World Youth Day 2016 (part 1)

Here Allen, one of our two young people at the recent World Youth Day, tells us about the experience….

When I set out to Krakow along with the diocesan team of 37 on 19th July, I honestly wondered what was in store. Indeed, the World Youth Day was remarkable in several ways. Imagine 3 million hands raised to heaven calling out ‘Our Father’!
At Bialystok where we spent the first four days, we explored the city and met many World Youth Day pilgrims. We attended a welcome Mass celebrated by the local bishop, which was followed by a procession from the stairs of the cathedral to a church dedicated to Jesus’ Divine Mercy. During this walk we sang hymns, prayed and met people from all over the world; an experience to cherish for ever.

Whilst visiting the church of St. Anthony of Padua, we observed a red dot in the host exposed for adoration. In fact in 2009, while the parish priest was saying Mass, he accidentally dropped the host on the floor. He put the host in a bowl of water and left it locked away in the chapel which only he and a senior nun had access to. After 3 days, they expected the host to have dissolved. However, they were very surprised to see that instead of dissolving, it developed a red dot in the middle. Immediately, the parish priest informed his bishop and eventually they sent it for testing to a lab. The investigations revealed that the red dot consisted of a small piece of heart muscle which had undergone extreme pain and it was AB type blood. Even though I have heard of many Eucharist miracles, it is the first time I have come so close to one. The sheer sight of it had an intense effect on me that is difficult to express in words.

More than 1.5 million people attended the opening Mass. It was a spectacular sight which proved to be a real reminder of how universal and rich the Catholic Church is, and that we are not alone in our journey. Although we affirm our faith in the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in every creed, we often do not realise that we do so along with a billion people. (to be continued…)

Allen Mathew