OVER 500....

...people came to NIGHTFEVER at St Patrick's. Soho, last night, welcomed in from the street by young missionaries going out into Soho with glowing lanterns and asking "Would you like to come in and light a candle in the church?"  Lovely gentle music wafted out across Soho Square - a team of singers and instrumentalists led by a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal...and the Blessed Sacrament was exposed on the altar, surrounded by banks of  glowing candles, while people knelt - in the pews, on the floor, up by the altar-rails - in prayer. Around the back, and in the confessionals, priests heard confessions. And one by one, or in couples or small groups, people came in, lantern-led, to light a tiny votive candle, and sit or kneel for a while...

So many stories, and most of them I can't share. A man weeping - he's got my hankie and I am so glad I had a large clean one to give away. Two girls with sudden glad news about a sick relative and thrilled to be invited in to give thanks. People who wanted to talk a bit, and people who just wanted to drift away afterwards on their own. People who  said they could only come in for a brief moment - and stayed for a long time. And then the people who said "No thanks - the Church hates people like us" or "No. I'm too drunk". But some who said "No" came in later anyway...and all who went away were caught up in the prayers of those keeping vigil all the time in the church...

The young volunteers who make NIGHTFEVER happen come from a variety of groups. Some are from Soulfood, some from Youth 2000.Some had been to the New Dawn festival at Walsingham (see my earlier blog posts) and some came from a big prayer group in Birmingham. Some had been at Evangelium in July, and others on the recent John Paul Walk to Walsingham.

I learned from my young team-mate that NIGHTFEVER began in Germany, an  initiative following the 2005 World Youth Day with Papa Benedict...so this summer sees its 10th anniversary, and it's evidence of further fruit of Papa B's pontificate.

At the end of the evening, we gathered for Evening Prayer - extraordinarily beautiful and moving in the candlelit church -  and Benediction, and then a brief time of reporting back: which was when we learned that the grand total of candles lit was over 500 (517 to be precise), not counting those lit at side-altars and by the pieta etc.

Being part of NIGHTFEVER is an enormous privilege and an unforgettable one.