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 Tuesday, July 15th by Sr. Augustine Marie |
Setting the tone for our Down Under experience was the unplanned reunion of a family friend from 35 years ago on the bus ride to LAX. A casual conversation with a bus mate turned into the craziest bus ride ever. As things unraveled, Sr. Marie St. Paul and Chris Lawry realized their sisters, Sr. Marie Andre and Rachel, had been friends at 5 years old when their fathers were stationed on the naval base in Lemoore, CA. (We had a blast Chris! Thanks for all the fun and laughs :-) God is good! All the time!) The thread of this providential meeting would run throughout our entire trip. Despite the long airplane journey we arrived in Sydney with lots of energy and excitement for the amazing week ahead! We didn't let the jetlag get us down. Our bus driver took us on a driving tour of the city and the surrounding areas and then took us to our hotel to drop our bags off. We settled into our "home away from home", grabbed a quick shower to freshen up and hit the streets of Sydney. The first World Youth Day event was before us and we were on our way to Barangaroo for the Opening Mass with Cardinal Pell and our fellow pilgrims! What an awesome experience! Words can't describe the emotions of being in such a vast crowd of young people. We met many new friends and even ran into some old ones like when we bumped into our friend, Fr. Daniel Seward, an Oratorian from England. After being Fed with the Food of our Souls we needed some nourishment for our hungry and tired bodies too. As I mentioned the entire week was full of these “providential” encounters. It just “happened” that out of the 6 McDonalds we passed on the way back to our hotel – we stopped in the one that the Australian Dominican Friars decided to eat at that evening too. We had a great dinner of burgers, fries and jolly fun with our Dominican cousins.
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 Wednesday, July 16th by Sr. Marie St. Paul |
Sr. Augustine Marie and I,
after a quick coffee, headed to Mother MacKillop’s Place in North Sydney
for morning Mass and to meet up with the Kelly family. David, Pierrette,
Alice and Sarah flew from Perth to join the WYD festivities. We had met
through the website three years earlier and today, finally met in
person. The Lord blesses us with family even on the other side of the
world! We then headed to Darling Harbour to catch a ferry tour of the entire harbour. It was a beautiful sunny day and we saw many of the sites of Sydney. The Kellys then treated us to sushi for lunch. I like to experience new foods when out and about. The sushi was delicious! The Kellys were extremely good to us, another sign of Our Lord’s Providence which was so prevalent throughout the entire trip!
The night was still young! Sister and I were planning on attending Theology on Tap with our new friend, Monica, but I asked if we could stop at the Love and Life Site to find a certain CFR! We ended up running into Fr. Mark, Br. Patrick and hanging out with the EWTN crew. We also met Fr. Gabriel, CFR, and Br. Columba, CFR, who very kindly found Br. Andrew for us. Seeing him crowned the day!! (He and Fr. Mariusz gave us our community retreat this past February.) And we were able to spend some time in Adoration at St. Benedict’s before completing the first full day in Sydney!
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 Thursday, July 17th by Sr. Augustine Marie |
There was a tangible excitement in the air when we awoke on Thursday! Today our Holy Father would arrive on the Sydney Harbour - and WYD would be complete with his presence among us! His arrival wasn’t scheduled until later afternoon though, so we had a long morning to enjoy the sites and sounds of Sydney once again. After an early morning Mass at St. Peter Julian Eymard Church which was right down the road from our hotel, we met up with our MFVA Friars for a yummy brunch buffet in our hotel. We laughed and shared stories over coffee, eggs and sausage….and for some a fare of lo mein ;-) (Fr. Miguel was in his glory!) We couldn’t sit for long though as there was so much to see and do. We headed right for St. Mary’s Cathedral with the hopes of getting in to pray by Bl. Pier Giorgio’s body. Finding the Cathedral locked for security reasons we decided to go for Plan B – The Sydney Aquarium! Sr. Marie St. Paul, myself and three of our Friar Brothers enjoyed a nice morning learning about Australia’s marine life. Afterwards our Friars headed to their “working posts” for the rest of the morning and we decided to make a quick stop back at our hotel for a short (but much needed) power nap! We both literally crashed onto the beds and the next thing I remember was Sr. Marie St. Paul shouting: “Sister!” Arriving back to consciousness I then heard, “we overslept!” Confused and exhausted I pulled myself from the bed. Looking at the clock I saw we had 15 minutes to get to our location to see our Holy Father pass in the motorcade. Ugh! We would never make it. Pounding the streets we got as far as we could till we realized it was too late. With all the security for his arrival we could go no further. We resigned ourselves to sitting at St. Mary’s by a big jumbo screen which was showing the arrival. On our way around all the security back to St. Mary’s we ran into Jason and Crystalina Evert – friends of ours and frequent guests at EWTN. We were surprised and thrilled to see them! As we began talking they mentioned they had two extra tickets for Barangaroo where the Holy Father would be arriving any minute. Together we jumped in a taxi and headed over just in time for the Pope’s arrival. Once again we were flabbergasted by the care we were receiving from our Heavenly Father during our time in Sydney. We experienced the Opening Ceremony and hung on every word from our Holy Father’s mouth. After receiving his blessing we took off to the Sisters of Life venue, the “Love and Life Site”, for pizza and fun with the CRF Friars. The four Friars whose company we were blessed to enjoy (Fr. Christopher, Br. Andrew, Br. Albert and Br. Louis) make up the Catholic Underground band that performed later that evening as part of the program the Sisters of Life had planned for their venue. Befriending Br. Andrew prior to WYD - because of our communal retreat this past February - we were ecstatic to be able to spend time with him and the other Friars and enjoy their music in concert that evening.
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 Friday, July 18th By Sr. Marie St. Paul |
We joined the MFVAs for early morning Mass and breakfast before heading over to the set of Life on the Rock at the Sydney Opera House. There we found Fr. Mark and Br. Patrick and the crew again busy getting the feed and everything ready for the show. Sr. Augustine and I then headed out to meet Br. Andrew, Fr. Christopher, Br. Louis and Br. Albert for lunch, yep, all CFRs. (I really love those guys!) We went to St. Mary’s to see Blessed Pier Giorgio’s relics but the cathedral was closed again. We ended up meeting more people and getting lots of pictures in front of the Cathedral. The “Sydneysiders” were so friendly and welcoming, in addition to the pilgrims who were just great! In the crush of people, we met a Fr. Paul Simmons, a retired priest from Australia, who to say the least, was a lot of fun! He recommended a restaurant at the Circular Quay (or Circle K as Br. Louis called it.) After a bit, we made it to the restaurant and had a really nice lunch! (Thanks Tom and Penny!) The Stations of the Cross were that afternoon and instead of braving the crowds, we returned to the Love and Life Site to watch EWTN’s coverage. The stations were really moving and I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet and the chance to pray as we watched them. Another quick trip to the Vocations Expo (unbelievable how many people were there constantly!) and a chance to view Mother Teresa’s exhibition. I saw her sari and the original handwritten constitutions of the Missionaries of Charity. We then returned to the Love and Life Site for the Eucharistic Healing Procession that night. The Sisters of Life were really gracious and had one of the best venues in Sydney.
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 Saturday, July 18th by Sr. Augustine Marie |
I can’t really pin point a highlight from the trip…because there were highlights every day and, seriously, each day I didn’t think it could get any better. But Saturday would have to be classified as one of the most amazing experiences of the entire week, if not of my life. Sr. Marie St. Paul, myself and our (young) Friars made our way to St. Mary’s Cathedral where we had been invited, prior to our departure from the States, to the Mass of Dedication of the Altar with our Holy Father. We were thrilled! The invitations were sent to the young religious and seminarians who registered for WYD. We arrived only to find tons and tons of people in line. Due to some miscommunications about the entrance card we were supposed to pick up in another line, we were held in a “holding area” along with many others who didn’t get these cards either. My excitement and anxiety grew as I realized the pews were filling up as we waited. Finally cards we handed to us and we practically ran the rest of the way, up the steps and finally to the door when a volunteer said, “Sorry we have to stop the line here so we can let the concelebrating priests in to get their seats.” Two of our Friars who had longer legs had snuck in ahead of us and Sr. St. Paul and I were held at the door along with the rest of our Friars and the other poor, unfortunate ones locked out of the door. For a minute there I felt like the virgins Our Lord speaks of in the Gospels who had run out of oil and were locked outside. After what seemed like an eternity (and some tears) they resumed our line….only letting 15 more people pass through the Cathedral doors. We literally squeezed ourselves in to standing room only at the back by the holy water fonts. I looked at the enormous Cathedral and all the pews filled with religious who had gotten in ahead of us. Bummed I again resigned myself to the last place….until I suddenly realized the Pope would be passing through these very doors that were no more than 6 feet away from where we were standing. And, yes, by the time I realized this….He appeared! I ducked down under the arms of the security guys who were making a human chain and snapped a picture. My breath was taken away at the nearness of the Vicar of Christ and I felt like crying for joy. But I just remember soaking in the moment as he greeted the cheering crowds filling St. Mary’s. As he made his way passed us and up the aisle, Sr. Marie St. Paul found a passage up the left side of the Church and signaled for us to follow. She spotted empty pews up behind the concelebrants and we didn’t hesitate to take them! Some of our CFR Brothers were already seated in these places - and beside them we were able to participate in the Holy Mass. And what a Mass! We were directly in front of the Australian Seminarian’s choir - which was just beautiful! At the end of Mass we made our way over to the side altar where Bl. Pier Giorgio’s body was and to our delight and surprise were greeted by Wanda, Pier’s niece! Sr. St. Paul had been praying she could meet her only moments before Wanda tapped her on the shoulder. They have been corresponding over the last 10 years. So it was an incredibly joyful moment. We all knelt to pray for Pier Giorgio’s intercession together. We were blessed to spend another afternoon with the Kelly’s, our dear family from Perth. They treated us to a delicious dinner on the Harbour where we enjoyed kangaroo, lemon lime bitters and the best company ever!We hated to leave our dear friends since this would be the last time we would be able to visit with them on our trip – but we are certain our dear Lord has another meeting planned for us soon. Perhaps, when they come to visit us at OLS! (We love and miss you all so much!) By 5 pm we were on our journey to Randwick Racecourse where we would be joining the rest of our hundreds of thousands of fellow pilgrims for the Vigil with our Holy Father and a big slumber party under the stars – which ended with the closing Mass on Sunday morning. On our way out of the hotel we met Mitch, Luke and Greg – our local (ever so friendly) policemen. They were full of questions and shared how much they’ve loved having all the visitors here in Sydney. One of them commented: “It takes an extra hour for everyone to get to work because the streets are full of people, but no one cares. Everyone is so friendly and no one passes without saying thank you!” What a testament to Christ and His Church! We were just tickled to hear how God was touching the locals as well. We arrived at the Racecourse just before the 7 pm lockdown. Throwing our bags in the tight corner our Friars had been reserving for us, we set up camp there. Soon Our Holy Father arrived for a beautiful vigil service which ended with some quiet adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and benediction. The perfect ending, and yet really the beginning of a grace-filled evening. The night was cold but I couldn’t tell as we enjoyed music and friends until no one could keep their eyes open any longer. I slept for a couple hours and but woke at 4 am for a bathroom run. Not wanting to bother any of my exhausted companions I slipped away unnoticed. Not imagining the surprise in store for me. Barely awake enough to see where I was going something (or should I say Someone) made me turn around in time to catch eyes with the person I had just passed. And who would have guessed?! It was a dear priest friend of mine, Fr. John Caulfield, from the Archdiocese of D.C. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would run into him. But, again, it was a testament to God’s awesome and providential care for his WYD pilgrims! (Thank you, Jesus!)
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 Sunday, July 19th By Sr. Marie St. Paul |
Okay, early Sunday morning was
really long and really cold… I was so glad when 5 am rolled around!
Gathering my wits about me and trying to make sure my habit was still
somewhat straight, I said my Office and headed out to an Adoration tent
to thank the Lord for surviving the night! Sr. Augustine Marie was
visiting with friends and the friars were still sleeping. I then
searched down Fr. Gabriel for confession (thanks, Father!) and enjoyed
walking all around and seeing so many pilgrims, some asleep, some just
waking up. It was still relatively quiet. It was an amazing experience
and one I will definitely never forget! The Mass was beautiful! I particularly
loved the Alleluia performed by the choir and seminarians from Fiji. The
clouds were just starting to roll in as 400,000 (wow!) of us
participated in the Mass with the Holy Father! Only in the Catholic
Church! After Mass we walked back to the city which
took about an hour. Some of the friars crashed, I headed back to St.
Mary’s for one last visit with Pier Giorgio, met Wanda, his niece again,
and spent some time in prayer with the Lord, reveling in the marvels He
had worked throughout the entire week.
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