We are delighted to bring you news of the Walsingham Festival 2009, which your prayers, support and donations made possible! This was the first Walsingham festival organised by the new leadership team, and although it was a daunting task, God proved He is never outdone in generosity. Now over a month since the festival ended, the national office is still receiving feedback and testimonies daily from young people whose lives have been changed. We would like to share with you some of these comments, so that you can see how your prayers and money go directly towards making possible the conversions of young people in this country!
Members of the Service Team, Retreat Team and Music Ministry arrived in Walsingham early to prepare the site and also to spend some time together before young people from all across the country descended on the shrine. We were grateful to have Fr Emmanuel CFR with us during this time to give formation and help prepare us for the task ahead. Thursday evening came and there was huge excitement as hundreds of young people arrived – we even ran out of food! One young person said: “I was quite overwhelmed as soon as we arrived at the site on the Thursday evening, when w
e went inside the main tent for the evening Mass. I had a great experience of such warmth, it was wonderful.” We were delighted to welcome over 1200 young people to this year’s festival, including large groups from both Germany and Spain.
It was a great privilege to have Eduardo Verastegui with us over the weekend. Eduardo is a Mexican Hollywood actor who had a radical conversion, making the decision to dedicate his talents to God. He starred in and produced the 2007 pro-life film “Bella”. (See our website for more details about his story.) Eduardo was a lively and charismatic speaker, inspiring many of the young people present to commit their talents to serving God, and to stand firm in their Christian values, especially chastity. Eduardo is a fantastic role model for young people and an amazing ambassador for the faith, and we were delighted he could attend. One young person said: “...I was probably helped most by his explanation of being a Catholic and working in the media, but still staying true to being a Catholic and living a Catholic lifestyle.”
All the speakers throughout the festival inspired and instructed the young people present in the basics of the faith. One young person said: “The Festival definitely made me think about things in a different way, for example the importance of living out chaste relationships, and what it means to be pro-life” and another said: “I would like to say a huge thanks ... The energy of the speakers every day was very refreshing and in every talk ... I always found at least one thing that was very relevant to me personally.”
We were supported by great numbers of priests over the weekend who heard hundreds and hundreds of Confessions! One young person said: “The constant availability of priests made it very easy to go to Confession, which was something I did (eventually) after I had not been for a long time,” and another said: “I enjoyed the Reconciliation service (I never thought I'd be saying that, after dreading Confession for so long) but I felt fully healed after and since I have found it easier to pray and I am generally just more happy!”
Many young people who attended appreciated the experience of being with over 1200 other young Catholics and the festival atmosphere of Youth 2000 Walsingham. Here is what some young people said: “Probably just being able to meet other Catholics in their twenties who had shared a lot of the experiences I had had was the best part about it”; “I made many good friends there who I have been in constant contact with since leaving the festival… when I arrived I knew no-one. The atmosphere was so genuinely friendly and it was also very humbling to meet other young people who have helped out in their community in real physical ways”; “I felt closer to God in such a friendly environment.” Please keep all these young people in your prayers, that they may receive the support and encouragement they need to continue living out their faith on a daily basis.
Fundraising
As you may be aware, we are still short of around £7,000 needed to pay off the costs of the Walsingham festival: bills still need to be paid for marquees, plumbing, catering costs, coaches, kitchen equipment, sound, St John’s Ambulance hire and furniture. If you feel prompted, please visit our fundraising page: http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/walsingham2009 where you will see even more testimonies from the festival, and where you can see the running total of what is still left to pay off. If you have any ideas of potential donors we could approach, please get in touch with the national office. And most of all, please keep this intention in your prayers.
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