Postcards from St Brigid’s Pilgrims
“We started our pilgrimage this morning with a visit to the Vatican Museums. Wandered the spectacular chambers leading to the Sistine Chapel to view Michelangelo’s masterpieces, including the magnificent fresco of the Last Judgment. We went through to the awe-inspiring St Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world for an informative exploration.
We visited the impressive St Mary Major Basilica and celebrated Mass here. We went to the Holy Stairs brought from Jerusalem to Rome in 326AD by St Helen. On these steps I ascended on my knees. This has been a high light for me to date.
The kids have been amazing and I am so proud of each of them. – Mrs Foo”
Day 10!
“This morning we went to the most visited attraction in Rome – the Colosseum. In 1749, Pope Benedict XIV declared the Colosseum a sacred site, as it was a place where early Christians had been martyred. View also the Circus Maximus and the Roman Forum en route.
Continue along the ancient Appian Way, the oldest road from Roman times to the ancient Catacombs for a memorable guided tour to marvel at these underground burial tunnels for Christians and Hebrews. Here we shall also celebrate Mass. It has been amazing celebrating mass with the bishop every day!
Our Christian Rome pilgrimage culminates this afternoon with a visit of the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls as a special tribute to the Church’s greatest evangelist. Also while we were there we had a prayer with the Bishop at the site where a young Aboriginal man is buried. We are saying goodbye to Italy tomorrow ready for Portugal!
Days 11-12
We departed Italy today and flew over the ditch to Portugal.
We landed into a buzzing Lisbon airport full of Pilgrims from all across the globe.
We headed to our hotel where we reunited with Mr Devlin, Sr Josie and Mr Barnett. We entered our amazing hotel, unpacked our bags and went out to explore a bit of the city. We went to a pizza shop, where we met some Pilgrims from France and Slovakia, got takeaway and headed back to our rooms for some well-deserved rest.
Day 12 began with a buffet breakfast in the hotel after which we gathered in the garden with all the Broken Bay pilgrims for a prayer and blessing by Bishop Anthony. We sang the Broken Bay pilgrimage anthem, Magnify, and then we were ready to head off to the whole Australian Pilgrim WYD Gathering. We got onto the subway and headed to the park to gather. There were over 3000 Australian Pilgrims in attendance! We sang, danced and prayed before it was time to head back into the city for dinner and the WYD Opening Mass.
We wrapped up our dinner and walked into the crowded streets of Lisbon filled with flags from all over the world. We found a spot very far from the main alter but the atmosphere and our surroundings were truly like no other. We shared celebration of the Eucharist in Portuguese and listened to the amazing service provided by the Archbishop of Lisbon to over 800,000 Pilgrims! It was a day we will never forget, now we rest and get ready to smash out the remained of WYD week. – Tom M Year 11.
