In Rome, Marine, 18, finds the faith in the jubilee of young people

“I found faith only a year ago, when I entered into medical faculty, after having lost it in high school, for lack of Christian friends. During this first year of study, I prayed Jesus every day, but I was not going to mass.

When I got to the jubilee, I was afraid of being rejected: I did not have the codes, I was not practicing. But from the first two hours, I made three friends! It was the first time I have made Catholic friends; What a joy!

Different prayer times

During the pilgrimage, I felt a fraternity that is not found anywhere else. There was not even no need to speak the same language to understand each other: we sang, we chatted with everyone, in the tail of the toilet, in the metro. With my friends, we also talked with a crossed sister at the Vocations Forum, to whom we asked all our questions. She was uninhibited, she answered frankly. This meeting touched me a lot.

With the diocese, we lived different prayer times. We prayed to religious services in the morning and evening – it was new to me. It was also the first time I participated in worship. I found the very first super long. We had to stay at least fifteen minutes to pray. I didn’t know what to say, I had my knees in my knees.

The second worship was very different. Before, my friends told me not to seek what to say, to just stay there with Jesus. I haven’t even seen time pass. I spoke to Jesus, then I just looked at him in silence. But it was not an empty expectation: you have nothing in your head, but everything in your heart, which is full of joy. I was peaceful and I felt the love of God.

The strongest episode was the passage of the holy door with all the other French in Saint-Jean-de-Latran. When I crossed it, I felt a great peace and the presence of God. I was very moved. I never felt the presence of God as much as it is as much as it is.

This week motivated me to join a chaplaincy and practice. With my jubilee friends, we will meet in Amiens and will go to mass together. I came back changed. Now it’s over: I can’t stop believing! I just need to remind me of this moment to find faith. ”