

On July 21st, my friends and I flew from Chicago to Rome. This was the pre-trip to prepare us for World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland.

The first day, when we arrived, we were greeted by Father Patrick, the pastor of our campus Newman Center and a good friend of ours. We later met up with two more friends, Alberto (whom I had recently met on campus) and Marco, who would serve as our guides in Rome.

We went to various historical places and landmarks in the city, including, but not limited to, the Colosseum, the Church of the Gesù, and the Vatican.

As our group would eventually arrive in Krakow, we held Mass in a variety of places. From the catacombs of the early Church to the crypt holding a relic of the True Cross and finally to the tomb of our patron, St. John Paul II.

St. John Paul II, ora pro nobis!

We had our fellowship time as well, making way for laughs and smiles during these three days. We had quite the taste of Rome as we ate pizza, pasta, and gelato. Shenanigans included, but were not limited to, messing around in "Mussolini Park" (One of our group tried to make that place "historically significant." You know who you are.) and imitating pterodactyls.

When the time came to depart, we had to say our goodbyes to Marco and Alberto. Loro sono molto bene, and we miss them dearly. Ci vediamo, i miei amici!

This concludes part one of the World Youth Day 2016 story. Part two to come soon.