reflections, updates and homilies from Deacon Mike Talbot inspired by the following words from my ordination: Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach...
Pope Leo prays with young Egyptian pilgrims in remembering Pascale Rafic, their 18 year old companion who died on her way to Rome for the Jubilee of Youth (@Vatican Media)
Pope expresses condolences on sudden death of Egyptian pilgrim
Pope Leo expresses his deep sorrow upon receiving news of the sudden death of an 18-year old Egyptian youth, Pascale Rafic, who was traveling to Rome to participate in the Jubilee of Youth.
Vatican News
On Saturday morning, 2 August, Pope Leo XIV received a group of Egyptian young people who have arrived in Rome to participate in the Jubilee of Youth. With them leading the delegation was Jean-Marie Chami, Titular Bishop of Tarsus and Auxiliary Bishop of the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Greek Melkites for Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan. Tragically, one of the pilgrimage group members, 18-year old Pascale Rafic, died earlier in the day just after travelling to Rome to participate in the Jubilee together with them.
Pope Leo giving the group of Egyptian pilgrims his blessing (@Vatican Media)
In welcoming the group, the Pope assured them of his "heartfelt prayers" and invoked "the Lord’s comfort and consolation upon Pascale’s family members, friends and all of those who grieve her loss." While consoling the group, he acknowledged the grief we feel, also so suddenly, but that our hope in the Risen Christ gives us hope in remembering Pascale's new life in Christ.
“So, we thought at least, in the midst of this pain, that you all experience for the loss of your friend, that at least to have this opportunity to come together to pray, to renew our faith, and to ask God both for the eternal rest of our sister but also for strengthening and consolation, strengthening of our faith and to be renewed in hope and as Church, as brothers and sisters, we therefore have gathered together for that reason. So we ask the Lord to be with us, to be with all of you, as you live these days of the pilgrimage of the Jubilee Year of Hope and that you will all also be protected with God‘s love and God‘s grace.”
Addressing the group in English, before imparting his apostolic blessing to them, Pope Leo encouraged them to find consolation in God's boundless love and mercy, and the hope that never disappoints.
“It is our hope in the resurrection, that is the ultimate source of our hope, and we speak about a Jubilee Year of Hope, our hope is in Jesus Christ who is risen. And he calls all of us to renew our faith, calls all of us to be friends, brothers and sisters to one another, to support one another, and he says you too must be witnesses to that Gospel message.”
Pope answers questions from pilgrims at Jubilee of Youth
An estimated million young people gather in the outskirts of Rome for the Jubilee of Youth prayer vigil. Three of them ask him questions: about friendship, life choices, and encountering Jesus.
By Joseph Tulloch
Around a million young pilgrims gathered in Tor Vergata, on the outskirts of Rome, for the Jubilee of Youth on Saturday evening.
As night fell, Pope Leo led the pilgrims in a prayer vigil, feauturing singing, Scripture readings, and Eucharistic Adoration.
The centrepiece of the event was a question-and-answer session in which the Pope responded to three questions posed by young pilgrims in Spanish, Italian, and English.
Pope Leo speaks to Dulce Maria from Mexico, who asked the first question (@Vatican Media)
Friendship, life choices, and encountering Jesus
The first question was asked by Dulce Maria, 23, from Mexico. Given the “fleeting and often illusory” nature of online connections, she asked, how can we “we find true friendship and genuine love that will lead us to true hope”?
In his reply, the Pope stressed that although social media offers an “extraordinary opportunity” for dialogue, it can “be used to lull us, to make us addicted to consumerism”. He stressed that friendships can only be truly lasting if they are founded in God, and, quoting St Augustine, emphasized that “It is the one who loves God in his friend who truly loves his friend.”
The second question came from Gaia, 19, from Italy, she asked about the “climate of uncertainty” which “paralyses” many young people and prevents them from making important life choices.
In his reply, Pope Leo emphasized that these choices are not “a matter of choosing something, but of choosing someone.” When we make a choice, the Pope said, we decide “who we want to become”.
The final question was posed in English, by Will, 20 years old and from the US. How can we “truly encounter” Jesus, he asked, and be sure of his presence “even in the midst of trials and uncertainties?”
In his response, Pope Leo urged the young pilgrims to “reflect on your way of living”, “seek justice”, “serve the poor”, and “adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament”.
Pope Leo arrives at the stage, carrying the Jubilee cross (@Vatican Media)
Prayers for Maria and Pascale
In his answers to the pilgrims’ questions, Pope Leo also mentioned the two young women – Maria, 20, from Spain, and Pascale, 18, from Egypt – who have died while taking part in Jubilee of Youth events in recent days.
“Let us pray together for them, pilgrims of hope,” said the Pope. “Let us pray for their families, their friends and their communities. May the Risen Jesus welcome them into the peace and joy of his Kingdom.”
The vigil then came to an end with roughly an hour of Eucharistic adoration, accompanied by chanting and prayers in French, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Polish and Latin.
An estimated one million pilgrims came to Tor Vergata for the vigil An estimated one million pilgrims came to Tor Vergata for the vigil (@Vatican Media) (@Vatican Media)
He once described himself as “a little like Jacob, always on a journey,” always seeking. But, in truth, it was there from the beginning ― the great love and the driving passion of his life: Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
One day, young Peter Julian Eymard [pronounced A-mard], just five years of age, wandered off from the family home. His sister and half-sister searched frantically for the boy and finally located him in the parish church, standing on a stool close to the tabernacle of the high altar. In response to their anxious questioning, he answered simply, “I am here listening to Jesus.”
The Early Years - 1811-1839
Like all of us, Peter Julian Eymard was conditioned by his familial and cultural background as well as by the social and political milieu of his time.
Life in France during the first half of the nineteenth century was difficult. Years earlier, the French Revolution had radically altered the political, social, and religious landscape of the country. As a teenager, Eymard would experience the Industrial Revolution which swept across Europe. As a young man, he witnessed the dawning of the Age of Romanticism in art, music, and literature.
Peter Julian’s road to the priesthood, as well as his life as a priest, was shadowed by the cross. An intransigent anti-clericalism marked French society, and his father, having seen several sons die, did not want his only surviving son to become a priest. His first attempt to pursue the priesthood ended in serious illness. Following his father’s death, he tried once again, and on July 20, 1834, at age 23, was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Grenoble.
The Church of Eymard’s day was greatly affected by Jansenism, a religious movement which focused on the gravity of human sinfulness and a corresponding belief in the unworthiness of human motivation and activity. Thus, in his seminary years and first years of ministry, Eymard was influenced by a predominantly reparation spirituality. He would struggle his whole life to seek that inner perfection that would enable him to offer the gift of his entire self.
Perhaps it was the intensification of this spiritual struggle along with his lifelong devotion to Mary that led him to enter religious life. On August 20, 1839, Father Eymard professed vows as a member of the Society of Mary (the Marists).
The Marist Years - 1839-1856
Throughout his life, Peter Julian had an intense devotion to Mary, the Mother of God. He knew about the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette and enjoyed traveling to various Marian shrines. It was Father Eymard’s apostolic work for the Society of Mary that would put him in contact with the various currents of eucharistic piety that were flowing through the French Church and elsewhere in Europe.
Despite persistent health issues, Peter Julian was an amazingly energetic and hardworking priest and religious. Naturally drawn to contemplation, the demands of his ministry, especially his preaching schedule and the various administrative duties assigned to him, made it impossible for him to live a purely contemplative life. He was an outstanding organizer of lay societies, a zealous educator, a well-prepared preacher, and something of a prophetic figure in his Marist community and even to his superiors.
Father Eymard was especially effective at preaching Eucharistic devotions, very popular at the time. It was on one such occasion, on Corpus Christi, May 25, 1845, that he had a powerful experience that would change the course of his life. While carrying the Blessed Sacrament in procession at Saint Paul’s Church in Lyons, he felt an intense attraction to Christ in the Eucharist and resolved to “bring all the world to the knowledge and love of our Lord; to preach nothing but Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Eucharistic.”
This grace would gradually consume his life and his energies over the next several years. When responsibility for writing a rule for the new Third Order of Mary was entrusted to him by Father Jean Claude Colin, the Marist founder, Peter Julian asked permission to write a eucharistic rule. Father Colin answered that this was not the charism of the Society of Mary. Nevertheless, the idea for such a rule had already been written in the mind and heart of Father Eymard, and, in 1856, he made the painful decision to leave the Marists in the hope of a founding a religious congregation dedicated to the Eucharist.
The Years of Founding - 1856-1868
Founding the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament was not an easy task. Faithfully following the Holy Spirit’s inspiration brought Father Eymard relational conflicts, situations of personal embarrassment, financial troubles, and physical exhaustion. The first hurdle was getting approval for the new eucharistic institute.
The work of preparation for First Communion, especially among adults, was the aspect of Eymard’s vision that interested Archbishop Marie Dominique Auguste Sibour of Paris when the two met and the priest shared his project. Eucharistic communities and organizations were springing up throughout France ― many of them emphasizing only prayer and reparation ― but Archbishop Sibour rightly perceived that Eymard’s understanding of the Eucharist was not limited merely to adoration but to reaching out to those who were estranged from the Church and evangelizing them. He gave approval on May 13, 1856. This date is observed in the congregations Father Eymard founded as the feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament.
Father Eymard immediately directed his ministry to the young workers, the “rag pickers,” and other barely employable men who made up a large segment of the labor force of Paris. No sooner did he attract a few followers to join him than he had to close the house and move to another location. This happened twice within the span of a few years. At times, the Eymardian communities were so poor that a neighboring convent of sisters fed the priests and brothers. Not being able to provide food and shelter did not help Father Eymard attract vocations!
"Gift of Self"
As early as 1845 ― and perhaps owing to the grace of his experience at Saint Paul’s in Lyons on Corpus Christi ― Father Eymard began to move away from a spirituality of reparation to a spirituality which emphasized the love of Christ. In 1865, just three years prior to his death, he made a long retreat in Rome. During this retreat, he was struck by the overwhelming realization of Christ’s love for him, a love which he felt was taking over his entire life. In response, he wished to make the “gift of self:” of his will, his personality, and his affections, to God and to Christ in the Eucharist.
Anticipating the renewal brought about by the Second Vatican Council, Saint Peter Julian Eymard had a vision of eucharistic communities of priests, deacons, brothers, sisters, and lay people living lives of total dedication to the spiritual values that are inspired by the celebration of the Eucharist and deepened through prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
His life was a true journey to Christ in the Eucharist, a journey begun intuitively on that day when a small boy wandered away from his family home to go to church ― to listen to Jesus in the tabernacle.
A Continuing Witness
The life of “the Apostle of the Eucharist” has inspired people around the world to live a more dynamic and transformative eucharistic life by uniting regular participation in the Mass, times of contemplation and prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and service to others in Christ’s name.
August 1, 2018, marked the 150th anniversary of the death of Saint Peter Julian Eymard. In observance of this occasion, a team of Blessed Sacrament Religious and Associates began offering a Daily Eucharistic Reflection based on the Scripture texts of Mass and the teachings of Saint Peter Julian Eymard.
200 confessionals now open for the day of penitence in Rome
From 10:30am to 6:00pm, the Circus Maximus, the ancient Roman arena, will be an open-air confessional for young people wishing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation as part of the Holy Year celebrations. For the occasion, the Youcat Foundation will distribute 10,000 copies of a text on the subject.
Vatican News
For the hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims who have arrived in Rome for their Jubilee, Friday, 1 August, will be a day fully dedicated to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, before gathering with Pope Leo XIV on Saturday and Sunday at the Tor Vergata esplanade. From 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., 200 confession stations will be available, staffed by priests and confessors ready to listen.
Stations in Different Languages
Pilgrims who speak Italian, Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, and Polish will find confession stations in their own languages available throughout the day. Stations for German, Hungarian, Slovak, Korean, and Chinese speakers will be available at designated times.
Around 200 confessionals are available to young people for the Sacrament of Reconciliation today (ANSA)
Youcat Distributes Its Book on Confession
During the “Day of Penitence,” twenty volunteers from the Youcat Foundation will distribute 10,000 copies of the Youcat book on confession. This special edition, published for the Jubilee of Youth, will be available in four languages: Italian, English, French, and German.
The Youcat Foundation will distribute 10,000 copies of a text dedicated to confession.
First published in 2014 and updated for the occasion, the book aims to provide young people with an accessible introduction to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The new edition includes an examination of conscience, explanations of the meaning of confession, and some helpful prayers.
Rome, city of hope: The sites of the Jubilee of Youth
Rome welcomes one million young people to celebrate their Jubilee event in three key locations: St. Peter’s Basilica, the Circus Maximus, and the Calatrava Sail at Tor Vergata.
By María Milvia Morciano
One million young pilgrims from 146 countries around the world have arrived in Rome to celebrate their Jubilee. Three key locations will stand out during the days leading up to 3 August.
First is St. Peter’s Basilica: the origin, the source, the magnet that, as in times past, draws countless pilgrims to the tomb of the Apostle. The second stop is the Circus Maximus, a vast open space at the geometric center of the city and the heart of archaeological Rome, now a place for collective gathering. Finally, Tor Vergata—the same site that hosted the World Youth Day of 2000. Located on the outskirts of the city, in the southeastern periphery, it is a structure that today, thanks to this occasion, has been revived and brought back to life.
Three places of connection
These locations mark the extremes between the center and the periphery. They were not simply chosen for logistical reasons but rather for the physical embodiment, in a way, of a spiritual dream. These three places connect two opposite ends of the urban fabric. Past and present, near and far, come together in a single language: that of faith and hope, embodied by the enthusiasm of the young participants.
Pope Francis always worked to connect Rome's city center with its most remote areas, and with this goal, he reorganized the ecclesiastical administration: not “an isolated center and a periphery divided into separate compartments, but, in a dynamic vision that imagines no walls but bridges, the Diocese of Rome will be conceived as a single center expanding through the four cardinal points,” he wrote in the Motu Proprio of 1 October 2024.
Pope Leo XIV, with his personal history as a missionary and concern for the marginalized, ordained his first 11 diocesan priests last June, sending them to the outskirts of Rome. He knows this area well, having visited Tor Bella Monaca last year as a cardinal to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the local parish, run by the Augustinians and dedicated to Saint Rita of Cascia.
A place created for the community
During this Jubilee year, St. Peter's Basilica has been a symbol forever in everyone's minds, whether they be pilgrims visiting Rome or people watching from home through social media or television.
Another icon of the Eternal City is the Circus Maximus—a vast open space capable of hosting large-scale collective events such as concerts and outdoor gatherings. But what is its history and original purpose? The Circus stretches across the Murcia Valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills, measuring 600 meters long and 140 meters wide.
Sources link this area to the origins of Rome. It was in this very valley, during the games organized by Romulus in honor of the god Consus—with races of donkeys, horses, and mules—that the Rape of the Sabine Women took place, an event marking the city’s founding and settlement. The Murcia Valley was initially developed to host chariot races during the time of the Tarquin kings, but it was the Roman general Gaius Julius Caesar who built the first masonry seats and gave the structure its definitive form around 46 B.C.
The monument was restored after a fire and likely completed by Emperor Augustus, who added an obelisk from Egypt dating to the time of Ramses II—the Flaminian Obelisk—which was moved to Piazza del Popolo by Pope Sixtus V in the 16th century. A second obelisk was brought to Rome at the request of Emperor Constantius II and erected on the spina (the long central barrier that ran down the middle of the racetrack) in 357 A.D. It now stands near the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
Chariot races were among ancient Rome’s most popular activities, with twelve chariots completing seven laps around the central spina between the two finish lines. The structure could hold between 260,000 and 300,000 spectators, making it the largest building ever dedicated to this spectacle. The spina was richly decorated with statues, shrines, small temples, and seven eggs and seven dolphins from which water flowed and were used to count the laps of the race. The carceres—the chariot starting gates—were equipped with a mechanism allowing them to open simultaneously.
The outer facade was divided into three levels, the lowest featuring arches. The seating area rested on masonry structures that housed corridors and stairways leading to the various seating areas. After being devastated by fires and restored multiple times, the site remained in use until the last games held by Totila, the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, in 549.
The Circus Maximus and the medieval Moletta Tower (Copyright (c) 2017 Stock Photos 2000/Shutterstock.)
Over the centuries, the Circus Maximus underwent various transformations and was used for different reasons, including the construction of a Jewish cemetery and a gasometer in the 19th century. The area was cleared and restored between 1911 and the 1930s. Today, it is a site of great historical and cultural importance.
A concrete structure that moves
A sail waving in the wind, a shark’s fin can be seen even from afar in the rural plains of Rome crisscrossed by highways. Completed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, this monument symbolizes the culmination of the 2025 Youth Jubilee. The Sail was designed as part of the Sports City complex, whose construction began in 2006. Its complex and unfinished construction history suffered several interruptions and changes of use, until its restoration in 2025 in preparation for the Jubilee of Hope. Viewed from above, its floor plan also resembles a large open shell, further reinforcing the sense of welcoming and symbolic architecture.
Reinforced concrete, Calatrava’s preferred material, allows for fluid, dynamic forms, fully harnessing the material’s structural capabilities. The roofs of the sports pavilion and water polo pool share the same dimensions and shapes, mirrored along the longitudinal axis dividing the two stadiums and the transverse axis passing through the arches of the spine.
They were built using spatial lattice steel structures enclosed by glass panels. The result is a network that appears to move when seen from different perspectives, like a living organism in transformation. An ethereal metal mesh that absorbs and reflects daylight, emerging delicately on the horizon and blending into the clouds. In this work, as imposing as it is delicate, architecture and engineering intertwine and complement each other, integrating and transforming between natural forms and advanced technologies.
Return to Tor Vergata
Tor Vergata was already home to an event that still lives in the memories of many people. From August 15 - 19, 2000, Pope John Paul II joined two million young people for the 15th World Youth Day during the Jubilee Year dedicated to the bi-millennium of Christ’s birth.
A multitude of faces, voices, and colors covered the plain of Tor Vergata. Returning to this place 25 years later, in light of our times, has special meaning. It offers a breath of hope and encourages reflection on the words the saintly Polish Pope spoke during that Prayer Vigil: “Is it difficult to believe in a world like this? Is it difficult to believe in the year 2000? Yes! It is difficult. There’s no point in hiding it. It’s difficult, but with the help of grace, it is possible.”
To please the enemies of the Christians, Herod Agrippa had put St. James to death, and now he planned to do the same to St. Peter, the Head of the Church. Once he had him in prison, he set a heavy guard about him to make sure he would not escape. But all the Christians of Jerusalem were begging the Lord to save St. Peter, and their prayers were answered. The night before he was to be condemned, St. Peter was peacefully sleeping in his prison cell between his two guards bound tightly by two chains. He was unafraid of death and ready to do God's will. Suddenly an angel appeared and tapped him on the side to awaken him. He told him to get up at once, put on his cloak and sandals and follow him. At the same moment, both the chains fell from his hands! Out the two went, past two sets of guards, to the gate. This iron gate opened to them by itself, and the angel led St. Peter out to the street. Then he disappeared. Up to then, Peter had thought he might be dreaming, but now he knew that God had really sent an angel to free him! What joy and gratitude filled his heart! At once, the Apostle went to the home of Mary, St. Mark's mother, where many Christians were praying for his safety. He knocked at the door and a young woman named Rhoda came to ask who it was, without opening the door. When she heard St. Peter's voice, she ran joyfully to tell the others. They, however, could not believe the news. "It must be his angel," they said when she kept insisting. Meanwhile St. Peter knocked again. At last, they let him in, and their happiness was immense when they saw it was truly St. Peter himself! He told them how the angel had freed him, and altogether they blessed and thanked the Lord. The feast day is August 1st.
