30,000 young people from 58 countries attended the Festival
By Višnja Spajić

Again this year, from August 1st to 6th, Međugorje blossomed with youth. More than thirty thousand young people from 58 countries worldwide gathered for the 18th International Youth Prayer Festival. The first evening commenced with a welcome for each country represented in their own language, followed by Holy Mass.

The rich and diverse programme was initiated the next day at 9 a.m. It consisted of prayers, impressive lectures and powerful testimonies, in between musical performances during which the young people were led in dance by a charismatic nun. During the hottest hours of the day, noon till 4 p.m., there was a lunch break and after that the programme continued. The lectures and testimonies ended before the start of the evening prayer programme. Everyone took part, praying the Rosary and then celebrating Holy Mass. The Gospel and the Prayers of the Faithful were prayed every evening in 24 different languages.

The complete programme was simultaneously translated by 23 interpreters into 15 languages, and listened to through small transistor radios.

Meetings with the Visionaries

The evening Mass was attended also by other pilgrims who happened to be in Međugorje, as well as numerous local believers who desired to experience the spirited atmosphere due to tens of thousands of young people

praising, singing and praying to the Lord with all their being. Hundreds of priests concelebrated the Mass. One of the specialities of the festival was the International Choir and Orchestra, a hundred young people from 20 countries, that accompanied the lectures and prayers wih music.

The full article can be found on pages 24-28 of Vol 3
2007 issue.