DAYS #8: 7/18/08 - Sydney, Australia
We started off the day with, yet another, great breakfast. We needed to be fully energized to begin our pilgrimage to Randwick Racecourse. After that, we headed over to a nearby Catholic church for mass. It was celebrated completely in French by a Cardinal from Vienna who was a papal candidate.

Now we were ready to begin our journey. It was a three mile walk with the majority being uphill, but we did it! Our assigned spot was actually pretty close, in comparison with all the other spots available. After we set up our “camp,” Fr. Ariel met up with us. He had brought us lunch that his cousin had made for us. Then, some of us went out to meet people from other countries and give them our
traders. This took the majority of the day because there were so many people there!

Finally the vigil began. Pope Benedict came out from the middle of the stage and the crowd went wild! Everyone there lit their candles and we joined in prayer with the Pope. The Pope advised all of the people of the world to not be afraid of Jesus. After this advice everyone in the crowd joined in adoration with Pope Benedict before the actual prayer service ended.

The celebration did not end there, however. Many countries continued to party throughout the night, and cheers of “Bendetto” could be heard for hours. We also had the ability to go to adoration and reconciliation all night long. Trying to stay warm with our multiple layers and thermal blankets, we went to sleep under the stars, eagerly awaiting Mass in the morning.

Until tomorrow,
The St. Margaret Mary WYD Pilgrims