Well, I'm back from Washington. Here's the story:
We left St. Vincent at about 12:30 on Sunday. During the ride down we joked around, a lot of people read, and watched a movie. There was a lot of snow the whole way so traffic slowed down several times. We got to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at about 7 (seminarians who wanted to be in the procession had to be there at 7:15) and immediately changed into cassocks and surplices.
We all waited around for about half an hour and then began to process upstairs into the Basilica. This was one of the most impressive parts of the whole trip for me. It is amazing to simply be at that church, let alone for a mass with thousands of people, but to process with like a hundred seminarians into a totally packed church was amazing. Every time the procession slowed down, there were hundreds of people around us looking, smiling, and even taking pictures. Wow.
I ended up sitting way behind the altar (and a giant pillar) with the long lost John Paul. We couldn't really see much, but I just enjoyed being able to be there as a seminarian and listened to the awesome music and trying to really pray the mass. After mass, we processed out (also very cool because now we also passed by hundreds of priests and deacons, a ton of bishops, and several cardinals).
Once down in the crypt, we organized our sleeping area (there were about seven of us including our rector, Fr. Justin) surrounded by a bunch of other people who were also spending the night. A basic summary of the night is that I didn't sleep. I spent my time: hanging out with the other guys, walking around, going up into the Basilica, getting kicked out of the basilica, eating a sandwich, walking around more, going to St. Vincent's holy hour from 1 to 2 AM, talking to various people, praying the rosary with MikeK, laughing at people snoring, and finally getting changed into clerics for the next day.
After getting ready on Monday morning, we hung out around the Basilica for a while - exploring the main church and then relaxing downstairs. Finally, we headed across the street to the Theological College where the rest of the St. Vincent guys were staying. We ate some breakfast there and then a few of us went back over to the Basilica giftshop and bookstore. At 8:30, we got back on the bus to go to the youth rally/mass at the Verizon (formerly MCI) center.
The youth mass was pretty cool. Because we were seminarians, we got to sit on the floor of the arena, surrounded by, supposedly, 20,000 people. I got to see a group of kids from my high school alma mater before mass and waved at two of the other Steubenville seminarians (who live at the diocese's House of Formation) from all the way across the arena.
I had a hard time appreciating the mass because I was extremely tired; so, I didn't fully take in the homily, though I liked what I did hear. I also thought Archbishop Wuerl did a great job introducing all the bishops and welcoming people. Whenever he announced a bishop, all the people from that diocese would stand up and cheer. The three Steubenville guys that I was sitting with and I stood up when Bishop Conlon was announced. It was also cool when the whole arena applauded us seminarians.
After mass, we got to see Bishop Conlon. Once Fr. Justin met up with us, we went out and joined the gigantic procession of people walking to the Mall to meet for the March. It was pretty much another March for Life ... before the actual March for Life. At the Mall, we stood around for a long time waiting for the March to start. Finally, we got in line ... and stood for another hour.
The line never did start moving (at least for us it didn't). At one point, I got interviewed on camera by this guy named Abe. I have no idea who he worked for ... but I talked about abortion being the issue and the biggest civil rights violation. He seemed to like it, so maybe you'll see me on a video somewhere ...
I don't know what happened, but, eventually, we went and had a THIRD March for Life down a little side street and cut in front of like 2,000 people, finding a place where the March was actually moving. So ... we marched. We prayed the rosary, sang some songs, and finally, ended up at the Supreme Court.
After the March, we walked to Union Station. Dan and I made sure everyone got there ok and then we left. The ride home seemed to last way longer than on the way there, but we made it home ... and I collapsed into my bed.
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Quote that summarizes the event: "Good morning!" - A girl on the Basilica staff in a ridiculously cheerful voice at 5:15 AM. Yes, I was already awake, but it was funny when she said it to the people out cold on the floor.
For pictures of our adventures, go to my photoblog.
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