WISCONSIN DELLS — How to describe Frassati Fest?
Two hundred-plus teens and adults from across the Diocese of Madison coming together for a weekend of fun, prayer, and a giant “Where’s Frassati?” game at the Kalahari resort doesn’t quite seem to cut it.
The experience is much more crazy and profound than this short description.
Having been online last year, it was beautiful to be in-person and back at the waterpark capital of the world.
This being my first Frassati Fest ever, the experience made me wish I had gone to high school.
The experience
For you to understand what the experience was like; I’ll go over the weekend in my own eyes as well as highlights I heard from the teens.
Friday started with game time for the teens. It was fun to watch the enthusiasm build before we went to the general session.
It was a blast to watch chaperons join in on the games too. In the general session, we watched a promotional video for this year’s theme, “Behold.”
The entire weekend was emceed by my Xavier Missionary Team (XMT) teammate Zach Gonring.
We then played a giant knock game of “Where’s Waldo?” called “Where’s Frassati?”.
Using props and costumes, because it’s not a party if there are no costumes, the teens attempted to hide Shane Reinbold dressed as Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.
This was followed by our first keynote, “Behold the Man” by Meg Aspinwall, faith formation administrator from St. Luke Parish in Plain.
It was an amazing talk and was followed by a song played by herself and Zach.
The evening concluded with parish time. My teammates and I spent our evening with the “Lost Sheep” group, which consisted of teens from multiple parishes.
On to Saturday
Saturday started with food, as is a good way to start any day, followed by more games.
Back to the general session, Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison gave the second keynote of the weekend.
It was a blessing to have Bishop Hying there, several teens mentioned his talk was their highlight of Saturday.
We had the great pleasure of having two Sisters from the Missionaries of the Word from Door County, Wis.
Sister Therese and Sister Bernadette gave breakout sessions on prayer.
Then came another draw for Frassati Fest. A four-hour waterpark break.
Now, if you have ever been to a Dells waterpark, you know the chaos that occurs there. But the waterpark break was fantastic!
Not necessarily because of the slides but because of the awesome conversation time chaperones got to have with the teens and the teens with themselves.
After the waterpark break, Fr. Enan Zelinski from St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison gave a keynote right before Adoration and Confessions.
The Adoration and Confession time was a highlight for many of the teens.
It was beautiful to watch the priests and servers walk in with Our Lord in the monstrance in procession.
A peaceful silence filled the air, along with incense, as Our Lord was processed around the room. Truly beautiful.
Saturday evening ended with a dance party. It’s nice to know some classic songs will never leave the dance floor.
The Lord’s day
Sunday morning started with breakout sessions given by XMT missionaries, along with Meghan Bonham and Lindsay Finn from the diocese.
Each session was Sunday-themed and ranged in topic from prayer to football.
We then had Mass with Fr. Greg Ihm, diocesan vocations and worship director, and concluded with our final keynote by Zach.
The best parts
Being able to write about Frassati Fest has given me a golden opportunity to reflect more on the weekend.
While there are many beautiful reasons our diocese puts on this event every year, I think the most profound reason is the relationships.
The keynotes, breakouts, games, food, and waterpark were all great and fun.
But the best part about the weekend was all the conversations and friendships that were made between the teens and between the chaperons and the teens.
It was beautiful to see sparks that were made over the weekend and have teens start to question where they’re at and see the beauty of our faith.
Witnessing teens becoming emotional after a beautiful experience with the Lord and with the Church is not only amazing to see as an adult but had an impact on all the other teens too.
Having them come up to you and say that Adoration was their favorite part of the weekend even with the waterpark break says something about being in the presence of Our Lord.
After all the planning, prepping and chaos, Frassati Fest was an absolute honor to be a part of and I encourage parishes and teens to take advantage of this, and other events in the future.
Molly Schoepp is a member of the Xavier Mission Team for the Diocese of Madison and a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.