Some try to sleep, huddled in their sleeping bags, their hoods pulled up to their noses. The green hope bandana over their eyes, as if to shield themselves from the weight of the day. Those who fail - due to adrenalin, noise, or insomnia from afar - drift off into the afterglow. The corridors between the sectors of the esplanade a haemorrhage of pilgrims.
Walking between tents and sleeping bags is a balancing act. The black ones blend in with the darkness and the fear is real of stepping on someone. Those who have followed the unusual but effective advice of the Jubilee vademecum have a torch on their heads. The phones are dead: too many photos, too many calls to find one's group, and the charging stations are clogged.
The atmosphere is one of the great music festivals, and the talk around the tents ranges between playful and profound, between those who joke about the biscuits in the pilgrim's kit and those who still discuss the Pope's words; still, many continue to exchange bandanas and flags or sign each other's T-shirts, to take home a small souvenir of a quick friendship born by chance or Providence.
Accompanying their celebration are the sirens of the ambulances that, throughout the night, make their voices heard. Health workers take it in turns to help those who have been worn out by fatigue or those who have fallen victim to ailments linked above all to having lived through a very busy week... nothing new under the sun, it’s always like that.
Not to mention, in the middle of the night, a sprinkling of rain that forced them to each put on their k-jackets or take refuge under umbrellas, those who had them, or makeshift covers set up on the spot.
Hours passed, the dawn arrived: the sun announced its arrival on the Tor Vergata esplanade and prepared to caress the young people who slowly, one by one, began to open their eyes to the new day. There are those who have had little or no sleep and come out of their tents struggling to keep their eyes open, those who get up from their sleeping bags almost as if reminding them of a mummy coming back to life. There are those who are still trying to snatch a few minutes of sleep, sitting on the ground or in a chair, before getting up, and those who are already up, back from the toilets or in a corner, brushing their teeth and face to face the day.
The Pope’s words have made a lasting impression on the hearts of these young people, so they are once again ready to welcome the successor of Peter to embrace him and make him feel strongly that ‘this is the Pope's youth’.
Once again be his young people wo welcome him, overworked by the fatigue of these days but willing to listen again to his words and to receive his indications, to strengthen them in the faith and make them ever more aware of a hope that ‘does not disappoint’, that truly ‘never dies’, because it originates from the Resurrection.
Sources: Vatican News, Agensir
