Magis is a pastoral experience organized by the Society of Jesus and other religious organisations for the days leading up to World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations, which this year were from 16 to 21 August in Madrid, Spain.
Magis 2011 began with a three-day gathering in Loyola (Guipuzcoa, Spain), birthplace of Saint Ignatius. About 3,000 young people from all over the world gathered at the site where the conversion of Saint Ignatius took place, and which is now a place of pilgrimage and spiritual renewal. For two days they had the opportunity to interact, meet, and pray. The Sunday mass, on 7 August presided by Fr. General Adolfo Nicolás, marked the beginning of a week of “experiences” before the WYD.
Divided by groups of 25, they scattered all through Spain, in Portugal, and a group went up to Ashila, in Morocco. The participants at Magis got involved in a variety of activities related with social engagements (e.g., migrants, childhood, minorities, persons with disabilities), culture and arts (music, photography, restoration), spirituality (pilgrimages), and also ecology.
Some of the experiences were mixed as “CreArte” where arts, ecology, and spirituality merge together in Olmos de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). In the workshop of the sculptor Javier Sanz, they had the opportunity to use painting and sculpture to express their inner feelings, all in direct contact with nature.
Ecology was at the core of the pilgrimage from Salamanca to Peña de Francia, climbing from the flat extensions of Castilla up to the 1,400 meter-high mountain of Peña de Francia. It was an extraordinary opportunity to get involved in soil and vegetation identification and realizing the implications of deforestation for biodiversity while visiting one of the most admired shrines devoted to the Virgin Mary in Spain.
Read the full story in the EcoJesuit website here.
Photo: Magis 2011 participant working in the organic vegetable greenhouse, INEA, Valladolid. Photo credits: INEA
