I think one of my favorite parts of the trip was when it rained. OK, so the rain was not all that fun, but the outcome was- a bunch of ND students crouched together under a small number of umbrellas, making a joyful noise in songs of praise to God. It warmed my heart to see our group, most of whom had not been friends prior to the trip, laughing and singing in the midst of the storm. For me, it truly was a piece of heaven on earth.
- Jen Morgan
I loved it when we were all lined up along the fence on Saturday waiting for the Pope to arrive at Downsview Park and one side of the fence was leading the rosary, and our side was following. It was awesome!
- Theresa Sherman
After the Opening Mass we went to the Lifeteen worship/Adoration service (Lifeteen is a Catholic youth ministry group). The worship was great, there were a couple of thousand teens there from all over the US all praying and singing together, all there to worship God. Adoration was, as it always is, powerful. It was quite an experience to see 2,000 teens automatically drop to their knees when the Blessed Sacrament was brought into this huge room. It made me so happy, not only to be Catholic, but to just have this opportunity to be with so many other on-fire kids who truly love God.
- Christina Dehan
On Sunday morning at about 6 AM, it started to rain. Within five minutes
everything I had brought was soaked. When I tried to roll up my sleeping
bag,I was pleasantly surprised to see a toad hop out of it. How long it
was in there remains to be known. We then waited for the Pope to arrive
at 8:45 AM, and in the midst of rain, instead of complaining, all we wanted
to do was sing and pray. Danielle Rose led about 4 other people and me
in a Rosary for the rain to stop. It was a very Fatima-esque experience,
seeing so many hundreds of thousands standing in the rain praying and
singing, waiting for the Pope to come to celebrate the Eucharist. When
the Pope did arrive, while we were waiting for Mass to start, a bunch
of us huddled together (about 20 kids under 5 umbrellas) and Danielle
led us in a few songs. We just couldn't stop praising God for the blessing
of moments like those. I'll never forget it: there we were, standing in
the rain, cold, wet, miserable, yet it was probably one of the happiest
moments of our lives. God is so good. About ten minutes into Mass, the
rain stopped, the sun came out, and we truly experienced Heaven on Earth.
- Christina Dehan
Jean Vanier. This man is a living saint! I joined the ND crew on the
way to Toronto after four intense weeks of high school retreats focusing
on faith and vocation (with the ND Vision program), Jean Vanier was the
model of faith for my small group. I had never heard of him until the
retreats. Before we left for WYD, someone mentioned that he would be speaking
there. I have never seen someone so inspiring, so full of love, and so
devoted to revealing the love of God in those individuals that society
scoffs at. Seeing and hearing Jean speak helped me
to see my vocation more clearly.
- Mike Sena
After the concert, a few of us went down to the waterfront (one with our group flag), to reenact the original claiming of Canada for Notre Dame.....
- Krissy Caponi
One other girl and I went on the Great Reconciliation Hunt and finally found the sacrament being offered in a park by the lake. Being reconciled is always good, and being reconciled outside in the sunshine is even better (if it can get any better!).
- Krissy Caponi
