WYD Blog: January 28 – The Final Mass
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Photos: Luke Donnelly and the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese pilgrims.
From Fr Adrian Chan:
- For the Saturday vigil prayers and benediction, the Archbishop, Father Namora and I almost could not be with our delegation because we we allocated to a different zone. However we pleaded that we were the clergy for the delegation and got to sit with them about eighty meters from the Pope. What a blessing the people of God are for the clergy!
- Last night we slept in the biggest open dormitory on earth that night accompanied by hundreds of thousands lying on the dirt with our make shift bedding. We went to bed with the mass recitation of the rosary in all languages and woke at four to prepare for Sunday morning mass. The dancing began at six.
- I am very pleased to have received a beautiful white and blue Panamanian chasibule at the final mass with Pope Francis. In sum, I am even more surprised that I didn’t fall sick due the exhaustingly hot and humid weather this whole time. It must have been the grace of God given to the World Youth Day event.
From Luke Donnelly:
- We survived our night on the ground with up to 750,000 other pilgrims. As the sun rises in Panama, we prepare for the final mass of WYD 2019.
- We have made it back to the hotel after 8kms of walking in 32oc heat and a very squashy bus ride.
- We will upload photos in the next few hours. First it’s time for showers, swims in the pool, naps and some food!
- [Later] Here are some of the many photos from over the last 2 days. To celebrate the vigil so close to the Pope was truly a blessing for us all.
Photo Gallery
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