The Coffee House gives youth a chance to hear the call in a more personal way.

Madrid. August 15, 2011. The Vocation.com Coffee House opened today at 7:00 p.m. (Spain time) at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Real Café Bernabéu. As an official activity of the World Youth Day 2011 cultural program, the Coffee House will be open from August 15-19, with free admission to all.

The purpose of the Coffee House is to give young people a relaxed, personal atmosphere in which to reflect on their spiritual experiences, encounter the richness of the Church through the testimonies of a wide range of people, and ask God in prayer what he may be asking of them.

Priests, religious, and consecrated members from 17 different religious orders or movements will be presenting their testimonies. There will be 25 Catholic bands performing live music and there will be moments for prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the attached chapel. Priests will be hearing confessions and offering spiritual direction round the clock. As an additional hidden support, cloistered nuns from 23 convents will be praying and offering up their own Eucharistic adoration for this intention.

Over 100 volunteers will be working in the Coffee House, which also offers free Internet access in an attached area

	The layout of the Vocation.com Coffee House in Madrid.

with computers available for public use.

The Coffee House was inaugurated today, August 15, with close to 1400 youth on site. Paul Ponce, a professional juggler, and Valiván, a popular Catholic music group, performed. Fr Santiago Cantero, a Benedictine monk, told his vocation story, along with a music group called “Xtojoven.” Fr Miguel Benito, from the Neocatechumal Way, also shared his story.

The other priests and religious who will be sharing their testimonies are from the following religious orders and movements: Sisters of Merciful Love, Militia of St. Mary, Benedictines, Franciscans, Colombian Missionaries, Focolare Movement, Schönstatt, Company of Mary, Lumen Dei, Congregation of the Mandate of St. Michael the Archangel, Neocatechumenal Way, Little Sisters of the Lamb, Daughters of St. Mary of the Heart of Jesus, Communion and Liberation, Community of the Virgin of El Escorial, Regnum Christi, and more.

More about the Vocation.com Coffee House

One of the main goals of the Vocation.com Coffee House is to give youth a rich vision of the many possible ways of serving God within the Catholic Church, and to offer a place of prayer where they can search their own heart and listen for a possible call. The Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members started the Coffee House in 2000 at the Rome World Youth Day during the Jubilee Year. Since then, it has been held at every World Youth Day, with 15,000 to 20,000 youth participating each time.

For more information, visit the web site at www.vocationcoffeehouse.org.