Pilgrim Blog - Tom Dougherty

Friday we went to the catechesis for the third time this week, and we heard a talk from Archbishop Dolan, the archbishop of New York. Later in the day we went to stations of the cross, where we sat in the street and watched the stations on a big screen. Although the catechesis and stations were great, the high point of the day had to be teaching a couple of Spanish girls the spoon game, and neither of them spoke English which made it difficult. Hopefully the game spreads throughout Spain now. Another long day followed with the vigil and overnight sleep outside at the airfield, but I'll let someone else blog about that.

A Few Pics from Thursday, August 19

Meeting some new friends from Argentina while we wait for Pope Benedict to pass by.

We got as close as we could to Il Papa when he drove by, blessing us in the "Popemobile"

With some new Iraqi friends.

After Life Teen's XLT event, gathering with other Life Teen parishes from all around the world for Eucharistic Adoration, we get a picture with Catholic recording artist Jackie Francois

Pilgrim Blog - Jamie Kimelstein

Yesterday we went to the great city of Avila and visited their beautiful churches such as St. Vincent's. The quiet peacefulness of the church reminded us why we were really here, for God. We then had an elegantly celebrated mass said by a priest of the Diocese, Father Rob. When we got home we went to a concert sung in Spanish, but we got a giant game of Pony started with about two or three other countries. It was truly a fun packed day!

Pilgrim Blog - Paul Clores

Yesterday we walked into the city to exchange our American money for Euros. After that, we had the plan to go to the Prada Museum. After we finally found it we decided the line was too long and that we would just go look for food! We walked around for about an hour.....a very long hour. We did, however, run into many new faces from different countries. We traded with them and we talked with them. We made it to McDonald's and we were in there for hours waiting for our food. Then we went to the Mass which was led by Cardinal Archbishop Antonio. Although it was all in Spanish, it was a beautiful Mass because it brought every country together in one ceremony. To finish off a fun day we went to Telepizza....nectar from the gods.

And We're Off!

Well, it's been a long 24 hours. And, yet, here we are in Madrid! On Sunday afternoon we celebrated Mass at OLM and then headed to the airport for our flight. We're all still adjusting to the 6 hour time difference and trying to compensate for a lack of sleep on an anxious plane ride, but we are so excited to be in this great city to celebrate our faith.
Aside from settling in, we celebrated Mass at the hotel today for the Feast of Our Lady's Assumption with the 175 or so Diocese of Rockville Centre pilgrims. We also tried out some local food. Nothing very cultural, yet. The pancakes were good. Not IHOP good, but good. What isn't good is our Spanish speaking ability. That needs work!