Approximately 500 of us traveled, prayed, and lived together as a "small family," spending part of the day at the congress and part following a schedule of our own.

This "being-alone-and-together’’ came out of a dream of Cardinal Ambrozic before he retired from our diocese. This dream was then carried out by Archbishop Collins, the current ordinary, and a hard-working committee which included our own Carol Ann Gieske, who represented the lay groups and movements.

The goal was to infuse new fire and light into the archdiocese through a formed group of delegates who would go out to all the world and tell the Good News beginning with the archdiocese.

We took part in the morning sessions of the congress, a time which consisted of prayer, catechesis by a cardinal or bishop, witnessing, and the liturgy. There we were fed with clear teaching and radical witnessing, and knowing that each speaker represented holiness and blessing somewhere in the world gave us great encouragement and hope.

The liturgies, too, fed us. Beautiful and simple, they were carefully prepared and carried out and powerfully enhanced by the truth and holiness which seemed to permeate each celebrant and speaker.

Then after we ate our box lunches, our buses returned us to our lodgings, a chateau in which the members of the Toronto delegation were the sole occupants, for our own schedule of prayer and/or penance services, sharing, discussions, and trips to shrines for times of prayer with our own clergy—bishops as well as priests.

On our arrival at the chateau, Archbishop Collins, the ordinary of our diocese, led the service for the reception of the Blessed Sacrament, set up a chapel for the week, and gave a talk the following evening.

On Tuesday afternoon, Bishop Peter Hundt led a prayer service at the Shrine of Ste. Anne de Beaupré, and on Thursday Bishops Boissoneau and Grecco concelebrated Mass for us in the afternoon. All three bishops are auxiliaries under Archbishop Collins.

But, of course, not everything we did was led by a bishop. Friday evening, for example, was our "mountain top experience,"—a candle-light procession and prayer service at the top of Mont-Sainte-Anne.

With the congress, we took part in the Thursday evening procession through Quebec City, and we attended the closing Mass.

On Saturday afternoon, at our last session together, we gathered to share the fruits of the week and pray and talk about "What Next?"

On Sunday, the day of the closing Mass, our buses brought us to the Plains of Abraham, and all 500 of us walked to our area together. All week we had been encountering fellow MH staff and friends from near and far, and we did so again as we waited for Mass to begin.

During the Mass, we, like everyone else, were there when the sky burst open with a great deluge during the Consecration. ("Praise God from whom all blessings flow," someone nearby commented.)

We left after Mass, returning home renewed and filled with the truth, beauty, and vocation of being immersed in the Eucharist.