Estoril (Portugal). There will be about 9,000 young people and volunteers from the Salesian Youth Movement, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Salesians of Don Bosco, and members of the Salesian Family, coming from all over the world to participate in World Youth Day in Lisbon, which on 2 August 2023 will gather in the SDB House in Estoril to experience SYM DAY together, the day of celebration under the banner of Salesian Youth Spirituality. The event will be attended by the Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, and the Mother General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sister Chiara Cazzuola.
The FORUM will take place in the morning, a time for meeting with the Rector Major, with Mother General, the World Councilors for Youth Ministry, Sr. Runita Borja and Fr. Miguel Ángel García Morcuende, and other Superiors of the Salesian Family Groups.
200 young representatives of different countries are invited to reflect and discuss the WYD theme, “Mary got up and went with haste” (Lk 1:39), linked to Salesian realities and spirituality. The meeting, in which the young people will have the opportunity to ask questions of the Mother General and the Rector Major, will end with a message addressed to the young people of the SYM from all over the world.
The Forum will end with the Eucharistic Celebration, which can be followed in direct streaming.
The SYM Festival, aimed at all members of the Salesian Family present at WYD, will take place in the afternoon starting at 15:00, and will be characterized by joy and fraternity, music, entertainment, and games in a typically Oratorian style, on the theme “COME, LIVE, PROCLAIM”.
There will be various activities promoted by the organization and those prepared by the young people of the SYM from some Countries who will perform on the stands and on stage, bringing their own cultural expression. There will also be the possibility of confessions and spiritual accompaniment. Sports will also be present, with soccer and volleyball tournaments.
At 17:00 the Rosary for vocations will be prayed together (direct streaming).
The VIGIL, final moment and culmination of the Day, will take place between 21:00 and 22:30. It will be a time of prayer and Eucharistic adoration centered on the persons of Mary and Jesus, in an attitude of gratitude for being witnesses of the Lord with the richness of the Salesian Charism (direct streaming).
The traditional “Salesian Goodnight” by Fr. Ángel and Mother Chiara will close this intense Day.
Sr. Diana Arrobas, FMA of O. L. of Fatima Province (POR) and responsible for coordinating the Day, tells of the enthusiasm and strong commitment on the part of the volunteers and members of the Salesian Family:
“It is a unique experience for us, in the context of World Youth Day, to work together with the FMA, SDB, families, and more than 100 young people who for three years now, divided into 17 teams between logistics and formation, have experienced the great joy in giving, instead of just receiving.
As SYM, we have prepared both by inserting ourselves in the journeys of the Dioceses and by carrying forward the Salesian pastoral theme in view of WYD. In the young people and in all of us, there now is the enthusiasm of living together this great moment of the Church and of the Salesian Family. We are waiting for you!”
More information on the site WYD DON BOSCO 23
To follow the different moments and for all the logistical information and contents, you can download the APP WYD Don Bosco 23.
Desde Popayán, Colombia, estuvimos en GRAN SINTONIA con la JMJ 2023, a través de la convocatoria de jóvenes, caminata callejera, liderada por las FMA y exalumnas jóvenes que pertenecen a la Pastoral Juvenil para terminar con la Celebración Eucarística en la Catedral Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.
Estamos muy motivados además acompañando a los 46 jóvenes que fueron de nuestra Arquidiócesis.
Y queremos seguir en camino presuroso con María Santísima la joven modelo que sabe hacer crecer la vida.