It was a good time of reflection; we spent time sharing about the experiences themselves, how we’d been able to share them, and, most importantly what we are going to carry forward from them.

Of course, fun, friendship and food featured highly. Check out the fantastic cake Sarah made!

After our meal we were wonderfully entertained by many of the pilgrims with singing and comedy. What a talented group of people. We only stopped when hotel security came and told us we had outstayed our time and needed to vacate the room we’d had our dinner in. What a shame!

From Chicago, a young American described his time in Madrid as ‘awesome’, ‘cool’ but ‘hot’ as well. He said, ‘It’s amazing to have people from 6 out of the 7 continents and to meet such a variety of people who are all here because of a love for the Lord’.

A group of young people from Hong Kong said: ‘It is amazing to see so much youth who share joy, experience and faith and are united’.

Those from the Philipines described the pilgrimage as a ‘mission’ and a ‘great experience’.

And although it had been hectic and chaotic for the young people from South Africa (they’d lost some of their group), it had been an ‘experience’ for them.

Bernadeta: The timing of the rain was amazing.
Jenny: Pretty epic; I thought that it was pretty coincidental to have rain the one night we were out.
David (Legrand): Really moving to see so many people.
David (Guest): Great that you could just go and talk to anyone whether you’re queueing for a tap, or just standing around.
Amy: The heat was horrific, but the Spanish spirit in giving water and spraying with hoses made for good times!
Gabriella (Jardine): The sunrise in the east was well worth the rain.
Joel: Quite nice to see so many people. We took a step back from the crowd in the evening and looked over the whole airfield. It was stunning to see miles and miles of people.
Ray: The great spirit of the group shone through when things could have got really rough (ie the weather – the heat and then the rain). Everyone was determined to stay out there and see the vigil through. A great testament to a fabulous A&B group.
Becca:I’m sweaty in places I didn’t even know I had.
Clive: Amazing times, to see so many young catholics gathered together for one cause was a very spiritual experience.
Pete: It was amazing to see such a varied gathering of young people from across the world.
Tash: I got burnt!
Ryan: It was very good but tiring.
Louise: It was exciting in the rain. Not wet, exciting.
Mary: The translations were interesting: the tents with the Blessed Sacrament were ‘disarmed’!
Peter: One and a half million people in a rain storm was an incredible profession of faith, just sitting and being there together, and hearing everyone laughing and chanting still. The atmosphere was electric.
Nick: The group umbrellas were useless. The atmosphere of the people was really good.
Ed: The community spirit was really good, everyone was clapping and chanting together – it really did feel like a big family.
Ben: Lightening storm with the pope…
Jon: It was good to see that we all kept each others’ spirits up, despite being drenched and cold.