Albert Cortina talks with Adela Solé Remolina and Lucas Solé Remolina, two brothers who live in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona, Spain).

Adela is 20 years old and studies Humanities at the International University of Catalonia in Barcelona.

Lucas is 16 years old, and next year he will start his second year of humanities baccalaureate at the Sant Cugat Polytechnic High School.

Both are very active young men in the evangelizing mission in the various settings they operate. Their parish of Sant Pere Octavià, in the monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès, is characterized by being a dynamic, evangelizing, missionary, and welcoming community.

Adela and Lucas recently participated in the second edition of the Marian Eucharistic Youth Day (YEMJ 2025) celebrated at the beginning of July at the Shrine of Our Lady of Covadonga (Asturias, Spain) and they wanted to share with us their personal experience of those days in which one thousand seven hundred young people sought to be saints at the hand of Jesus in the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary.

On Friday afternoon, at the start of WYD 2025, we attended the reception of the heart of Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized along with Pier Giorgio Frassati in a ceremony presided over by Pope Leo XIV on September 7.

Throughout his life, Carlo Acutis documented Eucharistic miracles and approved Marian apparitions from around the world and compiled them on his website.

Carlo was aware of the crucial role of the Eucharist in his life. That’s why he said the Eucharist was his highway to heaven. The first “millennial saint” or digital native went to Mass every day to receive Communion, convinced that every Communion brings us closer to the goal of holiness.

Carlo Acutis came to WYD 2025, through the relic of his heart, to tell those present that one can be a young person in the 21st century and live in love with the Eucharist. He also explained that “those who approach the Eucharist every day go directly to paradise” and that, to achieve this, “we must live in the world, but remembering that we are not of the world.”

Adela: How do you think Carlo and Pier Giorgio can be witnesses of love for the Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist for so many young people today who are searching for the true source where they can quench their thirst for love and want to achieve true happiness?

It’s true that all young people seek the source where they can quench their thirst for love. I believe Carlo and Pier Giorgio are two examples for us because they show us the only One who will truly quench our thirst: Christ in the Eucharist. They are both young people who recognized the presence of Jesus alive in the Eucharist and made it the center of their lives. In the Eucharist, they found the source that every young person seeks.

The Church teaches us that this source is where we must turn. And that’s why it was so beautiful to see at WYD the chapel of perpetual adoration filled with young people and volunteers who, at all hours of the day and night, remained silent, gazing and allowing themselves to be looked at by the Lord. Young people like Carlo and Pier Giorgio approached Jesus in the Eucharist to quench their thirst for love.

In the homily of the opening Mass of WYD 2025, Bishop Juan Carlos Elizalde of Vitoria affirmed that the Eucharist is the greatest act we can celebrate on earth, since in it we participate and relive the passion, redemptive death, and resurrection of the Lord.

The most important thing in that celebration – said Bishop Elizalde – is the inner disposition, that is, what we call being in God’s grace.

Don Juan Carlos invited all the young people present to have a new, grateful and Eucharistic heart, open to happiness and firmly desiring to achieve holiness.

Luke: How could you express this conversion and transformation of your heart and the experience of God’s mercy in you?

During the three days of WYD, we heard several priests, some speakers, and even the presenters themselves speak at length about the transformed heart that God wants to give us. The motto chosen for the WYD 2025 call was: “I will give you a new heart.”

Personally, I could say that this transformation of heart is possible if we recognize God’s mercy through the sacrament of confession. For this reason, thanks to the total dedication and availability of all the priests participating in WYD, a large number of young people were able to confess and, being in a state of grace, welcome the love God wished to pour out upon us those days, giving us a new heart.

On Friday night, young people were able to enjoy the world premiere of the musical entitled “A Famous Nun. Clare Crockett, a Life Put on Stage.”

Through music and various performances, festival attendees were thrilled by the powerful story of Sister Clare, Servant of the Mother’s Home. In the musical performance, we shared her dreams of becoming a famous actress, her personal encounter with Jesus Christ, her struggles, fears, temptations, and ultimately, the Lord’s victory in her life.

His motto, “all or nothing,” has touched many hearts and encouraged many people, especially many young people, to open themselves to God’s will.

On January 12, 2025, the solemn opening session of the diocesan phase of the beatification process of the Servant of God, Sister Clare, took place in the Cathedral of the Holy Children of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid, Spain).

Adela: What struck you most about Sister Clare’s story? How do you think her example challenged you to follow God’s will in your life?

Sister Clare’s story has always had a profound impact on me. She is an example for all of us of holiness, of total dedication to God and self-forgetfulness. She teaches us young people that holiness is worth striving for and that there is no greater joy than living for the Lord and for others.

In the musical performance we experienced at WYD, all these aspects were conveyed to the participants, reminding them at all times that it is God who acts in us, that it is He who offers us holiness. In fact, what struck me most personally was a phrase Sister Clare spoke at the end of the performance: “His grace has won in me.” It had a profound impact on me because it reminded me that although we may have to do everything we can to try to live in holiness, it is God’s grace that truly wins. Victory belongs to God, and He will win in us as long as we allow Him to act.

On Saturday morning, the day began with the prayer of Lauds at the beautiful shrine of Covadonga and with an explanation of the Eucharistic miracle of Paiporta.

D. Salvador Romero, parish priest of San Ramón Nonato in Paiporta (Valencia, Spain), carried with him the chalice and corporal with which he celebrated Holy Mass while the Dana devastated Paiporta.

The chalice and corporal were found intact the day after the heavy rains, mysteriously preserved and untouched, despite the fact that the mud wave had left its mark on the sacristy walls, more than two meters high.

Finally, with his faith and joy, Father Salva supported the cleanup efforts and supported the affected people, whom he continues to care for with all his charity and pastoral zeal.

In his message to the young people of WYD, Father Salva expressed his intention “that we may manifest and rediscover together that Jesus is alive, through the hands of Mary, in our midst.”

Father Salva told the young people that people don’t seek happiness individually, as the world tries to convince us, but that it is love that truly leads us to complete happiness. That’s why it’s important that we first feel loved. And that unconditional love is what only God gives us.

At one point in his talk, he said with a vibrant voice: “The Eucharist is the madness of Jesus’ love.”

Lucas: How do you experience this love you have received in your life, and how do you express your love for others when you feel loved by God?

God’s love can be experienced in infinitely different ways. Based on my experience, God’s love can be felt simply by looking around, when you realize everything you have: from a home and a bed to sleep in to a family who accompanies and loves you.

Sometimes it’s easier to realize all that one has received from the Lord when one is in places where people have lost everything and no longer have anything. This is why it’s so important for anyone who has truly experienced God’s love to bear witness to that love and share it with others in various ways.

For example, in relation to the catastrophic circumstances that Father Salva described, which occurred due to the DANA (National Flood Damage) in Paiporta, my sister and I volunteered on two occasions to help those affected by the floods. It is in these moments that one realizes the love of God one has received, which others don’t know about, and it is precisely in these moments that a Christian must be an image and reflection of God’s unconditional love for others.

Brother Marco Gaballo, OFM, Cap. Rector of the Shrine of the Spoils (Assisi, Italy) and custodian of the relic of the heart of Carlo Acutis, gave a talk on Saturday morning about the Eucharistic legacy of the future saint.

With a vibrant voice, he invited young people to shed the “culture of ego” and look with the eyes of the heart, that is, with the eyes of God.

Brother Marco also invited young people to be Eucharistic people with Mary, our Mother.

Adela: What do you think the canonization of an ordinary young man like Carlo, a teenager with a heart full of light and in love with the Eucharist, means for young people today?

I believe this is a great reason for hope for all of us. Holiness has often been understood as something unattainable or reserved for a select few. However, seeing ordinary young people who, by the grace of God, have achieved holiness reminds us that we are all called to it, that it is the plan God has designed for each of us.

Carlo Acutis, in particular, rekindles in us our love for Jesus in the Eucharist. Indeed, his great love for the Eucharist led him to true joy, and he helps other young people see that only in Christ is true fulfillment.

Seeing young people who have found happiness in Christ is a source of hope for other young people because it holds the promise that there is something beyond everything that happens, beyond everything the world offers us. The lives of young saints, like Carlo Acutis, must be an example for us. We must understand the deepest part of their lives and imitate them. In Carlo’s case, it was his love for Jesus in the Eucharist.

Father Rafael reminded us in his meditation at World Youth Day that Carlo is not simply a young man dressed in jeans and sneakers who knew how to make good use of new technologies. Carlo was a young man who, in the midst of leukemia, trusted completely in the Lord and offered his suffering for the Church and for the Holy Father. This was his testimony, and therefore, this is the authentic teaching that we young people must learn from him.

“No one loves what they do not know,” said Saint Augustine. Therefore, to learn about Jesus in the Eucharist, the young participants of WYDJ had the opportunity to choose one of six Eucharistic workshops offered simultaneously at different locations in the Shrine of Covadonga complex.

One of these workshops was entitled: “Being an apostle or a martyr: the epic of the ten thousand martyrs,” taught by D. Jorge López Teulón, a priest of the Archdiocese of Toledo, postulator of the causes of martyrs in said archdiocese, and advisor to the office of the causes of saints of the Spanish Episcopal Conference.

In this edition, the eleven martyrs of Damascus were the patrons of WYD 2025.

Along with the testimony of Joan Roig, who at the age of 19 guarded a chalice containing the Eucharist during the turbulent times of the Spanish Civil War, Don Jorge showed the martyrs who, in times of persecution, and with the grace of the Holy Spirit, did not renounce their faith and gave their lives for Christ.

In his talk, Father Jorge pointed out that often in our daily lives, we must suffer a “white martyrdom,” that is, face difficulties, misunderstandings, contempt, etc., for defending our faith in a post-Christian world. “It’s okay to have fear, temptations, and doubts,” Father Jorge said. “In those moments, it’s good to go before the Tabernacle and say to the Lord: Help me!”

Lucas: In Don Jorge López Teulón’s talk, were you impressed by the explanation of how the martyrs gave their lives for Christ and how they forgave their executioners? How do you think young people today should live, with faith, these “tough times” of uncertainty and tribulation?

Honestly, I found Mr. Jorge’s talk to be very insightful and interesting because, despite mentioning the Spanish martyrs of the Second Republic and the Civil War, he suggested that today’s Christians should take them as models, since they demonstrate an intense degree of love of the believer toward God, even though in our immediate surroundings we do not suffer the same type of persecution for martyrdom of blood.

It is for this reason that I believe we must not forget all these martyrs of the past and present in places where the Church is persecuted and Christians continue to be physically martyred for defending their faith.

Today’s Christians in our Western countries face a different scenario in which they must choose between a dehumanized and secularized world or the eternal love of the Father, for which many give their lives and end up becoming civil martyrs precisely for maintaining and defending the faith in this post-Christian scenario.

On Saturday afternoon, an impressive procession began at the “Pozón de Covadonga” (the pool below the Holy Cave), winding through the Parque del Príncipe (Prince Park) and ending again in front of the Pozón.

During the procession presided over by the image of the Santina, a long line of 1,700 young people prayed the joyful mysteries of the Holy Rosary, led by Don Jaime Sanz Santacruz, delegate for university pastoral care for the Diocese of Oviedo. The image was impressive.

John Paul II told us in his Apostolic Letter, “Rosarium Virginis Mariae,” that “in its simplicity and profundity, the Rosary remains, even in this third millennium, just begun, a prayer of great significance, destined to bear fruits of holiness. /…/ Reciting the Rosary, in fact, is truly contemplating with Mary the face of Jesus Christ.”

The Church has always seen in this prayer a particular effectiveness, entrusting the most difficult cases to its communal recitation and constant practice.”

Adela: How did you experience that impressive procession and the recitation of the Holy Rosary surrounded by so many young people like you, so devoted and loving toward the Virgin Mary? What role do you give to the recitation of the Holy Rosary in your family and parish?

The procession and the recitation of the Holy Rosary were, for me, one of the most beautiful moments of WYD. Seeing so many young people united in prayer was breathtaking. I was also struck by the sight of so many young people who love the Virgin Mary in the midst of a world that so often rejects her. It was truly beautiful. There were so many young people following the procession that you couldn’t see the beginning or the end. The line of young people praying reminded me of a river, which, in the midst of a world filled with pain and despair, brings the living water of Christ. It was a gift to be able to share this moment of prayer with so many young people. The Virgin poured out infinite graces upon us.

In our home, although we don’t always succeed, we try to pray the Holy Rosary together whenever we can. The Virgin blesses those families who seek her, and we don’t want to miss that opportunity. Praying together also strengthens family relationships.

Later, well into the evening, Holy Mass was celebrated on the esplanade of the Sanctuary, presided over by D. David Cueto, Abbot of the Sanctuary of Covadonga.

It was impressive to see so many young people kneeling in respectful silence during the most significant moments of the Eucharist.

Benedict XVI said: “We Catholics kneel before the Blessed Sacrament, because we know and believe that the one true God, who created the world and loved it to the point of giving his only Son, is present in it.”

During the homily, the first message the Abbot wanted to convey was the following: “Covadonga is the home of the Mother, a place of welcome; anyone who is tired can come here to rest and be loved.”

Covadonga, Don Juan Carlos told us, “is the sign of the mystery of Christ’s pierced heart. The Holy Cave is the refuge from which grace, peace, and consolation flow. At the center of that refuge is Mary with her Immaculate Heart, the mediatrix of all graces.”

During Communion, the young people received the Lord with dignity, kneeling and mostly on their lips, remembering that the consecrated Host is truly the Body of Christ.

Lucas: In your inner life and on your spiritual path, how do you make this purpose of reaching Jesus through Mary, our Mother, a reality?

My spiritual path aims to be as like Christ as possible. To achieve this, I ask for help from Mary, Mother of Jesus, but also our Mother. She lived only for Christ and, therefore, can help us as well. It is therefore important to offer our actions to her every moment of the day through simple prayers, ejaculations, the Holy Rosary, sacrifices, etc., as well as consecrating ourselves to her Immaculate Heart.

All the 2025 events were remarkable for their extraordinary beauty. The music and singing of the choir, composed of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother and some young people, allowed us, through their voices and musical instruments, to elevate our souls to the mystery of the sacred and allowed the young people—who were absorbed and amazed—to experience the beauty of a well-celebrated Catholic liturgy.  

Adela: How do you think music should accompany the celebration of Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration in parishes and religious services where different generations participate and where there is an increasing presence of young people?

The truth is that having the choir with us at WYD has been a true gift. The beauty of their songs helped us all pray and become more aware of the grace the Lord was pouring out upon us.

I think music can help us on many occasions when celebrating Holy Mass or during Eucharistic Adoration. However, we can often make the mistake of overusing music and obscuring moments of silence before the Lord. I believe that, just as listening to a song that uplifts our soul can help us, it also helps infinitely to have moments of silence in which we can hear the Lord’s voice clearly. In a world where we live surrounded by constant noise, long moments of silence are necessary in which we can pray serenely.

This is something we were able to experience at WYD. Times of silence were exquisitely combined with moments of song. It’s worth noting that the songs offered by the choir were always carefully and carefully selected so that at no point did the prayer time become a “concert” or a “spectacle.” The solemnity of the moment was always respected and the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist was taken into account. Whenever the songs were sung at the various celebrations, they sought to beautifully exalt the sacredness of the moment.

After Holy Mass, already at night, the impressive Vigil of Eucharistic Adoration began on the esplanade of the Shrine of Covadonga. With the relics of the martyrs of Damascus, the vigil was presided over by Father Rodrigo Miranda, a priest and missionary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE).

At the beginning of this vigil to win back the hearts and souls of young people to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the magnificent monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament was displayed on the altar.

That evening, on the esplanade of the Shrine, the “Cross of Victory” was also raised as a luminous banner, around which 1,700 young people gathered, willing to freely respond to the call for a new spiritual reconquest of hearts. In the name of Jesus Christ, nourished by the Eucharist and sustained by our Blessed Mother, hundreds of young people gave thanks to God because victory had already been won through Redemption, through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Later, the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament was carried in procession, preceded by the Cross of Victory, from the esplanade to the Holy Cave, and was displayed next to La Santina, so that the immense crowd of young people could watch over Jesus in the Eucharist throughout the night and in shifts until dawn on Sunday.

Lucas: How did you experience that moment of personal encounter with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist? Do you think Adoration and Praise of the Blessed Sacrament is an ideal moment, along with Holy Mass, to experience an intimate encounter with the Lord?

For me, the Saturday Vigil was, without a doubt, the best moment of the entire WYD, when I was able to confirm that all the young people present were on a common path that had holiness as its goal. Indeed, it was the moment when I realized that, although we sometimes think we are alone, we are all seeking the same thing: the unconditional love that God offers us. And it is in His Sacred Heart that we find that love.

I believe that at that Vigil, all of us young people had the opportunity to have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist. In my case, I was able to experience it well thanks to the positive atmosphere provided by the other young people’s devotion and respect for the Blessed Sacrament, as well as the excellent performance of the choir, which helped us pray through the lyrics of their songs.

Obviously, I believe that Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is an ideal moment to experience that intimate encounter with the Lord who presents himself before us so that we may have a good moment of prayer and dialogue with Him.

At dawn, after the intense night in which the young people strengthened and revived their faith by adoring Jesus in the Eucharist, together with the Virgin of Covadonga, and with the support of a large number of priests who throughout the night offered the sacrament of penance and reconciliation with the Lord to all those young people who wished to confess, the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament returned amidst songs to the esplanade of the Sanctuary for its display on the altar. 

In the presence of Jesus among us, Father Rafael Alonso, founder of the Home of the Mother, began a powerful meditation. At various points during his talk, Father Rafael was moved by the attentive young people eager to unite their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Father Rafael asked the young people not to be the ones who want to direct their lives, but to allow themselves to be led by the Lord. “God has a plan for you, to make you happy!” he exclaimed excitedly, to the boys and girls who listened attentively to his words.

During one moment of meditation, Father Rafael exhorted us to cleanse our hearts of all obstacles to Jesus coming within us. “Here I am, Lord, why have you called me?” Father Rafael said, referring to how we should accept God’s will and thus discover our vocation to marriage and family life, to the priesthood, or to consecrated religious life. The Lord has prepared this vocation for us to make us happy.

Father Rafael concluded his meditation by asking the young people to have the mind of Christ, who is true God and true man. “Let the mind of God abound in you, and not that of the world,” he said loudly and clearly. He then added: “Consecrate yourselves to that Heart that loves you so much. The Lord is whispering to you in your soul. Christ has come to make you a new creature. What do you have for Him? Remember that He is waiting for you. Do not be afraid and surrender yourself completely to Him.”

Adela: How do you think you’ll bring the Word of God you’ve heard these days to the young people in your parish, your colleagues at the university, your friends, and your family? What do you think will be the fruits of that Word you’ve heard, meditated on, prayed about, and contemplated, in relation to your action, to your apostolate toward others, through which you want to evangelize and bring Jesus into your daily life and to the entire world?

Whenever people talk about evangelization, a phrase attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi comes to mind: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” This quote makes me realize that the best way to evangelize is through the example of one’s own life. The life of every Christian should be an image of the Gospel, so that anyone who comes to us might know the life of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, I believe that now that we have returned from these days, it is important to pray that the Lord may keep alive within us the flame He has lit in our hearts. May we not forget all the graces we have received these days so that we may share them with all those around us. It is important to share what we have received, firstly because it confirms for us all that the Lord has given us, and secondly because it is a good thing for our neighbors.

Without a doubt, everything we have received in Covadonga will bear much fruit. The mere fact of being able to celebrate these days in this beautiful Marian shrine increases in us our desire for evangelization. Remembering the history lived in these lands awakens in all Christians the desire to proclaim the Word of God for the conversion of all hearts.

Finally, at noon on Sunday, the closing Mass of WYD 2025 was celebrated, presided over by Monsignor Jesús Sanz Montes, Archbishop of Oviedo, who invited the young people to proclaim Christ as the Virgin Mary did.

He also urged them not to renounce their triple identity: as children of God, children of the Church, and children of our time. In this regard, he asked young people to be witnesses and missionaries of hope, always having Jesus in the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary as their point of reference.

Father Jesus reminded us that in order to attend this year’s WYD, the organizers gave attendees advice and a promise: “Open your hearts more intensely than ever!” The Holy Spirit inspired the motto for WYD 2025 to be: “I will give you a new heart.”

And truly, all those who have approached the Lord these days with this disposition have received Him. He never fails. We have seen much fruit in young people as a result of this second edition of WYD.

Indeed, some young people have made the resolution to attend daily Mass. Others have decided to attend Eucharistic Adoration at the church closest to their residence. Some have discovered their vocation or received the grace to respond to the Lord’s call. Many have returned to the faith after some time away. There have been so many fruits that we will never know!

Bishop Jesús Sanz Montes concluded his homily by proclaiming that it was worth giving the Lord this opportunity so that we might fall in love with Him again and become generous young people and adults, devoted to others, and holy.

At the end of the closing Mass of WYD 2025, after the prayer to gain the plenary indulgence of the Jubilee of Hope, Fr. Rafael Alonso – who was celebrating 45 years of priesthood that very day – announced the date of the next WYD: July 10, 11 and 12, 2026, again in Covadonga, and under the motto “Do whatever He tells you.”

Lucas: Do you think WYD 2025 met its objectives and your expectations and proved to be a gathering with enormous potential for the evangelization of young people? Would you recommend your friends and young people searching for meaning and purpose in their lives to attend WYD 2026?

Of course! …Clearly!

Just like last year, this second edition of WYD has not disappointed me at all. In fact, it has exceeded all my expectations. Personally, WYD 2025 has helped me greatly, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only young person who has been so positively impacted by this encounter with the Lord and Mary.

I sincerely believe that all those young people who have not found meaning and purpose in their lives, but who desire to do so, should attend next year’s WYD and allow themselves to be guided by the Lord, for He has wonderful plans for each of us and will not disappoint them.

That’s why I think the motto for the upcoming WYD 2026 is so fitting: “Do whatever He tells you.” By embracing His unconditional love and fulfilling His divine will, we will achieve true happiness, sanctify ourselves, and prepare ourselves so that, at the end of our days, we can rejoice in eternal life with the Holy Trinity.

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Thank you very much  , Adela and Lucas, for  sharing your experiences and experiences at WYD 2025 with us and for showing us how you allowed those days to be transformed by Jesus and Mary, returning to your homes and daily environments with a new, Eucharistic, and grateful heart.