Benedict XVI's Address to Communion and Liberation - "Movements Are Really Gifts of the Holy Spirit" (English)
DISCORSO DI SUA SANTITÀ BENEDETTO XVI (Italian)
Rassegna stampa (Italian)
Video
Photos
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For one we were 80.000 people singing and praying in St. Peter's Square as one only voice and one only heart!!! This concrete unity was really amazing. There were also so many children.
After that the Pope arrived by car through the crew. I saw the Pope very close! When the Pope talked we were so intensely listen to him. The Pope joked because of the rain, saying that it was a blessing on us! I really desire to keep for ever in my eyes what I lived there.
This event has been also the unexpected occasion to meet some of my closest friends just in that crew! This was amazing, too. I experienced once more the deep company which accompanies my life.
In Christ,
Caterina (a Memores Domini from Milano)
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Okay Major, so here my humble experience in Rome: A unique sensation of unity and belonging, never felt before…
Regards,
Private Stefano (a Fraternity member in Milano)
P.S. It seems that Giussani once (Varigotti 1956) said (something like):
“Only living the beauty of Christianity we will be able to fill up San Peter's Square!”
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I prepared this email yesterday but I was waiting Irene to attach some pictures of the Angelus Sunday at noon.
I have to do an introduction because the pilgrimage began Friday evening. We were a group of 15 friends and we had the airplane tickets from Milan to Rome.
The flight should have been at 10pm but due to a delay we departed at 12pm so we landed at Ciampino one hour later.
We had reserved 3 different B&B, 2 near St. Peter's and one near the Colosseum but due to the hour of the night there were very few taxis at the airport and the airplane were full of people.
At the end I was the last one with other 2 friends to leave the airport that day... and it was raining.
Once the taxi had brought us at the B&B, a friend was waiting me outside of it because he was hungry and wanted to go somewhere for a sandwich and a beer.
Since I was hungry too we walked for 15 minutes before finding a BAR just behind Castel Sant' Angelo near St.Peter's because our B&B was in a residential area (no bars, no restaurants... just condos).
Finally we came back, tired and ready to sleep. It was 3am in the morning.
At 9.30am we were in St. Peter's square already full of ciellini (people of CL) and the weather as you just know was not so good. At 11 o'clock we began to recite the orations of the Saturday morning and to sing some songs in preparation of the meeting with the Pope. The Holy father arrived at noon with his white jeep and the Grace wanted him crossing near where we were (see the picture).
As you can imagine I was very emotional as rarely in my life. Then we had listened to the speech of Don Carron and the answer of Benedict XVI. I think you’ve already downloaded and read them both.
As you say in your email it was raining but the Pope said that even the rain is the Holy Spirit’s gift as the sun we desired for that day (probably also the wind heard!!!).
What I’ve brought back with me is a real and touchable communion with the Church, the Mystic Body of Christ, through his main witness on earth and I’m really sincere if I say that the communion was also with the people not physically there as you, your family, my family. And this has been possible because there is the Holy Spirit that cross the time and the space.
I obviously wish you and your family to meet physically the Pope early because the emotion is different.
After the meeting we spent the afternoon as tourists. Sunday morning (the weather was sunny!) we went to visit the Popes’ graves under the Cathedral of St.Peter and then we participated at the Angelus.
We came back home Sunday afternoon. It’s been a great week-end.
Your unworthy friend,
Carlo (a Fraternity member in Milano)
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We almost didn't make it because a truck had fallen over and smashed 4 cars on the highway about 1/2 an hour outside Rome. There was stopped traffic for about an hour. We missed the preparations and the Lodi but arrived around 11 when the choir was singing. We made it just outside the square right behind the big screen. People would occasionally yell "umbrella" so they could see Benedict speak and when he passed in his little car. What struck me when the Pope came out was that the songs didn't stop. We kept singing for Someone else. The Pope led us in prayer at the end... it was a celebration of life. So if the Pope can "follow" and he's the head figure of the church, maybe I can to... We asked ourselves afterwards, "what makes so many people come together for something like this?" We were also struck by the Pope's message, basically encouraging us to continue on the path that we've chosen.
Steve (a Fraternity member in Bologna... an American living in Italy)
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Integrity - Home At Last!
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An older related post - Pope B16 & CL
1 comment:
Great pictures and report! I've begun to post some of mine over at Integrity. I'll do more this weekend.
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