ROME – Thousands of young people flooded an ancient Roman field Saturday for an all-night prayer vigil honoring Pope John Paul II on the eve of his beatification, remembering his teachings, travels and his own suffering.
Pilgrims waving flags from Poland, Spain, Germany and Brazil filled Rome’s Circus Maximus, which twinkled with the light of thousands of candles as choirs from John Paul’s native Poland, the Philippines and Italy sang. They listened as a French nun, who suffered from Parkinson’s, recounted how she was cured after praying to John Paul, who also fought a long battle with the disease.
The Vatican has decreed that Sister Marie Simone-Pierre’s inexplicable healing was the miracle needed to beatify John Paul, a process that will reach its culimination Sunday during a Mass in St. Peter’s Square celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.
