www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall ByzanTeen Rally -- Awesome

I had the absolute joy of witnessing a first-ever during the ByzanTeen Rally this past weekend -- all 4 Ruthenian Byzantine Bishops concelebrating liturgy for 200+ teens and their chaperones and the parishioners of the Basilica of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. What an awesome sight and sound! I was privilieged to have been there as chaperone. Kudos to the teens and thier parents for being part of this wonderful evenet!

That is interesting, the Melkite Youth(NAMY) had their retreat at the same time. It was excellent!

Also, the young adults(MAYA) had theirs and it was totally wonderful by all accounts from my daugter who was a particpant. It was a huge impact on her.

So the Holy Spirit was busy a movin' all over the land - Glory to God!

We are going to try to be at the Pilgrimage at Mt. Macrina this year. They always have a wonderful retreat time with the kids there too.

For the past four days I have been trying to find words to exress how awesome the ByzanTEEN Youth Rally was this year. Here is my personal account of some of the things that happened.
Thursday morning the ByzanTEENs from Annunciation left early in the morning. Our flight ended up being delayed for 5 hours and we waited at the airport for 7 hours because of storms in Chicago. Luckily we weren't too late by the time we got to Emmitsburg Maryland. We checked into our dorm rooms at Mt St Mary's University. That night we were treated to a performance by musician TOny Melendez. Tony was born without any arms and he sings and plays the guitar with his feet. It was an awesome! It was truly a great way to start off the rally.
Friday we started with breakfast and then we prayed the hours. Then we went to two workshops in a row. The first two I went to were given by Fr Thomas Loya and Sister Barbra Jean. They were really great. We broke for lunch and then during the afternoon we participated in the Sand Volleyball Tournament. We played eparchy against eparchy and depending on how many girls played there were two teams. The team I was on was called the Parma Power. We ended up winning the girls Championship but lost to the boys champions. It was such great fun. Friday night we went on a silent walk to the grotto of St Elizabeth Ann Seton. We did it in silence to prepare for the Sacrament of Confession.
At night we either played volleyball spent time with friends or just talked with the new kids we met. After official curfew we were encouraged to go to the BC Cafe until 1 in the morning. It was a great place with snacks and drinks where we could go and spend time without disturbing others who might want to sleep. (I have yet to have met someone who actually wanted to sleep at a youth rally).
Saturday started out the same way as Friday. We went to two more workshops. I went to one given by SIster Celeste and one by Fr. O'Laughlin. Once again they were spectacualr. Friday afternoon they had a 3 on 3 basketball tournament. After the basketball we performed skits that we had prepared over the past day. It was really great becuase all four of our Bishops were present. After our skits and dinner we went to Divine Liturgy with vespers at the Basilica of St Elizabeth Seton. It was really beautiful. The church the service everything was great.
After the liturgy we went back to the University for a dance. It was really great to see so many kids dancing and interacting together. Archbishop Basil led our Congo Line! Saturday night our administrators and chaperones were kind enough to let the BC cafe stay open all night long so we could talk to the friends we made and say good bye.
Sunday we prayed matins and then had to say goodbye to all of the friends we made. After Matins the TEENs from Annunciation(my church) announced that the next youth rally (2008) will take place in Chicago!
Well I hope that gives some people a good idea of some of the great things that go on at Youth Rally. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask and I will try and answer them!

In Christ,
Katie g