After the rich afternoon of feasting and entertainment, the evening served to focus on the most important contents of the Festival, to offer the most meaningful moment of recollection, and to allow all the young people to experience a direct and personal contact with Jesus in the Eucharist.
At the opening of the vigil, the young people of the Portuguese Salesian Youth Movement once again captivated their friends from other countries with an evocative representation of Don Bosco's famous dream of the two columns.
Following this, Don Miguel Ángel García, General Councillor for Youth Ministry brought the Blessed Sacrament in procession to the central stage, accompanied by hymns. Prayers in several languages, points of reflection, hymns and moments of silence marked this special moment, which remained the most touching of the whole day - and probably, of the whole World Youth Day for the youth of the international SYM.
Then it was time for the 'Salesian goodnight' - that tradition started by Don Bosco and which continues today in all Salesian houses, where in the evening young people and the religious gather for a moment to give thanks, pray and draw closer to God and listen to the thought offered to them.
The first to address the young people was Mother Chiara Cazzuola, who began with a word of thanks: “Dear young people, I am grateful for the opportunity to address you at the end of this beautiful and intense day in which we have lived many moments of great experience that have made us closer and stronger in faith”.
Highlighting the figure of Mary, who on this World Youth Day serves as a "model" for all young people, the Mother General of the FMA emphasized the readiness of the Mother of Jesus to "go out to serve those who needed her help", showing everyone that the missionary zeal must "animate all our actions".
"It is interesting to note," she highlighted, "that the first to form in Don Bosco a simple and sincere Marian devotion is his mother. Margaret educates John to feel Mary as an ever-present help, even in difficult moments, of loneliness, of responsibility. In the dream of the nine years, the 'good shepherdess' becomes the model, the point of reference for his action among his companions. Even in the painful journey of the oratory, Mary is present as a sign of hope and an active presence among the young people”.
That is why, in conclusion, Mother Chiara Cazzuola hoped that everyone would find the "presence of Mary" as a "powerful guide and help" during these days.
The Rector Major of the Salesians, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, began his goodnight talk by emphasizing the "great joy" of being able to meet all the young people.
He then stressed the particularity of their presence in Portugal these days: "Going on pilgrimage is very different from going on holiday. And you, dear young people, are here today as pilgrims, always searching for the Lord Jesus, certainly searching, and responding in a youthful and Salesian way to the invitation that Pope Francis has addressed to us'.
Assuring that no young person will be disappointed by this SYM and WYD experience, the Rector Major assured that at the end of these days everyone will feel that "it was worth it".
"I can assure you, dear young people, that you will not be disappointed by this WYD experience; I can assure you that you will feel, when we say goodbye at the end of these days, and even more intensely afterwards, that everything has been worthwhile and that, in a certain sense, you are not the same as before, because you will carry lot of memories in your hearts; I can assure you that, like Mary, everything you will do to live as young Christian disciples and missionaries - sometimes searching and without all certainties, as I have already told you - will fill you with happiness; I am sure that for the rest of your lives you will remember what you experienced at WYD, and I can assure you, as Don Bosco used to tell his boys, that Jesus will never let you down," he affirmed with great emotion.
At the end of his message, Fr Á.F. Artime echoed Don Bosco's words: “I want you to be happy already here” and, before concluding, he issued a challenge to everyone: “Dear boys and girls: dream something beautiful and authentic for your lives starting from God, take steps every day to achieve it, and infect many others”.
